Ghost in the Shell
Playstation
1 Player
Memory Card 1 Block
$29.99.
When I like a game, I have a lot to say about it.
When I dislike a game, I say very little. Well, when
it comes to ³Ghost in the Shell² for Playstation, I
have very little to say indeed.
Based on the highly successful and incredibly
intelligent anime feature of the same name about a
team of cybernetically enhanced government operatives
of the future who pursue and eliminate perpetrators of
cyber-crime, ³Ghost in the Shell² PSX endeavors to be
a kind of sequel to the film, allowing us to partake
of the continuing adventures of cyborg babe Major
Kusanagi and her motley band of
investigator/assassins. The adventures experienced in
the game, however, are a far cry from the sensational
anime film, which was a thrill-a-minute roller coaster
ride. ³Ghost in the Shell² PSX is rather like a trip
to the infirmary for the intestinal flu. You play a
rookie in the Majorıs elite squad, on whom all of the
hardest tasks fall upon. Before each mission you are
briefed in detail and then warned not to screw up the
mission. Just hearing this alone before each of the
numerous levels is monotonous and downright
unnecessary. The trick to this game is that the
³rookie² is never in danger at all, nor is any of the
rest of the team, for you perform all of your missions
with a the aid of a state-of-the-art vehicle that very
much resembles a ladybug. Through an advanced form of
remote control, you guide the ladybug to perform your
assigned tasks, which can range from the finding and
disarming of bombs in the wharf area, to the
elimination of hostile robot villains.
So what you have here, basically, is a car game a
drive-and-shoot that comes off duller and clumsier
than the first ³Twisted Metal² game. You guide your
ladybug through uninteresting rendered (and often
claustrophobic) environments shooting down bad guys
ranging from pistol-packing henchmen to fast-moving
gunships, all of which shatter like cheap glass when
engaged despite the uninspiring arsenal at your
disposal: two gatling guns and a guided missile
launcher. Mowing thru these enemies is only a means
to an end, however, as you seek to fulfill a series of
mission parameters, none of which are clearly laid out
in the mission briefing, but are usually made
abundantly clear with the help of a distractingly
basic radar and the occasional verbal hint from your
cantankerous Japanese commander. I found these
missions to be either sickeningly easy (find and
destroy four gunships) or utterly impossible (find and
disarm thirty time bombs in two minutes while being
attacked from a dozen hostile sources). But beyond
that, I found myself not caring about any of the
mission parameters whatsoever, so dull and lackluster
were the assignments and my means by which to carry
them out.
Many action games tend to make up for their
ridiculous mission offerings with some solid action
during actual gameplay so that, even if you donıt give
a damn about the mission, you can at least have fun
shooting up the scene, spilling blood and blowing
stuff up, disobeying orders all the way. A good
example of this is the popular helicopter game ³Desert
Strike² and itıs numerous sequels. Not so, however,
in ³Ghost in the Shell² PSX. The action is a tiresome
exercise in minimalism. The guns make the smallest
³bang² possible, the explosions are muddled and
featureless, and the bad guys donıt even have the
decency to die with a dramatic flair, preferring to
freeze and then explode in a decidedly non-theatrical
and wholly unsatisfying way. The same can be said for
the music and sound effects, which fall far short of
their purpose of exciting and inspiring you to merge
with the action and continue on, and instead inspire
you only to reach for your consoleıs ³off² button.
Especially disappointing are the gun rapports, so
skull-jarringly intense in the film, which are here
reduced to a pitiful breath of air projected through a
pinhole.
He gameıs one strong point and almost enjoyable
element is the considerable freedom of movement
granted to you through the giant ladybug mech. It is
fast and agile and capable of sticking to ceilings and
walking up walls. It takes time to orient yourself to
this non-linear movement, but with a little practice
you can turn it into a powerful asset. Combined with
the ladybugıs high leaping ability, you are easily
able to evade enemies, dodge bullets, and seek
alternate routes to achieve mission success.
Unfortunately, the game only taps this potential
occasionally, stuffing you into service tunnels and
warehouses as often as open arenas where you can
stretch you legs. Chalk it up as yet another
shortcoming in a game that is lousy with them.
Altogether, ³Ghost in the Shell² PSX is a drab,
unremarkable and, at times, downright insulting effort
that fails to touch on even the minor points that made
the anime feature so incredibly cool. The one brief
hope from the versatility of movement is nowhere near
enough to forgive the lame graphics, sleepy sound, and
practically counter-intuitive controls. Play it only
if it is the last surviving disc after the Great
Revolution comes.
---
John Paige
8.15.2000
Dairy Farmers For Quebec's Independence