A gem of the game if you have the patience.
Let’s get the negatives out of the way shall we? Most importantly about the game is that the levels were repetitive. Each one had the same old forest/swamp setting with the odd complex building. This was fine if you’re into that sort of thing but a game with this much potential should have more varied environments. I understand that the setting is based around a rebellion in a local setting but hell, make it a global setting and add some deserts or some tundra. They did in the original game, why not here?
Another problem I had was that the way the character responded to your commands was slightly different to what you’d usually be used to in an FPS. This was quite frustrating until you got the hang of it but it really did effect the quality of the first few missions (probably why I enjoyed the game more second time around).
The missions were rather generic. Hack this. Escort that. Kill him. Blow that up. Etc. But that’s not to say they weren’t fun to accomplish, they were just a bit uninspired.
Another niggle was the real lack of vehicular mayhem. Sure you got to blow things up in big ol’ walkers but those moments were very rare. And the speeder bikes were just awful, especially the speeder bike mission.
Onto the positives now. Once you’ve gotten over the issues the game throws at you, a game briming with some very exciting moments. The first thing you notice is the better than average AI. Admittedly sometimes the enemy can be boneheaded (hell, they’re grunts) but sometimes your quarry can shock you. Let me offer an example. Very first mission and you’ve just stolen a machine gun walker. You stumble around the corner to find three armed guards looking quite shocked at you. You open fire and all of a sudden two of the guards run in panick while the other, quite futily, fires a few shots at you before panicking and turning away. Just one of those moments where you sit back and go “Wow” before blowing something else up.
Now, a lot of people have commented on the inventory system. A lot of it bad. I like it. Shocking as it may seem, I know, but I like it. The devs have taken stock of the fact that no-one can carry a whole armoury in their back pocket and have come up with quite a good system. It’s something that should be appreciated and I hope to see it in games for years to come.
Another aspect I quite liked in the more open areas of the game was the ability to bypass enemy footsoldiers unseen using your cunning stealth. Although it was not always perfect, you could save yourself some ammo and health by avoiding unwanted battles. But it does take a lot of trial and error to get the sneaking routine down as you will find your back riddled with bullets the first few times you try.
Graphics
Although not on the same level as many other shooters released at the same time, the graphics aren’t all bad. Considering the size of each map the devs haven’t done a bad job. There are obviously a lot of annoying things such as the same building found twenty times over in the same map.
For me the best bit about the game visually are the bullet sparks. The fact that when you shoot an enemy each bullet produces sparks. I loved it. Reminded me so much of Stargate. I was very impressed each time I made a kill.
Sound
The sound is where the game really struggles. On the music side of things, it’s pretty good. As well as any generic scifi soundtrack could be to be honest.
The weapons are again adequate. There’s not enough grunt behind them yet it’s not as bad as to think you were firing BBs. One good thing about the weapon sounds is that they don’t sound too generic. You could actually believe they were scifi weapons.
Voice overs. Sweet moses. That’s something that can either send shivers down your spine or make you smile at conversations you’ve had with characters you’ve never met. In Chrome, you’d be glad you have never met these people. You know that if you did, they would have their shirts tucked into their underwear and will insist on wearing the most unusual hats. In short, the voices are rubbish. But what else would you expect from a game that was made in Poland?
The redeeming quality is the ambient sounds. They absorb you into the world around you quite well.
Value
With a price tag of £15 brand new off the shelf, this game isn’t much to sniff at. As long as you’re not expecting a super high quality game you’ll be happy with the purchase. Consider it a standalone expansion pack to the previous Chrome and you'll be happy.