Binding: Video Game EAN: 0650001222217 ESRB Age Rating: Everyone Label: Metro 3D, Inc. Manufacturer: Metro 3D, Inc. Platform: Sega Dreamcast Publisher: Metro 3D, Inc. Sales Rank: 15113 Studio: Metro 3D, Inc.
Editorial Review: Top-down space shooters, so popular in the late '80s, have gone the way of leg warmers and Mr. T. With the influx of richly textured 3-D worlds and interactive environments, old-school shooters aren't exactly in massive demand. But Armada for the Dreamcast boldly bucks that trend by giving gamers more than just a rehashed shooter. Armada takes the addictive formula of breakneck shooting action and melds it ingeniously with role-playing game (RPG) elements such as involved character interaction and a growth system based on experience points.
As a member of Allied Command, you must annihilate the destructive Armada whose reign threatens all humankind. But behind this simplistic premise lies a deep gameplay system, where you travel within an enormous galaxy filled with space stations, supernovas, planets, and a battery of Armada ships. Although you are assigned primary missions, there are plenty of secondary objectives, spaceship tweaking, and status building during the nonlinear gameplay. In this way Armada cleverly interjects rapid shooting action with involved strategy elements to create a unique experience. Throw in four-player simultaneous play--with up to four people onscreen at once--and Armada has plenty of multiplayer fun as well. --Sajed Ahmed
Pros:
Loaded with elements of sci-fi, fast shooters, and tactical play
6 distinct races to choose from
RPG-like credit system, where you earn credits to spend on tweaking your ship
Create and name your own character
Cons:
The environments are muted
Gameplay can become monotonous
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: - This game is SIC!
I dont care what any of you people gotta say about this game. I own a plasma tv, and I got a ps3, so dont tell me what good graphics are. The graphics in this game are sweet, even for this day and age. I loved the fact you could be different alien races and each race had a different power and abilities. I loved them all.
As for you people giving this a one rating,, Ive been playing video games since I was four and Im 26 now, and this is probably one of the games that I remember the most for that time of gaming history. The N64 was sweet too, I own a Wii and I get to play alot of those games still, I just wish that Sega would release some of these classics on for next gen networks cause I would buy all of them.
Trust me, the gameplay is sweet in this game, the only problem is when you play multiplayer and you go opposite directions, then you really cant go anywhere the screen gets stuck, but its easliy dealt with a little communcation. Me and my friends played this game for over a month straight without taking it out of the system, except for the occasional 2k sports and ready 2 rumble. Oh yeah dont forget Marvel vs. Capcom 2, the dreamcast was made for the hardcore gamers who didnt care about being call a nerd, cause you have to admit, gaming back then wasnt considered a cool thing to do. Me and my friends didnt have nothing else to do in a town populated with 5000 people so we played this game on dreamcast.
Rating: - A massive mistake!
First, don't get me wrong: I love 2D space shooters and RPGs. 'Armada' is a mix of these fine genres, but it's a very poor mix. It fails as a shooter because it has bad controls and poor action; It fails as an RPG because story and characters are never developed.
And here's the most ridiculous thing: this game has no end. That's right: after you beat all missions, you just keep flying on space, fighting the aliens as if nothing had happened. What's the point of beating the game, then?
This may be 'Asteroids' on steroids, but that is not nearly enough to make it actually fun.
Rating: - A massive mistake!
First, don't get me wrong: I love 2D space shooters and RPGs. 'Armada' is a mix of these fine genres, but it's a very poor mix. It fails as a shooter because it has bad controls and poor action; It fails as an RPG because story and characters are never developed.
And here's the most ridiculous thing: this game has no end. That's right: after you beat all missions, you just keep flying on space, fighting the aliens as if nothing had happened. What's the point of beating the game, then?
This may be 'Asteroids' on steroids, but that is not nearly enough to make it actually fun.
Rating: - Armada - A good game that could have been much better.
No genre goes back as far as the shooter. The first computer game, the 2 player Space War, was a shooter, with subsequent titles, such as the classic Asteroids, being more complete versions of that original concept. In many ways, Armada could be seen as a successor to those two titles. Indeed, control is handled much the same way, as is the perspective, but Metro3D intended for it to be much more. In essence, Armada could be said to be 2 parts Asteroids & 1 part Populous. If this is the combination Metro3D was going for, they did not entirely succeed.
While everything looks very crisp and clean, nothing ever really looks quite good enough to impress the fact upon you that you're playing a Dreamcast game. There's nothing here that couldn't be done on the Playstation, albeit with a bit of texture warping. That said, the lighting and translucency effects are easy on the eyes, and the textures are clean. Add to that the fact that there are quite a few enemies on-screen at any given time, and you have a game that looks good, even if it doesn't exactly tax the Dreamcast hardware.
Armada has an adequate sound package. The music is quite good, consisting of the usual orchestral science-fiction scores, that stack up quite well. Whether you complete a mission, get your ship upgraded or get defeated in space (at which time you're transported back to Earth) you are awarded with appropriate music, fitting each particular mood, as the soundtrack tries its best to give the game an epic feel. Voice acting is also quite competent, and in most cases sounds better than 90% of the B-Movie dialogue most companies seem to be going for (probably by accident). As far as the usual bells and whistles, there all there too. Explosions, weapons, alien screams, etc. all sound very good, not to mention quite loud. Another invaluable aspect is that allies can and will make themselves known, at which point you can choose whether or not to assist them in their mission (you will be awarded appropriately with a sum of credits). Whenever you manage to get the audio aspects of a game to assist in the actual gameplay, rather than just supply a mood, you know you've done something right. Armada delivers on both counts.
Armada's controls are simple and straightforward. You use the Analog stick to rotate your ship, and the analog triggers for acceleration (energy-draining warp engines, or standard sub-light engines). The D-Pad also is used, but not for out and out control. By pressing down on the D-Pad over an appropriate site (planet, space station, etc.), you will enter other areas for combat, or in the case of Earth, refuel and rearm your Power Pods (smart bombs). Pressing up on the D-Pad while in these sites will of course cause you to blast back out into space. While the system quickly becomes second nature, and is never too cumbersome to drain from the game, the amount of actions is probably a bit too limited (scan/converse, shoot, smart bomb, accelerate) for a game trying to be a "Shooter RPG."
While not a bad game by any means, the promise of a "Shooter RPG" seems to get hopes up a little too high, because when all is said and done, Armada is basically just an overhead, mission-based shooter with a few elements of role- playing, such as conversing with NPC's and levelling-up thrown in for good measure. The multiplayer aspects of the game add some much-needed life into a game that can get extremely repetitive rather quickly, but oftentimes it also can become frustrating when you have players who choose not to cooperate. Another downer is the open-ended gameplay, because as soon as every mission is completed, you basically have nothing more to do, and it seems more like a way to cheat the player out of a proper ending, than a "feature." As a shooter alone, Armada would have been a passable title, but throw the letters "RPG" in there, and you have a game that cannot possibly live up to the hype.
Armada, if a bit of a let down, was and is a good idea in concept, if falls a bit short in execution. Don't get me wrong, Armada is an enjoyable game, especially if you like shooters, but it simply doesn't deliver the role-playing experience Metro3D seemed to promise. Multiplayer is a nice touch, when used properly, but the open-ended game cheats the avid gamer who completes the game, from a more fulfilling experience. Unless Metro3D plans to have additional missions for download into a VMU or the upcoming ZIP Drive, this is a mistake. Rumor has it that Metro3D is already planning to correct the mistakes and provide a more thorough role-playing experience in the sequel. If this is true, perhaps then gamers will get the overall experience they deserved with this game. As it is, Armada is a welcome, if somewhat disappointing addition to the US Dreamcast library.
Rating: - A really addicitve game.
This game is great. The graphics and sound are good. Basicly you conytrol a little space ship blowing aliens up and completing missions. The missions are cool but the thing I like nost is just flying around and trying to level up and make tons of cash. When my friends and I get together and play a four player game, it makes the game several times more fun. Don't believe the people that gave this game bad ratings. After reading thier reviews I can obviuosly tell that they didn't even know what they were doing when they played. "There is no RPG elements whatsover," my god people, didn't you realize that you gain XP and levels and can buy items. So don't believe them. Buy this game it is COOL.
- This game is SIC!
- A massive mistake!
- Armada - A good game that could have been much better.
