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State of Emergency

Playstation 2 - VIS - Action - M - 1 Player

Perhaps in an attempt to ride the coattails of the surprisingly successful Grand Theft Auto 3, Rockstar Games quickly rushed onto the scene to release another mayhem-induced virtual killing spree. Although this time around all the depth, atmosphere, and overall fun of Rockstar's previous PS2 title has seemingly vanished. Comparisons to GTA3 should be minimal because State of Emergency is nowhere near the same type of game and should not be compared to it. Instead, I will compare State of Emergency to games within its genre--beat-em-ups. I was greatly anticipating this release after hearing comparisons of State of Emergency to earlier incarnations of the genre such as Streets of Rage and Final Fight. Boy was I wrong.

Let's get the story out of the way as quick as possible and then never mention it again, because that is exactly what State of Emergency does. In the near future, it becomes realized that our democratic process of election has brought us nothing but a weak government. A Big Brother type authority group known as The Corporation takes control and the inevitable happens--massive riots on an unprecedented scale. A resistance group known as the Freedom Movement emerges and it's up to you, their new recruit, to take down the evil, controlling figurehead.

State of Emergency features two main gameplay modes, Chaos and Revolution. Chaos is the meat of the game, more of a free for all run-and-gun killing spree where your total score at the end of a timed bloodbath is what determines your advancement. Throughout Chaos mode, various modifications such as civilian kill penalties and score multipliers on specific people or objects present themselves in order to add a little variety to what will at first appear to be, as the title implies, pure chaos. In addition, the game will also award bonus points and additional time for completing simple objectives such as blowing up a specific building or a specific roaming lunatic. These objectives act purely as side quests and are in every way optional. If you wish to run around and cause complete mayhem and destruction, you are entirely free to do so.

In complete opposition to the mindlessness offered in Chaos mode, Revolution mode is composed of a series of specific missions that supposedly group together to form a storyline. Unfortunately, the missions consist of simplistically futile tasks such as escorting a hacker from point A to point B, or transporting objects to and from Freedom Fighters. The 'story' portion is nothing more than a half screen of text describing the task you will be performing. The missions are extremely short and mind-numbingly repetitive. There are 175 of them, if that's any consolation, but it's doubtful you will make it through half of them before the overwhelming repetition sets in.

The gameplay itself is a mixed bag. There are lots of diverse weapons at your disposal to wreak havoc on all that oppose you, and they are actually quite fun to utilize. However, when you are unarmed, the game takes a turn for the worse as the fighting engine is truly atrocious. Provided with a typical punch and kick combo, the characteristic desperation attack, a backwards attack and a dash attack, you are also capable of performing two grappling attacks by pressing two buttons simultaneously. That's it. It's really disappointing when 2D brawlers developed more than ten years ago have a deeper fighting engine, especially when the back of the box says SoE contains a "deep selection of hand to hand fighting moves."

Speaking of the back of the box, it also states to "prepare for chaos as hundreds of people fill the screen-each citizen reacts differently to events." The hundreds of onscreen rioters is quite a sight to behold, but their "reactions" leave much to be desired. What you actually see are hundreds of people simply running in different directions. Where are the looters? Where are the muggers? The insane criminals lurking in a back alley waiting to jump your ass? They are nowhere to be found, and in their place, hundreds of mindless sprinters!

State of Emergency deserves a rental at best, just to experience the disorder that is Chaos mode, but the game just feels rushed and unsatisfying. At times, it is easy to get into the action in short intervals, but annoying problems such as a dreadful camera system and brainless AI will keep you from enjoying this title as much as you should have.

+ Seeing hundreds of characters scrambling around on screen is pretty cool. - The character models are pathetic. A low polygon count is to be expected, considering there are so many onscreen at once, but this is ridiculous.	7.0
- Everything about the audio is uncharacteristic and easily forgettable. + At times, the large crowds can sound pretty realistic.	6.5
- The fighting leaves much do be desired. - You'll die many times because the camera will fail to show you what you need to see.	5.0
- This game could not be more generic. The characters are trite, the story has been told better before, and the environments are unoriginal.	3.9
+ A decent amount of gameplay and varied modes... - ...Though only half of the content is even remotely enjoyable. + Five playable characters total, three of which are unlockable.	6.0
- There are just too many mistakes to overlook. This game should have been a lot better.	6.4
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