Gore: Ultimate Soldier

Developing a first-person shooter can't be easy. Out of all the genres in the market, surely the FPS is the best developed, and the most plentiful. MMORPGs might be hard to get right, but it's all too easy to get an FPS wrong. Given the sheer number on the market, it's no surprise we've seen plenty of diversification in the genre - Deus Ex and System Shock showed how to integrate RPG-like character development, Counter-Strike showed how to get objective-based multiplayer right, and Half-Life brought plot into the picture.

Gore: Ultimate Soldier, a new release from Dreamcatcher, is rather different. Like Serious Sam before it, it ignores recent developments in FPS games to dish out a helping of old-fashioned, fast-paced fun gameplay, without the trappings of plot, realistic weapons, character development or, indeed, many complexities at all. The plot, such as it is, concerns the development of a virtual reality simulator in a post-apocalyptic, late 21st Century world. That's about all you really need to know. Suffice it to say, you need to get out there and shoot some people, you know, just because.

Not that there's anything wrong with that. As many games have shown, plot is not an essential component for an FPS. And Gore does have its share of distinguishing features; its engine, called AMP (no, not AWP) comes with some neat tricks, not least of which is its ability to use resizable polygons at the joints of character models to stretch and compress as they move.

And it does indeed have excellent player character models. They move convincingly, the weapons look like part of the player (no messy hands sticking out,) and sitting in spectator mode watching the other players shows them off well. Armour is also handled well - it occurs on the maps in chunks, for the chest, head, legs etc., and when picked up will appear on the model, making them immune to damage in that area. Once the armour has taken enough damage, it'll drop off, making the player vulnerable again.

Different player models come with different characteristics, such as being faster or able to take more damage. So you can trade off your durability under fire for speed, if you so desire. Each starts with different weaponry. Gore also includes an interesting stamina system. Running, jumping and so on deplete your stamina pool, and when it's out, you'll collapse. The heavier-built characters generally come with more stamina, as you might expect.

Unfortunately, the maps don't impress so much. Coming fresh from the recently-released Soldier of Fortune 2 to Gore is like jumping back three years. Textures are basic, the layout is angular, and you'll soon be feeling like you've run around this army base, mansion, temple or warehouse before.

The weapon selection is about as basic as the maps. Pistols, machine guns of various types, sniper rifles, flamethrower... yes, yes, yes. Many come with alternate fire modes (like the shotgun's somewhat illogical protective shield) but most lack something in the "grunt" department. It's not that they don't damage their targets, but they are missing the feeling of weight and power that other, superior FPSs are able to create. They just don't feel butch enough.

The damage effects don't help this feeling. Hitting an opponent results in bizarre-looking red lumps detaching themselves from their body, falling downwards a little way, then vanishing, rather than satisfying holes and/or detached limbs. It's reminded us of the effects in Mortal Kombat, in fact, back when such things were hip. With a name like Gore (and a "Mature" rating on the box) you'd think they could have had some more fun with it.

Multiplayer modes include deathmatch (straight and team,) Capture the Flag, and Tactical, a Counter-Strike-esque objective-based mode. The latter has a number of sub-modes based on destroying targets, escorting VIPs or escaping, depending on the map. It uses GameSpy Arcade as a server browser, which won't please some people - nevertheless, it does its job, although in a fairly slow and bloated way. A scan of the server list at this fairly early stage shows most of them are run by the publisher; hopefully some more fan-run games will pop up. That said, we didn't have any problems finding an open game.

The single-player reminded us of Serious Sam in its simplicity. And like that Croteam title, Gore is available at around $30 (UK price to be announced), cheaper than your average new game. The enemy AI is basic -- returning fire and running about seems to be their limit -- and without the sheer quantity of foes Sam threw at you, Gore gets pretty old, quickly. It would be well suited to co-op play, but sadly that's nowhere to be seen, which is a shame, as this was one of the biggest selling points for Sam, and it would have livened up Gore single-player no end.

As for the multiplayer, well, it's fun, but no more fun than any other FPS on the market. It certainly doesn't do anything better than Soldier of Fortune 2, and does most things significantly worse. It might be $20 less expensive, but the extra outlay is well worth it. Recommending Gore to anyone is hard, not because it does anything particularly badly, but because it's so depressingly average in almost every respect.

Review By GamesDomain