Hooligans: Storm Over Europe Review

The European gaming scene is rapidly developing, probably due to the immense expansion of the gaming industry all over, but there are still relatively few European titles that can compare to any of the US block-busters. Still, from time to time, we witness a title that is capable of attracting our attention, if not for its quality, than at least for the innovative ideas it introduced. Hooligans by DarXabre, is one of those games and it deals with football hooligans and their way of life. One of the most important things in their lives is going to the stadium and cheering for their team. Over the decades it became increasingly popular for team supporters to organize themselves and follow their favorite team all over the world. The problem here is that most of them are homicidal maniacs.

Hooligans will truly introduce you to the world of "professional hooligans." This actually did become a certain kind of full-time job which requires some dedication, and working on the other side of the law can be very profitable.

When organized raiding parties of football hooligans come to a city where their team is supposed to play, they usually tend to destroy half of it, unless they are stopped and suppressed by the police and anti-riot units. Using this 'social phenomenon' as its main concept, Hooligans lets you control a group of football hooligans as they follow their favorite team through Euro-league by wreaking havoc in this nice little RTS.

The game is split into missions with different goals which you have to achieve using diverse strategies. For instance, in one you have to break into the stadium, in another, you will have to catch a train, eliminate the enemy hooligans, or protect your bus from them. Your main goal is always to control the Leaders, who will take care of the rest of the tough-boys. There are several types of units in the game, most of them being Hardcore-supporters, but you will also receive some support from NPC supporters you won't be able to control directly...

As for the Hard-core units, you will meet: Bulch (the toughest unit, proficient at melee and breaking things), Biker (who goes to the game on foot, but is capable of using the vehicles he finds during missions), Rat (quick, poor fighter, good burglar), Raver (a mediocre unit good for distracting cops and enemy ravers) and Hooligans (most dangerous when holding a Molotov cocktail or firecrackers). Each type of units has a class-specific weapon; i.e. only the leader can use handguns, and only bikers can use chains.

It is not easy being a gang leader. Your units will frequently be influenced by fear, alcohol and rage. Controlling your units in that state can be a tough task, but the game did not focus on this as much as it did on vandalism and senseless destruction of the cities you came to visit. Your main enemies come in the shape of the opposing team supporters, and of course, the police. Once you get to a new town, you first have to increase your gang by recruiting hooligans in local pubs. This is where you can buy several rounds of drinks to the locals and make them join you. Brothel is used for raising the morale of wounded units, dope shop is there for some additional incentive in hard missions, and the gun shop is where you arm your little army. The only way to obtain resources (€) is to break into shops and residences and loot them. So much about the educational and moral aspects of the game. You can use practically any building to hide from the cops and other enemies.

The interface is clear and neat, and the units are extremely small regardless of the screen resolution. The controls are a bit complicated as you have to open a menu and select the desired action in order to issue any command. When you have to take care about more than twenty units, the game becomes practically unplayable. Getting your enraged units out of a fight you clearly see they cannot win is impossible.

The worst of all is that the AI is completely pathetic, and makes all units act like mindless zombies, and NPCs and cops even worse (which makes it kind of realistic, but still). You can simply hit one cop in a group without the rest of them noticing it.

In spite of the interesting idea, this game is definitely not a winner, and relies too much on senseless violence. And, as I doubt there are too many football hooligans who are playing video games, I somehow think this project isn't going to do too well on the market.