GameSpot editors' review
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CNET editors' rating:
stars
Mediocre
Detailed editors' rating
- Reviewed on: 01/15/1998
- Updated on: 05/02/2000
- Released on: 11/30/1997
- Originally published on GameSpot: X-Men: The Ravages of Apocalypse (PC) Review
X-Men: The Ravages of the Apocalypse is a Quake Total Conversion developed by Zero Gravity Entertainment. As might be surmised from its name, the game is based on Marvel Comics' popular X-Men series.
The setting of X-Men begins with Earth having been ravaged by war for years by something (or someone) called Onslaught. While defending the Earth, such stalwart characters as the Fantastic Four and the Avengers have perished along with countless human defenders. The remaining X-Men are down on their luck and regrouping to fight again someday. In the power vacuum left after this great struggle, the nefarious Apocalypse, with the aid of a Mystery Ally, has created an evil army of cloned X-Men warriors to fulfill his quest to rule the world. Your character is a minion of Magneto, a rival of and potential foil to Apocalypse in his goal of world domination. Your job is to kill Apocalypse and then find his ally.
Although the background of X-Men: The Ravages of the Apocalypse is as fanciful and fun as any good comic book yarn, that does not mean it translates well in good gameplay. The Quake engine gives X-Men a familiar feel in movement and sound, but I found that it fell short in providing the immersive atmosphere that Quake is renowned for. Surprisingly, when running X-Men in GL, it moves slowly at times and the characters lack the fluid motion of those in Quake. The level designs range from bland to fairly detailed, although the pastel colors are quite unappealing.
Another drawback is that the game is actually hard to play. After selecting the "easy" skill thinking I would be in for a turkey shoot, I found that the weapons provided were not adequate enough to kill the enemies and still retain enough health points to survive an encounter with the next group of mutants. For the most part, the weapons are clumsy, and if you're not careful, they will do a better job killing you than the bad guys. Weapons included are the power fist, shotgun, chain gun, plasma cannon, flamethrower, orb launcher (grenade launcher), dual rocket launcher, and the Nuclear Energy Radiation Launcher or NERD for short, which is something akin to a BFG.
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