Assault Rigs by Psygnosis
Game type: Simulation
No. of Players: Up to 2 players with Link Cable
Rating: Kids to Adults
Review by Van T.Tran

The Story:
Set in the futuristic world, Assault Rigs is the name of the sport that is
replacing the so-called traditional barbaric sports of the twentieth century.
Players are no longer compete in a real environment, but are immerse in a
virtual reality network called the Net. In Assault Rigs, you are a jockey
taking control of a virtual reality tank called a Rig. Your goal is to drive
your Rig in a maze-like arena full of traps, moving platforms, enemies, and
to collect a specified amount of Gems within a time period in order to move
on to the next level.

Gameplay (8):
 While the game offer up to 5 different perspectives, you will play the game
mostly through the first person perspective. The others are mostly use for
strategic planning, such as zooming out giving you an eye-bird view of the
arena, or the cross hairs view for shooting distance enemies. The game begins
by giving you a choice of 3 different Rigs. The Rigs ranging from the slow,
but tough armored vehicle to the fast, but lightly armored. I prefer the 2nd
Rig which gives you a well-balanced vehicle. In 2 players mode, you can
select the Rig Rumble which pits you against your opponent. Whoever receives
the least damage win. Otherwise, you play in the Gem Warz setting for the 1
player. The game has up 50 levels of mind bending and intense actions.
However, as I soon found out, it does get very repetitive after the first 15
levels. For me, the gameplay just doesn’t offer enough of the adrenaline and
excitement. Basically, you are just trying to collect enough gems to advance
to the next level. If you are destroyed before that, you just start over
again at the same level, try to memorize the maze, and be more careful. But
it is all presented very well and it is quite fun, you just don’t get the
same rush of adrenaline as in Doom. With the loading time, Psygnosis is
improving with each new release. Wipeout is just totally intolerable, but
with Assault Rigs, you get a meter indication of the loading time which is
about 5 seconds, and while loading during game play, you get the password for
the next level. So by the time you wrote down the password, you are ready to
begin the game. Very smart, in fact you can tell that the developer has put a
lot of attentions to the details with it excellent menu presentation.

Graphic (9):
The graphics for the beginning levels are simple enough, but with each
advancement, the levels are more details and more complex. The 3-D
environment is done very well with no pop ups whatsoever. You will be impress
by it smooth mapped texturing and scaling. The detail of each tanks is simply
awesome. Each time you equip your Rig with a different weapon, the turret
will morph into the reflecting weapon. Some weapons are a total blast to use,
like the Fly By Wire Missile. When it is fire, your viewpoint is transferred
to the missile as it hit the target-- somewhat like Virtual Cop. 

Sound (9):
What impress me most about this game is the sound. The folks at Psygnosis
recorded the sound in Dolby Surround, so you get an enveloping surround sound
field, with deep bass and suitable techno music for the game. For the players
that have the Theater setup with their TV, this is truly an awe inspiring
experience in gaming. When you destroy an enemy, you can hear the shattered
pieces going to many different places from the front and rear speakers. In
fact, the sound would have gotten a perfect 10 if it wasn’t for the annoying
announcer. It has some of the stupidest phrases like "Are you having fun
yet?", "Remember, this is only a game!", "You are entering an "arener"!,
just to name a few.

Control (8):
You will have no problem with the control and can easily roam the 3-D
environment freely. Some Rigs are easier to use than others. The heavy one is
slow, the lighter one is fast but with more of a gliding effect. Your Rigs
can do some spectacular jumps of a ramp, glide a short distance, be knocked
upside down (which can be easily flip back), and when your rig is close to
the edge, it will have a teeter effect. The control configuration is very
logical and all the buttons are in use. You can change weapons on the fly,
and the strafing would be easier to use if it utilizes one button instead of
L1 and R1. And with 5 different perspectives, you can maneuver your rigs
whichever ways suitable.  The only negative aspect that I could think of is
the jerky camera angle as it will zoom forward and backward and not fix,
making it difficult to maneuver your Rig at time.

Overall (8):
From the moment of the amazing "Tron" like intro, you know that this will be
a special game. Fortunately, the gameplay does not let up. It seems like the
developer has put a lot of thoughts and finishing touches to it. The gameplay
offers some very interesting graphics, superior sound, great control, and
levels galore. I can’t, however, recommend that this is a definite must buy,
simply because it does get quite repetitive for me after an extended play.
Rent it first and if you have the appetite to finish the game, it will
certainly make a nice addition to your collection. 

Other Recommendation: Warhawk (8); Doom (9)