State of Emergency is a frantic beat 'em up that is a bit too shallow.
There are two modes. These unlock another three levels and three characters, all of which play exactly the same. The first is Kaos, which is simply a high score grab. As you barrel around, you're given access to a variety of weapons, including a baseball bat, sword, taser, and hatchet. Also on hand are a standard assortment of guns: Uzi, shotgun, pistol, AK, grenade launcher, and flamethrower. In a nice touch, parts of the environment such as trash cans and stools can be utilized. Using these means (not to mention your fists and your feet) your rioter breaks windows, damages cars, and takes out thugs for points. Multipliers help achieve goals that open up other, albeit similar, variations in Kaos, such seeing how quickly you can dispatch 200 mindless clones.
Kaos is the most kinetically pleasing portion of the game. There is something exhilarating (and yet disturbing) about firing into a crowd like a maniac. It’s unfortunate then that the combat isn't very deep. Besides kicking and punching, you can execute a toss and perform a strange tornado attack. Even more frustrating is the camera, which hinders you from seeing where your next foes are coming from. The R1 button centers it behind the player, and the right analog stick can manually move it about, but more often than not it is the source of missed opportunities (and unexpected beatings). Once you tire of totally senseless destruction, SoE offers a mission-based mode called Revolution. Weapons are much more scarce here as your contact within the revolution assigns you tasks to help their cause. These goals (all 150+ of them across 4 stages) have a way of being very repetitive, as most involve fetching items or protecting friends. This is exacerbated by the lack of voice work in the mission screens. Choosing to use text only strips the personality out of what you're doing. Essentially no matter what is assigned, all you see is a "Point A to Point B to Point C" runaround.
The lack of available weapons, and the speed at which your ammo run out turns most tasks into a massive 10 versus one braws. And because there are no especially deep ways to approach combat, you just button mash and hope for the best. Most times running is the best option which also gets old quickly.
Graphics are slightly above average at the time. Models and backgrounds are not too detailed, but that was most likely sacrificed due to the sheer volume of characters. Animations are smooth, including various fire and gore effects.
The sound is average. The levels are peppered with generic crunching guitars that fit the theme, but are otherwise not very special. The little voice work present is adequate. Kaos mode features a chipper announcer that calls your attention to where points are to be had and the characters spout off their rough and tough lines at the selection screen. Weapons sounds and the cries of civilians are what you'd expect.
Where the game fails is a lack of depth. Once you grow tired of the visceral feeling of gunning down endless citizens and causing mass destruction, there's nothing else to do besides a boring, GTA-lite story mode. Even though nowadays the game can be purchased for the equivalent of a rental, prepare for no more than a few hours of enjoyment. While classic beat 'em up games have never been known for their wealth of options or varied gameplay, even SoE has little going for it beyond its unique atmosphere.