Why does a mining unit have so many missles? Review

Why does a mining unit have so many missles?

That might only be the first question that you have regarding the rather weak

plot of Ghen War. Sometime in the future… we have made peaceful contact with

an intelligent alien race, the Ghen. They have entered our solar system and we

have set up exchanges and cooperative projects, including a mining mission on

mars. Suddenly, without warning, they turn violent! You, your crew and ship, and

the unlikely mining device, the hypersuit are all that stand in the way

of alien domination. Don’t expect help from earth, the Ghen have been implanting

our leaders with mind control devices.

As the only person who knows how to pilot the powerful hypersuit, you gotta save the earth. The suit itself looks like the robotic loader from the movie Aliens. But for some reason, it also seems to have extensive military capabilities. The range of available weaponry is extensive. There are two kinds of lasers, grenades, mines, two kinds of missiles, two kinds of rockets, and a weapon called the spike which stuns the enemy. You can also drop decoys (inflatable? holographic?) that look just like you and confuse the Ghen.

The Ghen have several weapons of their own. There are two kinds of basic soldier, laser turrets, scout ships, some tanks, a couple of long-limbed triped walkers, a little jumping tank called the raider, the snail, and the big Behemoth. All the Ghen units are fully rendered in 3D and look really good (or scary when they’re closing down on you). These units have a lot of different weapons as well. It is important to know weather an enemy is going to fire rockets at you, or try and drain your energy

The 3D terrain map generator is flawless. Its crisp, accurate, and flows smoothly. Jumpin’ Jack Software can pat themselves on the back for this accomplishment.

Where this game really lacks is playability, especially at first. Unlike a simple ‘Doom’-style movement environment, you have many, many more options in Ghen War. Your hypersuit’s jumping ability let you leap up hills or down into chasms. What you see on the screen isn’t your full range of vision either. You can look all around while standing in or moving. Unless you change your view when climbing a hill, it stays level with the horizon, which means you are just looking at the dirt and can’t see the enemy. Sometimes an enemy will be just above, or just below your line of site. You can also move left and right with or without rotating. Plus you have to switch between your dozen or so weapons and kill the Ghen.

All this makes Ghen War a very difficult game to get the hang of. Until you get the knack of all the different controls and degrees of movement, it can be very frustrating. If you have the patience and the coordination to learn to play the game, its actually fairly good. But the high difficulty and complexity will fail to please most people.