Mission: Impossible
Reviewed by DXOutLaw9@aol.com
Mission: Impossible -- an ironic title that almost perfectly describes Ocean's
attempt to make an N64 game out of the 1996 movie. Over three years
in development, this game has seen more rewrites than a Stanley Kubrick film, and it's
finally on the home stretch (or so we're to believe). After giving the latest version a
test-run, we're ready to report on the scenario thus far. Forget what you've read about
the game so far. What you read now will be in the final version when (if) it hits the
shelves this June.
Mission: Impossible wants so much to be GoldenEye. The missions are plentiful and
injected with variety. The one main difference: MI emphasizes stealth over brute
force. Sure, there's firepower -- but not a whole lot of it. But the idea is to sneak through
enemy territory without being seen or noticed. It's only when its absolutely necessary that
you have to resort to your guns. But even so, you have ample opportunities to pull the
trigger.
In the mission I played yesterday, the idea is to destroy a pumping station in
enemy territory. But to accomplish this, objectives had to be met. First, I had to
find a field scanner and a mine tucked away and rendezvous back to my
teammates, avoiding (or killing) guards walking the grounds. If time ran out, my
teammates got captured and the mission failed. Next, I needed to find a pair of
wirecutters and deliver them to another teammate so he could disable...something
(hey, I can't remember). At this point, a guard discovered the detonator and swiped it,
and I needed to get it back (obviously this is where the guns come in). Next, it was
necessary to locate some explosives, and then attach them to the pump house. Finally,
to finish the mission I had to regroup with my team. And then...boom!
All this action takes place from a constantly-moving third-person perspective. The
camera rotates around objects and swing into tight spots as the game progresses.
If you feel more comfortable in a Tomb Raider view, hitting the L button zooms the
camera in tight. And when you scope a target with the gun, the camera come in
tighter and looks "through" your character.
Other Mission Impossible missions require your character to assume other peoples'
identities to access untouchable areas. Some missions even need you to navigate
through laser detectors -- it takes an awfully steady hand. Don't touch the sides!
Despite all the work that's gone into the game, the graphics in Mission Impossible are,
to be kind, standard. The game engine has been tweaked and fine-tuned for years, yet you'd
never know it from the game. What's worse is the images supplied to us by Infogrames
yesterday were the same SGI renders that have been floating around for years. This
is flat-out dishonest. I don't care what they have to say, the game doesn't look
anywhere near as crisp as these images are. The animation is smooth when it needs
to be, but there are times when the framerate drops to a shockingly low level.
But I do have to admit that the game played better than I expected. The lack of
multiplayer modes as well as disappointing graphics and animations prove that
Mission: Impossible is no GoldenEye. The various missions and techniques
involved in this game, however, show that looks aren't everything. I feel, with
this first-hand impression of the game, that Mission Impossible could pull it off. Finally.
Graphics - Graphics are solid but with a little cuts here in there it brings
it down to a 4.5
Gameplay - Although not as good as GoldenEye, the game play is still good
giving it oh about a 4.5
Sound - The sound is great with the all famous Mission Impossible theme
added in it and some great music giving it a 5.0
Control - Control is good but at sometimes and gets a little frustrating
with the control bringing it down a couple of notches to a 4.0
Fun Factor - All around this is a very fun game to have...it takes a while to
beat but one thing it doesn't have is a multiplayer mode which desperately
needs so that puts the fun factor around 4.0
All around this is a good game but if your a trigger happy player this is not
a game for you.