XS

History

Some games are preceeded by substantial hype. XS was touted as the Quake-killer, the game to dethrone the king. Most hyped games are not what they turn out to be

Most Doom and Quake games and clones are a battle of egos between very smart game players, who outshine the deviousness of the best computer controlled intelligence. Most of the time the bad guys only win if their programmers allow them to cheat their way to an advantage

Company Line

The Game That Stalks Back! Bored of hunting mindless drones that loll around dungeons waiting to be put out of their misery? Tired of blowing away demons that couldn't catch a cold? Need a challenge? How about a game that gives you a deathmatch every time whether you're on a network or not? With an A.I. that hates you. With 60 unique psychotic gladiators. With enemies that think like a human opponent and track you down. Enemies that lay traps and can smell your fear. Enemies that know where you're hiding. With enemies that want to kill you. Like a dog. XS. This is the end of mindless violence.

Game Play

The artificial intelligence does know when to dodge your fire and when to turn and run and heal up to return and fight another day. All 60 of the opponents fight differently. Some charge and others use cover to good effect. Others ambush you. This is one of the best first person shooter artificial intelligences that we have seen in computer opponents.

Combat equipment includes grenades, bombs, lasars, an upper left hand screen corner radar display, and normal standard weapon with unlimited rounds. Drop cams are interesting camera devides that can be dropped anywhere and detonated from anywhere killing anyone in their proximity.

Plot

Mercinaries battle in confined arenas for lots of money.

Graphics

Poorly pixelateed blocky enemies both at long range and close up. Did not live up to the graphic hype in the game. The backgrounds are beautifully texture mapped and light sourced. The characters are three dimensional polygon creations. There is no high resolution graphics support for the game making the graphics boring by comparison.

Animation

Tha animated, computer-rendered introductions, briefings, and cut scenes blow quake out of the water for sheer beauty. Too bad this graphic excellence did not translate itself into the game

Voice Actors

Music Score

Sound Effects

Utilities

Slow animation and graphics on high speed machines.

Multi-player Features

Play with up to four human players total via IPX network, and four computer controlled players. There is no modem play support, a significant flaw.

Cheats, Hints, Walkthrough

Journalists

Publish your own review right here, just email us the text.

References

George T. Chronis, PC Games, volume 4, number 4, April, 1997, pg. 69, 62%.
Andrew Sanchez, Boot, volume 2, number 8, April, 1997, pg. 106, 60%.
Jeffrey Tschiltsch, Computer and Net Player, volume 3, number 12, May, 1997, pg. 81, 70%.
GT Interactive XS Web Site>

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