Look! Up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! Er, it’s…..a lizard? Review

Look! Up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! Er, it’s…..a lizard?

Mr. Gex and Agent Xtra had worked together for a jolly long time, solving

international mysteries and putting away some very bad chaps. But it all came

to a untimely end when Agent Xtra was mysteriously kidnapped.

Now, Mr. Gex has dedicated himself to rescuing his lost partner. Without

her, I fear HE will be lost.

Agent Xtra: Gex! Gex!

Gex: Agent Xtra, you poor kidnapped minx.

Agent Xtra: Hey tiger, guess where I am. Trapped in the media dimension.

Rez is back and he’s kidnapped me to get to you. He’s attacking your secret

island cave!

Gex: Bummer. Speaking of secrets, you wanna see my…

Agent Xtra: Gex! Quit clowning around and get me out of here. This place is giving me the creeps.

——-

Not too bad a start; sounds like a decent, if somewhat overused, story hook.

Will Gex rescue his partner against overwhelming odds? Villains thwarting his

efforts at every turn…Tricky puzzles barring his way… Silly situations to

distract him…

Well, that’s what we’re hoping for and Gex 3: Deep Cover Gecko provides

a lot of it. Like the last Gex game, Gex 3 is a third-person action/platform

game. While it maintains the series’ tongue-in-cheek attitude, it’s just a bit

too dull to hold your interest in the long run.

You play as Gex, master of disguise, secret agent extrordinaire. Your goal:

explore the various links into the media dimension (otherwise known as television

sets) in an effort to discover where your partner is being held captive (As

players, we all know that it HAS to be the very last one, right?).

Each individual area represents a different genre of movie. There are 3 basic

goals which you can choose from in each section. Choosing one will give you

a brief movie which outlines what you need to do to achieve your that goal and

receive a TV remote. It doesn’t much matter which you pick. Completing any goal

will allow you to exit the level (even if you have previously completed that

goal).

The first

area, The Pole, is a fairly good example of the rest of the game. The goals?

Create 5 Ice Sculptures, whack 5 Snowboarding Elves, and defeat Evil Santa.

You can also get a remote for tracking down all 100 fly coins in an area.

The basic rule for every level is ‘if it moves, whack it!’ Most creatures

(and a few fairly animate objects) will vanish and give you one or more fly

coins if you nail them with your tail a few times. You’ll also probably get

an interesting sound effect or phrase. Alfred, your turtle butler, will also

show up but only talks to you if you belt him one. Obviously a closet masochist.

The sound in this game is fairly decent throughout, and there are LOTS of

sampled voices. The elves are sarcastic (“Hey, I’m snowboarding here!”) and

mocking (“You better run!”). Evil Santa is even in character, “You’re on my

List!” However, you’ll hear the same few phrases so many times in a given level

that you’ll probably feel totally justified in whacking the elves and eventually

get tired of forcing the penguins to make distressed chicken sounds.

Still, each area has its own individual set of sounds. And some of those areas are really interesting. There’s a murder mystery, an Egyptian pyramid, a war film, anime, fairy tales, legends, and a number of others. I really enjoyed the level of silliness on the superhero level.

Unfortunately, Gex 3 suffers from the same camera tracking that plague

most games of the genre. It can get frustrating just trying to jump from Point

A to Point B. In addition, the plot is disjointed. It’s all just strung together

bits of wackiness.

But while I’m a big fan of wacky, there’s just no spark. There’s nothing in

this game that really catches you and makes you want to keep playing. There

are certainly some funny moments, but this is a rental, not a purchase. Looks

like Gex should stay undercover.