Well, I went to Babbages today and picked up my copy of Shockwave, and needless to say it kicks ass!
There are a few things which I don't particularly like, like the fact that you can't fly over pyramids and other objects which seem to look non-square (but the 3DO thinks they are.), the ship is a bit hard to control, but maybe that's just me.
As far as graphics goes, they rock! The scenery is great, I really like zooming in over the little civilian sailing ships out on the ocean and blasting the hell out of them, I just can't resist! All scaling is done very well, and the transparency effect of the 3DO is used to show things that are off in the distance, NICE!
The FMV kicks ass, period. All of it was done with taste, good acting, not corny voices or people like in Crash n' Burn. All of it is very good quality, if this can be done with cinepak I can't wait for MPEG!
The sound is really cool, there is no music during flight, but the sound effects rock. For a real kick play it on a good stereo or with some headphones, you truly get the feeling on being in the ship.
The story is excellent, believable and the FMV really helps bring it along. All of it was well written and is fun to experience.
The game definitely gets much harder as you progress, I have only gotten to level 4 at this time, but it is far from easy at this point. Shockwave is definitely a challenging game!
I was a little shaky about my purchase of the 3DO for a while there when things weren't looking too bright, but now with this game I know that it was a wise choice, things are definitely looking up for the 3DO. With titles like Road Rash, Way of the Warrior, Samurai Shodown, and GEX Gecko coming soon, we all have a lot to look forward to.
Welp, it's time for me to go try and get past level 4!! Wish me luck.
michel.buffa@cmu.edu