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Exclusive first-person gothic shooter.
There are first person shooters that go through the motions. That have some nice graphics, a tweaked engine based on one of the traditional games. And they're... nice.
Ashen isn't nice.
There are some games where you're helped through the levels, gently shown everything and put on a shallow learning curve so you never get scared or worried.
Ashen is scary.
There are 3d engines that look truly scrumptious but don't have a huge amount of gameplay behind them.
Ashen looks wonderfully dangerous.
Look, let's cut to the chase. A lot of people are taking time and care over Ashen. This isn't a quick push the MMC Card out of the door. This is obvious even in the back story that's built up around the game. Your sister, for weeks beforehand, has been warning of an approaching apocalypse. Not surprisingly, nobody listened. Guess what's happened.
That's right, and as everyone runs to escape the madnesss, the horror, and the 20 foot high spider creatures, you (Jacob Ward) are steeling yourself for one of those stupid, heroic, single man missions to head back into the city, find your sister and work out how to stop the horror.
Enough of that, you want to know the important things. Do you get a shotgun? And does it make a good bang when you pull the trigger? Yes and yes.
For those of you who've seen and played Red Faction, you'll want to know if Ashen is of a similar standard.It's not. It's better. It's snappier, looks better, has more atmosphere and is generally more immersive. If Red Faction was your average American Sitcom, then Ashen is the Seinfeld of first person shooters.
And when you do close the gates of horror (or before) you've got two seperate maps available for four player deathmatch action using Bluetooth. It's here that one of the key elements, map design, comes to the fore, with some lovely areas of sniper spots, chases, ambushes and all out carnage.
Ashen is due out in in the summer, and we'll be carrying a full review on its release. But start saving your pennies now - this N-Gage exclusive game is going to be the start of the N-Gage Games Revival. ES
Publisher: Nokia
Developer: Taorus Games
UK Release: June 2004 |
Wonderful back story.
Ghost Vision Camera. |
Very mid 90's feel, to the engine.
Controls could feel cramped.
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| 8/10 |
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anticipation |
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