Armed & Dangerous Preview

Anybody out there remember Giants: Citizen Kabuto? No? If so, I'd advise you to check out our full review. This was truly a novel exhibition of first-rate PC gaming, which in due course got widely acclaimed as one of the most appealing action shooters. Splendid visuals and wacky humor were its defining characteristics. Lately, we have become rather annoyed when certain developers labor under the misconception that their projects faithfully express a healthy Pythonesque sense of humor. But, looking back on Planet Moon Studios' Giants, it's safe to say that there are still some gifted people out there who know how to produce a witty game. Armed & Dangerous is Planet Moon's latest endeavor, which so far seems to reflect the spirit and creativity, conveyed in games like Giants, MDK, and Sacrifice. Likewise, the creative team at LucasArts is also known for its many successful attempts to dish out imaginative PC games (forget Star Wars for a moment, and think Monkey Island, Grim Fandango, and Full Throttle). Evidently, they are the right publisher to back up this project. (Why did they cancel the Full Throttle sequel? Why?! - 2Lions)

Looking for the big bad wolf. Maybe he's in that cottage?

Cough it up, shark-boy!

Armed & Dangerous is, according to the folks at Planet Moon, based on a true story. It introduces players to a character named Roman. Our old sod Roman is a criminal mastermind with a cockney accent. (Ed. - Cor blimey me old laddo, bugger off or else you're in Barney!) Helping Roman is a quirky group including a Scottish mole-miner and a rehabilitated killer robot named Q1-11, who also enjoys sipping tea more than anything else in the world. Together, these characters operate as a gang of thieves, called the Lionhearts. As their final harebrained scheme together, the Lionhearts agree to pay a visit to King Forge and relieve him of his most prized possession, the Book of Rule. What started out as a cunning heist, quickly turned into courageous effort against a malicious King and his ruthless army of villains. As it so happens, our protagonists will pull off many heroic deeds along the way, although most of these deeds often turn out to be unintentional. The whole game is crammed with humorous dialogue and well-directed cinematics which accompany players as they get immersed deeper into the plot. Of course, you can expect to hear some poignant voice acting, which was pitched to correspond with the game's hilarious motifs. To perk up the atmosphere just a wee bit, the developers have also worked hard to enhance the overall quality of the audio, concentrating on including authentic sounds of explosions and gunfire.

Similarly to Giants, this game is mostly action-oriented with over 21 missions packed with intense combat. These often oblige you to locate a particular object or checkpoint, but as you progress through the game, some tasks may involve occasional rescue missions and such. Armed & Dangerous also features different single-player modes of play. For instance, you may play Run & Gun or Base Defend. Both of these modes require you to be as destructive as possible in carrying out your main objectives. In Run & Gun you lead your team through vast environments, seeking out and ultimately destroying specific targets with powerful weaponry. The Base Defend, as the header clearly states, is all about protecting your base (usually a town or village) from the armies of King Forge - if King Forge's Grunts manage to climb over the walls, the mission is lost. In this mode players can use gun turrets or mortars to defend their base.

One of Planet Moon's main focuses during the development process was to create a vast array of off-the-wall weaponry so players could enjoy wreaking havoc on anything that moves on the screen. Players will have a chance to wield more than 17 outlandish weapons, some of which are truly devastating and can hurtle about fifteen opponents into the air at a time. When you head off into combat, you'll be able to use the Vindaloo Rocket Launcher, the Cyclops Sniper Rifle, the Topsy-Turvy, the Sticky bomb, and others. (Ed. - A rocket launcher that fires plates of ultra hot Indian food? Rock!!) Later on, players get to mount turrets, such as the Stig Machine, the Forge Cannon, and Gun Turret. Among this entire arsenal, we would like to emphasize the freakishly fun Topsy-Turvy weapon. When put to use, the Topsy-Turvey actually turns the entire scenery upside down, plummeting all enemies in the nearby area into the sky. All of your sharp-witted heroes, however, will be quick enough to grab hold of something before they, uh, fall, or rise, whatever. When the world shifts back to an upright position, you'll enjoy watching the bodies of unfortunate enemies as they come crashing down. Now you gotta love the person who cooked that one up. Believe it or not, the kookiness doesn't stop there. At various points in the game, you'll get to employ the groovy land-shark launcher. (Ed. - These guys have been reading too many Far Side comics.) This mother of a weapon unleashes two huge sharks with a hefty appetite for any living flesh that happens to cruise the lands. Just set them loose and watch them gulp down their pray. The merriment never stops as even odder weaponry comes your way. Like the black hole, which can suck everything on the screen in a matter of minutes - all objects and foes are helpless in its vicinity. (It'll be REALLY hard to talk about weapon balancing in this one. - 2Lions)

I swear I saw an oliphant over there.

That's a larch. No, it's a horn-beam! Maybe, a willow?

Maintaining the tone from games like Giants and MDK, the developers have poured in hordes of ill-tempered foes into the picture, a lot of which can easily be annihilated once you put the abovementioned cool weapons to use. Still, the enemies are not to be underestimated, especially when they are guided into battle by the so-called Captains. These dudes are trained to deal with any situation, exercising efficient military combat tactics, such as flanking, cover fire, effective grenade lobbing, and so on. Other enemies are quite sizeable and a pickle to deal with, causing you to resort to weapons like rocket launchers. The toughest and most lethal opponents you'll meet along the way will be the colossal Goliaths and the insane chaingun-wielding Q1-12's, an upgraded version of your teammate robot Q1-11. At various stages throughout the game, you'll also have to tackle with a number of boss behemoths. (Go ahead and call them by their real name - giants!! - 2Lions)

Most of the surroundings you'll be traveling to are huge and jam-packed with interactive objects. Level designers went for a unique look, which seems to be an imaginative mix of sci-fi and fantasy. Some environments include snowy regions, high-peaked mountains, rain-spattered cliffs, while others take you into deep and ominous forests.

To power all of the fast-paced demolition, Planet Moon plans to utilize what they call a successor to the Giants engine, which features all the delicacies of modern-day graphics, such as, bump mapping, environmental mapping, effective use of pixel shaders, etc. So, when the action begins (i.e. when buildings start exploding into chunks), you can expect the engine to handle the situation. Also, this engine successfully renders a larger number of objects and 3D character models. The developers fitted in an excellent physics model that uses all those cool and nifty effects like realistic collision, ragdolling, and such. The creative team assembled for Armed & Dangerous already proved their talents many times in the past, so we don't have any doubts when it comes to artwork, character design, and level design. (Ed. - We hope.)

At the present moment, we're waiting to find out more details about the multiplayer, since the jolly lads at Planet Moon have decided to keep tight-lipped on that one. Oh well, if all of you recall, Giants didn't lack such an option, which indicates the developers' desire to incorporate a solid multiplayer mode as well as an in-depth single-player experience.

Armed & Dangerous seems to possess all the essential qualities of a fine 3rd person shooter. Players will get to accompany Roman and his gang in an adventure filled with inadvertent heroism, non-stop action, and dirty jokes. The game is set to be genuinely funny, and that is a true rarity these days. Hell, just look at the intro movie we've got lined up for you! According to LucasArts, the PC and Xbox versions of the game will arrive just in time for the holidays - on December 12th, 2003.