atch out! Beware! Read this review carefully before opening a box of Planet Moon Studios' Giants: Citizen Kabuto. This is an action/strategy game like no other. More on that later, but first the story. A drifting meteor has transformed into a verdant jungle. In turn, this paradise is the arena for three races battling for its territory. Players game through the Giants' story in a three-campaign tale featuring each race in turn.
The Meccs are the first race up to bat. These Brit-tongued folks crashed on the meteor and only want to find their mates and return to their supposed United Kingdom-like planet. Players control a handful of these powered-armored troopers from a third-person, Lara Croft-type perspective as they blast across the island, destroying everything in their path. The next campaign centers on Delphi, the daughter of Queen Sappho. The evil Queen and her minions run the planet, but Delphi takes issue with the callous manner in which they rule. Delphi is a powerful magician and uses magic to win her missions. The final campaign focuses on the Citizen Kabuto of the box cover. Kabuto is a giant who loves to run amok on the island, eating its inhabitants and causing much mischief.
The above description undoubtedly paints Giants in to the action-game corner, and much of the game is in fact action-oriented, but there is more. In both the Mecc and Delphi campaigns gamers will have the opportunity to build bases. These are built by Smarties, the hilarious indigenous island species. Additionally, to keep the Smarties alive, you'll have to feed them. Accordingly, the game takes on a bit of a real-time strategy feel. Heck, even Kabuto can lay eggs, which hatch into miniature Kabutos. These young'uns trail their parent, pillaging the countryside along the way. There is a strong multiplayer suite, but that requires the patch (available at Interplay's site) to work properly.
Gorgeous graphics as genres collide
Giants is to gaming as a good pasta salad is to food: cool, delicious and full of surprises. Part action, part strategy, the game challenges twitchers as well as intellectuals. Better still, the challenge is blended delightfully well--the strategy never weighs down the action, nor does the action ever become mindless mayhem.
The uniqueness of the three playable races is fantastic. The Meccs play similar to Microprose's Starship Troopers. They blast people, work in squads and can use their jump packs to fly short distances. On the other hand, Delphi plays game like a curvaceous mage with a wicked bag of spells. Her tornado incantation, which picks up her enemies and drops them with a satisfying splat, must be witnessed to be truly enjoyed. Conversely, Kabuto plays like a big, goofy, big, dangerous, big lug. Did we mention that he is big? The giant tromps the land eating Smarties for nourishment, and is more than a match for any single enemy that he strides across. Each race demands a different strategy, and--with one exception--playing each race is like starting a new game.
That exception is the stunning graphics. There are 24 islands on this meteor, and each is rendered beautifully. From the sparkling seas to the lush jungles, these graphics are more than a pretty face--they are absorbing. The visuals create a world in which gamers may enter without fear of any optical clues that this game is anything but reality.
On the down side, the game shipped with significant compatibility problems, and sometimes crashed. Worse yet, the multiplayer suite would not work. Interplay's patch seems to have fixed both problems, but it would have been nice to get it correct right out of the box.
Nevertheless, Giants got so much right that it is hard not to love it. The title's seamless blend of action/strategy, three enjoyably unique races and lavish graphics make Giants a game that will not be soon forgotten.
Wow! This is game pushes the envelope. A must-have for action and strategy gamers alike.
-- Mark
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