Fact Check

Title: State of Emergency

System: Sony PlayStation 2

Developed by: Vis

Published by: Rockstar

Suggested Retail Price: $49.99

Available: Now

ESRB Rating: Mature – Blood and gore,violence

The venerable “beat ?em up” genre of video games largely faded with the rising popularity of fighting games and the gradual decline of the arcade in the last decade. Old cooperative side-scrolling classics such as “Double Dragon” and “Final Fight” gave way to more complex ventures, and the day of the quarter-munching action brawler passed years ago.

But the spirit of the street brawling genre is alive and well in “State of Emergency,” New York-based Rockstar Games? follow-up to its critically acclaimed, commercially successful and politically controversial “Grand Theft Auto III.”

Lauded for its “do anything” gameplay in a detailed urban jungle setting, “Grand Theft Auto III” was also heavily criticized for this aspect, and what it allowed; players took control of a petty thug working his way through the city?s criminal underworld, offing plenty of criminals and innocents alike in the process. “State of Emergency,” touted as a “riot simulator,” is just as controversial, but just isn?t as good a game as “Grand Theft Auto III.”

The premise of the game is this: Within 30 years from now, big business es will have overtly gained control of the government. Fed up with the oppressive reign of corporate executives and their faceless enforcers, the citizens finally revolt and a state of emergency is declared. The player takes control of one of five citizens, each with a personal reason for hating the monolithic “Corporation.”

The game initially puts players in control of either an ex-cop nicknamed Mack or a female lawyer nicknamed Libra. As sections of the city are liberated, three more characters become available: the skinny but quick Freak, the lumbering but strong ex-athlete Bull and the former gang member Spanky.

Each character has a different mix of speed and power, but all have the same basic combat moves, including punches, kicks, holds, a 360 degree spin attack and the ability to pick up and use any of the numerous weapons scattered around the game?s four environments.

These weapons include anything from batons, blades, pepper spray and Tazers to small arms, Uzis, AK-47 and M-16 assault rifles, and heavy hitters such as grenade and missile launchers, flamethrowers and Gatling miniguns. Anything loose can also be used as a weapon; benches, trash cans, arms, legs, heads. If it?s lying around, it can be used to hit something else.

And hit things you will. Each of the locations in the game ? the Mall, Chinatown, the East Side and Corporation Central ? is packed with looters, gang members and Corporation thugs, up to 200 on screen at once. The game?s two modes, Kaos and Revolution, require a great deal of beating up and shooting up and blowing up of people and things to progress and unlock the game?s many extras and sub-modes.

In the arcade-style Kaos Mode, the objective is to simply run around, following instructions that pop up on the screen such as to blow up a certain number of buildings, or to eliminate a Corporate executive, along with conditions such as to avoid injuring civilians or get double points for destroying cars or windows. The goal here is to score points, unlocking new areas and tasks for each with high scores.

Revolution Mode follows a slightly different route, though the objectives tend to be similar. The chosen character joins “Freedom,” the resistance movement that instigated the riots, completing various missions for the group, 175 in all spread over the four areas of the city.

Most of these missions, however, involve either killing someone or destroying something, or keeping either of these things from happening to someone or something on the side of the resistance. If a mission fails, don?t fret; a quick trip back to the assigning resistance member will reset the objective, and most of the missions are quite short ? hence the large number of them.

The visuals are a mixed bag. On the one hand, the explosions and weapon effects are well done and the sight of a couple hundred characters running around onscreen at once with no framerate slowdown is impressive. On the other hand, some sacrifices were obviously made to keep things running smoothly; the characters are blocky and not very detailed and the environments, though large, suffer from a similar lack of detail.

The game?s sound is well done, with appropriate sound effects for the milling rioters, Corporation thugs and their respective death cries, and distinct effects for each weapon; the minigun, for instance, really sounds like it?s ripping through everything in its path while the rocket launcher has a forceful whoosh and boom. The music doesn?t fare quite as well, composed of uninspired and repetitive techno tracks, but it gets the job done. With the recent trend toward using licensed music for games, however, it?s surprising that the same wasn?t done here; some appropiately angry metal or punk tunes could have done wonders for the game?s atmosphere.

The control is pretty good, with a few nagging problems; it?s difficult to face the camera to the enemy if being chased, since the camera re-centers to a character?s back, meaning that players are vulnerable to attack while they stop to turn and face attackers; it?s easy to get swarmed under.

Also, some variety in the characters? move sets would have been nice; each character has the same basic moves, altered slightly to match each one?s build and characteristics. The game also cries out for a two-player mode, either cooperative or competitive, or both.

Though not quite the experience it was hyped up to be, “State of Emergency” is an effective, carnage-laden romp through a game world packed with people and places to romp right through. Its biggest weakness is a lack of depth; the game would be perfectly at home in an arcade, happily draining change from players looking for a quick trip to Blow-Stuff-Upsville. At home, however, it can?t hold interest for very long, being suited better for occasional, cathartic play.