Disruptor (Developed by insomniac Games)


Genre: Corridor shooter
1 player
Memory Card 1block
Teen(Animated Violence)
Difficulty: average/hard 13 levels
3D interior and exterior environments

ALERT!!! ALERT!!! DOOM fans of every creed, Disruptor is here! Yes, to
those of you who enjoy corridor games, you will notice too, Disruptor
is a corridor game. Before Disruptor, Alien Trilogy was the best 3D
corridor shooter to play for your FUNKY PSX. Well, all that has change
now, Disruptor is here, and graphically is now the King of the block.
But there’s more, Disruptor has to be the only PSX corridor shooter
with some brains as well as brawn.

I remember when Alien Trilogy debuted for the PSX, I bought the game
and played it for days on end, searching for every nook and secret
cranny I could find, and blasting my way through the dark corridors, 
with that ever present feeling of dread looming before my eyes each
time I walked near a corner, open a door, or could hear the sounds of
these ghastly creatures luring in the dark. There is something about
this kinda of gaming style I personally find very addictive and hip.
The 3D atmospheres of Alien Trilogy -- combined with the blipping radar
-- transports you to experience the trials of living inside a video
game, well almost. Games of these nature, played in the dark are a bit
creepy, owing to the confusion when suddenly you’re ensued by a vicious
Alien creature plunging at you with that all too familiar screeching 
noise as it tries to mangle you up-close. We never experience this type
of action with 8-16 bit games, and is just now games are becoming more
interactive with the player and with 3D on the rise, corridor games 
will continue to hit the PSX library. Cool!

Well, that was then, and this is now. Disruptor, unlike Alien Trilogy,
is not scary, nor shares the dark mood which made Alien Trilogy and
Doom so popular. But what Disruptor do lend to the player in all its 
glory is fine gameplay, strategy, lock-&-shoot, thinking, accuracy,
music-interaction, and cat-&-mouse gameplay. Is this combination that
sets Disruptor from any other Corridor game, and gives it a character 
of its own with some fresh new insights into games of this genre. But
before we delve into the game, let’s start with the main Menu shall we.

The Main Menu consists of:

New Game
Load Game
Practice Mode
Password
Memory Card Options
Controller Options/ other options include adjusting camera sway to suit
your taste.
Sound options
Credit

Before starting a game, you’ll be asked whether you want to play the
game in normal, or hard settings. For the beginner of corridor games, I
suggest you go with the less intense normal setting. Once you tweak 
the options and find yourself ready and pumped, you’ll enter the game
as a LightStormer. Immediately when you press the start button, however
you will find something wrong rather quickly, the FMV! The cut scenes
have failed to live up to the rest of the game. If there was such a
thing as a Bad-acting Academy Awards, this FMV should receive Top
honors and honorably mention. The quality of the FMV is worst than
mediocre, and looks as though someone grabbed a home video camera,
grabbed a couple innocent guys off the street, rented a room, and shot
the cut scenes. Yes, is that bad, ala Warhawk. Is just very, very 
cheesy. One question, who approved the FMV to be included in this game?
I want to send him/her my personal best. ;-)

Once you start the game, the screen won’t puzzled you with too much
information, after all, this is a corridor game, right? Well, in
Disruptor, there’s a few things you must bear in mind as knowledge is
the power to conquer all things. As LightStormer, you have two
different kinds of weapons under your disposal. Artificial man-made
weapons and Psionic Power. If you fail to understand the concept of
your mental powers you can forget about getting any further than
Missions 5. Disruptor, unlike DOOM or Alien Trilogy, is a thinking
man’s game. The game will not only consist of shooting, but elements
within the game levels and lack of ammunition will keep you on the
edge, and inflict that sense of uneasiness at times when you see the
ammo count reaching the 0 counter. (but more on this later)

GRAPHICS to DIE FOR!

Graphically this game is total perfection. There’s so much detail and
colour here is amazing to behold. By far, Disruptor has to have the
best corridor 3D engine in 32-bit gaming, and none of the details are
marred by pixelation, slow-down, or any pop-up. Of course, when you
walk up close to a wall, you will see some form of pixelization, but
none of the enemies I encountered during the game reminds you of
pixelization. This is definitely not DOOM! The graphic engine looks so
far advance, Doom's 3D engine looks like an aging software done decades
ago. The environments within each level is surprisingly different from
one another. Again, this is not DOOM! You won’t see lackluster colours
here. For you’ll see bright greens, blue, red, yellow, and all the
colours of the rainbow in full display, courtesy to Insomniac. These
guys should try ‘Interior Designing’ if unemployment hits the 90’s,
they are that good. The art is just wonderful, unquestionably very
unique for a corridor game where you’re used to seeing the same level 
designs and wall patterns, thanks to games like DOOM. Disruptor
certainly will set the standard in corridor shooters, and with the
up-coming Tenka and PowerSlave, two Corridor Shooters soon to debut 
late in March, PSX is gradually building a hefty category.

But the level design is not just what sets this game apart with its
twisting spiral stairs, holes, labyrinths, tunnels, floors, elevators,
plains, etc. The weapons have some of the best graphics I seen. The
details of these massive hi-tech guns are very hip, and have that
futuristic appeal to them as they rock from left to right when moving
through the corridors. Remember that stingy bullet effect in Alien
Trilogy when you used the pistol, will, you won’t find that in
Disruptor. The weapons firepower are dazzling rays of special 
effects that reflect the level designs with the same approaching eye
for detail. For example, the AM Cyclone fires five explosive rounds at
once that are round white light balls represented in the screen, and 
move rapidly toward its target with its own unique sound, causing major
damage. The effect is rather tantalizing. The Phase Repeater dishes out
three hails of flashy ammo that is translucent and are exceptionally
neat to follow the trail of these fancied effects. While the Plasma
Lance is one that literally fills up half the screen with a watering,
dissolving beam that waves before you in a bright flashy yellowish 
colour to destroy anything in its path. Cool! The Zodiac when fired,
causes the screen to shake, a nice effect, and destroys all enemies on
screen. But the best effects are the explosions when eliminating 
armored robots. These guys go with a Bang! The rippin’ detonations when
destroying these guys will make you wanta do it again and again and...

But more impressive, as if that was not enough, are the enemies you’ll
encounter in this action-pack game. There’s a total of 20 2D sprite
based deadly enemies to keep you on your toes, and each are very 
well designed and detailed. the Terrorist Droids are incredibly
detailed with all their metallic parts visible with every little
attention to detail. Some units wear flashy and colourful customs that
represent the futuristic setting of Disruptor. I was very impressed!
These guys will make DOOM characters looks like walking blobs of gunky
pixelation. The organic living creatures are colourful and varied in
size. The monkeys are very well animated, ya can see the white’s of
their eyes when up-close and they move with very realistic patterns.
Large flies will snap their giant jaws if you happen to be too close,
their large teeth show up on the screen with a menacing degree as flesh
eaters, and when you’ll encounter their bite size, you’ll learn to
respect these little devils. The amount of detail is incredible! NOTE:
There is considerable fog use here, more so than found in Alien
Trilogy.

GAMEPLAY! Your Mind is the Ultimate Weapon!

Well, just when you thought you got to the best part of the game, your
completely mistaken. Gameplay offers some of the best play in this
corridor shooter. As mentioned above, you have BIG weapons to work 
with, in fact, there’s 9 weapons for selection, including your Psionic
Inventory. Mission 1 starts you in the Gauntlet, is a very simple,
short mission. Is deceiving at first, after completing the first
several missions things look bright for the LightStormer(you), but by
the time you get to the fifth mission, things will start heating up and
start overwhelming you. While the programmers made certain you start
with a simple 18 mm pistol, slowly as you progress you will earn the
right to earn the right for better, cool weaponry. COOL!!! But wait,
just when you thought you were gonna go on a rampage and devastate
everything in your path with all the sick drive for vindication; to
relieve all the stress and pure-pressures of society; to picture
yourself for once saving the world and not being the typical loser that
you are, you’ll realize the ammo is very limited in this game. WHAT!
Say WHAT!!! Where is the justice in this world! Wait, come down, this
is not your typical brainless shooter we encounter in our daily lives.
(Does DOOM come to mind?) This is DISRUPTOR! This is were the core of
the game shines, this is were the programmers decided to add some depth
and gritty slow action into a corridor game. I mean, how much can you
do in a corridor game? Not much. But the programmers did not stop here,
they added the special Psionic Powers that adds an extra dimension of
depth into this classic shooter. This system is what separates
Disruptor from what you call an average clone. Let me explain further,
you’re Psionic Disciplines behaves both offensively and defensively to
make up for the limited ammo supply throughout the various game levels.

Your Psionic Disciplines are broken up into several categories, these
include:

SHOCK: Deadly at close range, this attack costs 5 Psionic points

DRAIN: What appears to be a weak weapon is vital for you to survive.
When the Drain projectile hits an enemy a small blue orb of energy
appears. You have 8 seconds to grab this orb(before it disappears) to 
ADD ITS ENERGY BACK TO YOUR PSIONIC STRENGTH. The number of Drain orbs
is proportionate to the strength of the enemy.

HEAL: Use 20 Psionic points to ass 20% back to your health.

SHIELD: Protect yourself from enemies and hostile terrain by using this
discipline. The shield will remain in effect as long as you hold the
button down (and have a supply of psionic points)

BLAST: This is a costly (25 Psionic points). but awesome weapon which
allows you to destroy multiple targets with one detonation. Projectile
can be guided.

TERABLAST: This special upgrade to the Psionic Blast allows its damage
to pass through walls unaffected.

NOTE: If you no longer have enough Psionic points to use the currently
selected Psionic discipline, you will be automatically switched to
Drain in order to gain your points back. If your Psionic points reach
0, they will recharge to 1 after a short time.

Sounds confusing? No! But one of the main qualifying factors of
Disruptor is using your ammo sparingly and understanding your Psionic
Disciplines in order to proceed further into the game. As you start the
first several levels, your Psionic Powers will be few, in fact, the
first level of the game will only let you utilize the 18mm Pistol gun.
The 2nd Mission will give you the first opportunity to practice your
Discipline while you learn the fine art of jumping in this level. Yes,
you have the ability to jump in Disruptor, however, you cannot look up
or down, but due to the nature of the game, looking up or down is
insignificant. As you progress, you will earn the Drain Discipline, the
Shield, the Blast, etc. The same can be said with physical weapons in
conjunction to earning your Discipline, the deeper you progress the
better selection of weapons will become available. Because of the
limited supply of ammo, you always seem to finish the level just 
barely enough with a few shots available...that is if you make good use
of your Powers. Sometimes power-ups and ammunition can appear just at
the nick of time as the onslaught of enemies become more aggressive and
intelligent. But don’t be dismay, with the use of your Drain
Discipline, you can destroy your enemies, collect their orbs for
recharging your Psionic Powers and save much precious physical 
ammo. You can earn up to 150 Psionic Discipline points, and by using
the ‘SHOCK’ Discipline, you have a good chance of surviving. If you’re
points are running low, no problem, use the ‘DRAIN’ Discipline and 
restock your Psionic points. But just when you have this little system
figure out, using the combination of physical weapons and your
Psionics, the sick programmers from Insomniac will teleport you into
newer levels without the assistance of any physical weapon, is just you
and your mental abilities. Scared yet! Here, the game slows down, not
the action, but the nature of the game. Every yard you move forward now
will have to be earned by pure heroism. Every yard will have to be
fought and contended, neutralize and sweep the trash. It is in these
types of levels where you’ll earn your LightStormer reputation. Mission
6 is such a mission, and Mission 6 will test all your skills and
cunning abilities of running, shooting, and dodging for cover. In this
Mission, when trying to complete the last sector of the mission, one of
the enemies will take many hits from your Drain Discipline in order to
be destroyed, so if you think you’re going to progress unscathed, or
think of yourself as a ‘Bad Ass’, NOT! Fortunately you will be rendered
with the ‘Blast’ Discipline, which with one shot destroys multiple
targets, but at 25 costly Psionic points a pop, this is expensive. This
is were I found the in-depth gameplay of Disruptor. You will have to
learn to give and take in this scrappy system of thinking and shooting.
At times not using your most deadly Psionic Disciplines can often cost
your life, and therefore have to restart from the continued point of
the level. At other times during battle, you have to be stingy using
your Psionics in order to proceed and have enough Discipline to sweep
what’s facing you next, but other times you have to be aggressive and
rid of your enemy unless he drains your own life energy, therefore
costing you much hard-earned saved points. During battle, you will not
always use your Psionic Discipline for mere offensive strategy, some
times you have to think defensively by using the ‘Shield’ and ‘Heal’
Disciplines in order to survive. This give-and-take formula has almost
an RPG FEEL TO THE GAME I have never encountered in any other corridor 
shooter! It’s refreshing to see this kinda gameplay in a corridor
shooter for the less substitute ‘Shoot and don’t ask questions later’.

What’s more, with the game’s 20 different enemies to contend with, you
can be sure you’ll see one or two new enemies per level. This really
adds to the fun as you continue playing this game. There’s always 
something different to behold and keep you interested visually and
gameplay wise. For example: Level 13 has one of the coolest enemy where
he flashes to and fro rapidly across the screen and suddenly manifest 
himself right in front of you. Are you ready? And we’re not talking one
at a time, they come in packs and will try to surround you. Here, is
where the ‘Shield’ Discipline is useful, that is if you’re quick to
think about it.

More Gameplay! Try entering blind intersections with a couple steps,
and quickly back peddle your way back when you hear the enemy has
spotted you. (They often hide in corners to surprise you and you’ll
hear their guns being loaded) Once they spot you, they’ll come after
you, so find a safe place behind a wall and charge your guns or Psionic
Disciplines. In Disruptor, this strategy will assured you success and
get you far into the game, if you’re not careful, forget it. This game
often has tricky spots and congested areas with enemies, so being
careful and taken it slow is highly indicative of survival. In level
Nine (Reactor) for example its the complete opposite. Your objective
here is race against the clock by pulling switches to add time to the
clock before the reactor explodes, if you’re not fast enough through
this labyrinth, and countdown reaches zero, your (__|__) is grass.
Enemies will of course will try to slow you down, and battling them
must be swift and precise.

Control!

For a corridor game, control is simple and not tricky to program. The
game moves at a very impressive pace, with high responsive weapons that
function smoothly. However, I notice a lag when switching between
weapons, and this can be troublesome when under fire. The jumps can be
tricky at first since they have this long glide forward, and when
attempting short jumps, it can confuse you to some degree. But in 
like most games with a little practice, the jumps won’t be a nuisance.
Other than this minor complaint, the flow is perfect for this game and
is no ‘Dark Forces’ heavy slug pacer.

Music/Fx!

Thus far, Disruptor has been screaming quality through and through,
boasting excellent graphics and gameplay. But what about the music/FX?
Well, Disruptor fills the gap with excellent orchestration and 
FX. The tracks are hip, and have this fast-energy feel to draw you into
the game. Remember the thrilling orchestra when you had to battle the
Queen in Alien Trilogy, well, the style is almost reminiscent to 
Disruptor’s SCI-Fi themes. The electronic music is well-arranged, and
the tunes are catchy and actually show character. But what’s more
riveting, the music changes as situations demands it. If your position
is about to heat up with danger, the music will change in style as
impending Doom is luring near by. Fun! In other words, the music plays
an element into the gameplay. It adds an extra nuance of interaction to
voice its own justification according to the game concept. This brings
sense into the motion of gaming, another dimension to get your senses
of hearing involved -- coupled with FX that shine with mighty explosion
effects, Disruptor in this category too is a winner. 

In conclusion, Disruptor is a classic, and is a software that makes me
a proud owner of my PSX. This package is almost perfect, of course to
the exception of the unnecessary bad FMV. Everything about this title
was done with great execution, thought, and skilled. Games with such
sheen look and gameplay comes once in a great while, and Disruptor is a
must have for your game library. If you loved games such as Alien
Trilogy and Doom, you really can’t afford to miss this excellent title
by Insomniac. As it stands for the moment, Disruptor offers the most
in-depth gameplay for this genre with its combination of physical
weapons and Psionic Disciplines, limited ammo, variety of enemies,
excellent interior level designs, gameplay levels changes in nature,
music interaction, and tricky ambushes. Soon Tenka (2 years in
development) will arrive and maybe might challenge Disruptor. But this
is now, and Disruptor reigns supreme as best corridor shooter for the
PSX.

NOTE: Due to the in-depth gameplay of Disruptor, beginners may find
Disruptor a bit hard in the latter levels.

BOTTOM LINE: 95% Would have rank higher if it had offered a few more
levels!

Graphics        10
Control          9
Gameplay        10
Funfactor        9
Music/Fx        10
Replay/value     9

BEST FEATURES: Graphics/ in-depth gameplay/ challenging/ music/Fx/
great variety of enemies/cool weapons/

WORST FEATURES: Cheap FMV/changing of weapons lag/

Passwords:

Normal Setting! S=square, T=triangle

2)STXOOTXXOSXS
3)XTOOSXTOTXTT
4)SXTSOOXTTXSS
5)XOTOSXXSTOOT
6)TTSOXXSOOXTX
7)TOXTTOSXXOST
8)OSTTXOXOXTXX
9)SXOTXXSTOOOO
10)XOOTSXTSSTTS
11)OTXXOOXXTOSO
12)OSTOXTXTOXOS
13)XXXOOTOXOSXO

Reviewed by Leogamer...