Digg.com
Del.icio.us
Reddit.com
Facebook
Slashdot.org
Google Bookmarks
N4G
Stumbleupon.com
GamerBlipsThe name Urban Chaos will immediately cause involuntary shudders and perhaps even seizures from those who remember the terrible PlayStation game of the same name. But worry not, as this is related to that travesty in name only. Indeed, we've seen this in action and it's looking very promising.
Urban Chaos is a first-person shooter where you dismember anyone looking even slightly aggressive, no plot needed. But Rocksteady has gone out of its way to create a nice little plot for us anyway.
So here it is. Futuristic world. City out of control. You are T-Zero member Nick Mason. You have a wad of weapons, a giant riot shield and a health bar. Kill everything you see.
The riot shield in Urban Chaos, as well as having a wonderful damage model, will be your best friend throughout the game. A tap of the shoulder button will bring it into view, protecting you from flames, flying projectiles and, brilliantly, can be whammed right in an unsuspecting antagonist's face.
As strong as it is defensively - and offensively - your manoeuverability is seriously hampered when it's up, so you have to pick and choose your times to lower it. It adds an element of strategy into an often brain-dead genre, particularly on the later levels when the villainous enemies have their own shields.
An anarchic urban wasteland is no place for a loner - if you're going to get by, you're going to need a little help from your big brave chums. Keep your paramedics alive, and they'll reward you by injecting drugs into your arm.
Urban Chaos' city is jam-packed full of burning debris, so it should come as no surprise that you're also backed up by a team of firefighters who will repay you for keeping their manky hides comparatively lead free by clearing paths and chopping down doors for you.
Navigating levels becomes a tortuous process of avoiding backdrafts and trying to fumble your way through rooms belching out thick smoke. Luckily, you naturally come equipped with heat sensor goggles that, if used in tandem with a reasonable level of stealth, allow you to pick off the hapless hooligans at your leisure.
Urban Chaos is shaping up to be an aesthetically pleasing package that looks like it may possibly end up as the sleeper hit of the summer.
