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Developer: Genki
Publisher: Konami
Genre: Strategy
Region: NTSC
Format:
Release Date: 21 Sep 05
User Rating
9.9 (38 votes) -
- With Mech games being a rare commodity these days, this mech sim provide decent action and customizations, albeit being repetitive in the long run.
More Screens (8 total)
Overview
A few times this summer/fall I have found myself saying where did this game come from, and why have I heard nothing about it. Usually I must admit if I haven't heard of a game I get a bit worried, as I have seen to many of these types of games have reasons for the lack of publicity. Well today we get to talk about a game that really has had no media attention and has really hit stores without really any notice. So does S.L.A.I: Steel Lancer Arena International possibly have what it takes to surprise people? Read our full review to find out!
Gameplay
The whole Mech genre has been one of the few genres as of late that I believe has not been getting a whole lot of coverage. For whatever reason the Mech genre has not had a whole lot of games in the recent years, and for the most part the genre hasn't seen any true winners (in my opinion) since the Mech Assault series a few years back. So can S.L.A.I: Steel Lancer Arena International possibly bring back to life the Mech genre?
The game of course revolves around its single player mode, which is really where you find the meat and potatoes of the game. It is here you are thrown into this extremely futuristic age, where there is an extremely popular new sport called rumbling which are basically just remote mech battles. Basically there are seven main hubs (locations) in which the game is played, and it is your job to be the best in every single location. This is only then that you can become a champion. What is actually kind of surprising is that the storyline in the game is actual not all that bad (which at first it seemed like it would be) as your main character is actually pretty interesting, and the story in the game is different enough to grab your attention.
Of course the game starts you off with a pretty average SV, and then of course your job is through the game to upgrade your SV as much as possible to keep up with the competition. Once you get your starting SV it is now time to get started in the tutorial part of the game, which is not overly long. But it is very much a necessary part in my opinion as there are a lot of things you need to learn in the game in order to really have a firm grip of what you need to do to win the battles, as at times this game can be a bit intimidating.
The actual gameplay itself is very fast paced and like I said, at first can be a bit intimidating as the whole game just seems to have a lot of things to do. The game controls well enough and once you go through the tutorial portion of the game, you should have no problem in being able to play through the game. Speaking of the game basically the battles work likes this. You are thrown into an arena and your goal is to eliminate as many SV's as you can without yourself getting eliminated. Now for every SV you take down you get money. However if you get eliminated, you lose your money, which is a bad thing. So to not get eliminated, there are places in the maps that act as exits and basically it is your job to use your judgment on when to keep going and went to get the heck out of there. This is kind of a neat new feature that I was impressed by.
S.L.A.I also does have online play for up to six players, and to be honest I wasn't as impressed with this portion of the online mode, because it just didn't feel that exciting and I had some major lag issues. What is however nice about this mode is that it does have the ability to take your custom SV that you made during the story mode online, and that is a neat idea and feature.
The thing about S.L.A.I that really held it back was that it is a very repetitive game that has you doing the same sort of things over and over again. The game does not have enough variety in it for the long haul. So although the story in the game is good, the combat just seems to get tiresome after sometime. I felt as though the game could have given more variety in the gameplay aspects, and this in turn would have helped the game remain entertaining throughout. Instead, we are still left with an entertaining Mech game that although has some need in the variety category is still a solid playing game overall.
Graphics
The visual presentation of S.L.A.I does leave some things to be desired, and that is mainly just better environments. The actual SVs in the game are actually quite impressive, and you can see the developers spent quite a bit of time making sure that there were plenty of variety on the Mech's, and this in turn is best part in the games presentation. Now moving onto to where the game needed more work and that is in the environments, which in my opinion could have been much better. It just didn't give you that "wow" effect that a Mech game is known to give. Overall the visuals are good but there is still plenty of room for improvement.
Fun Factor
S.L.A.I is a good Mech game that has a lot of things going for it, mainly a good story mode that surprisingly was interesting throughout. I wouldn't say it would make into a great movie or anything, but for a Mech game it was an appreciated addition. The actual gameplay in the game starts out strong, but doesn't finish well because you do get that terrible sensation that you have done this to many times now and wonder why the developers couldn't do something different in the game. S.L.A.I is a good fun experience but the overall experience just left more to be desired.
Overall
The developer of S.L.A.I did a good job of making a game that I truly believe will surprise a lot of people, as it has a lot of great ideas and truly was a fun experience. The game is missing in the variety category and the multiplayer is a good addition but doesn't help the overall experience. If you are in the market for a Mech game then S.L.A.I is a great option for you, just don't expect it to have a great long lasting experience.
- Gameplay
7.0 - Graphics
7.0 - Fun Factor
7.0 - Overall
7.0
