War games have existed since almost the conception of video games. Those of you who are old enough to remember that the Atari 2600 came packaged with Combat know this to be true. Many a night I spent basking in those 4k graphics as I drove my tank through mono-colored mazes banking shot after shot at my opponent. At that point in my life I believed that I had reached nirvana. From those simple beginnings, the combat genre was born.
Up until 1995, most combat-styled games focused on players manipulating military-styled vehicles. Whether it was on land, in the air or under the sea, gamers were stuck bringing the fight to their opponents via tanks, planes or submarines. However, the genre was permanently changed when a small company shocked the world with the release of Twisted Metal for the PlayStation. Although it was not the first “official” car combat game ever released, it was the title that finally broke open the self-induced boundaries game developers were not willing to cross and became the first to be accepted by the masses. By today’s standards, the original Twisted Metal is nothing to cheer about. The blocky graphics and stiff digitally controlled gameplay leave much to be desired. Nevertheless, at that period of time in the PlayStation’s lifespan, the game was on the cutting edge of technology.
Not only did this original spawn six different sequels (so far), it also spun off an entire new genre that had developers scrambling to bring clones to market. Soon, you couldn’t throw a controller down a software aisle without hitting a game based on Twisted Metal‘s roots. The situation got even muckier when Sony acquired Single Trac and their founders left to create a completely new company. Now former publisher and developer were competing head-to-head along with all the rest of the newcomers.
By the time that the PS2 came to market, games of this type were second nature. Just about every company in existence had something comparable for gamers to mangle their opponents. Even companies not known for this style of game took a tumble in the hay as a matter of course just to see if they could capture the magic once created by Twisted Metal. One of these developers was the now defunct 3DO.
Better known for their sometimes questionable Army Men series, 3DO decided to try their hand at the genre with the introduction of their World Destruction League series. Attempting to blitz the genre, they went in two directions at the same time. Players could test their mettle either on the ground with Thunder Tanks or take to the air with Warjetz. Neither game received much applause from the gaming media and we’re going to find out why, for at least half of their offerings. Were they overlooked gems or corpses deserving to be buried? Well, that’s what we are here to find out. Up next, Warjetz.
The meat of the sandwich for Warjetz is supposed to be its story mode. Here, you enter the WDL (World Destruction League) as a green rookie looking to make a name for yourself. Cutscene after cutscene will refer to you as the up-and-coming newcomer as you fight your way through nine different areas, but only about four of these are selectable at the start. As you progress through the stages, supposedly more difficult arenas with new masters become unlocked for you to detonate and destroy. Personally, they all seemed to be about the same and only ramped up when you picked one of the two alternate overall difficulty settings.
Every time you complete a section, your competition’s plane becomes selectable for you to use in additional rounds. The flaw to this is that you don’t have your own personal ride and are already using four of the nine planes. So, you only get a new fighter half of the time. One of the neat twists is that you have to select two planes for each contest and there are spots within each arena where you can swap one out for the other. However, each of these machines cost money to replace if they are lost on the battlefield, so it is not always wise to pick the high-priced planes, even if they do pack more of a physical punch. Game cash, or bux, can be acquired while the fighting is going on within the arena, however unless you are using the bargain basement craft you really can’t expect to extend your bank account enough to stick around for more than one additional plane. You are given a set amount of cash at the beginning of the round and this amount increases as you progress through the game. Usually you can bank on having four to eight lives per round and usually you will need all of them to finish off the competition.
Variety is the name of the game when it comes to picking your plane. Pilots have the opportunity to find a ride that fits your flying style. No matter if you prefer the light and nimble attack copter or the slow, lumbering bomber with the mighty payload, there is something for everyone. Almost all of the aircraft are futuristic versions of real-life airships with a smattering of fictional craft thrown in for good measure. Of course their armaments are a bit more beefed up to properly reflect their competition in the WDL and their ammunition is unlimited for the proper destruction of the environments and multiple rivals you will meet. Each craft has it’s high and low points. Some have little to offer in the way of armor or weaponry, but are highly maneuverable and hard to catch while others are destined to go toe-to-toe with anything but are a sitting duck for a semi-maneuverable plane.
Every plane has three different weapon assignments. You have a normal lightweight, fast reloading attack, like a machine-gun, and a slower, heavier attack along the lines of homing missiles or a shotgun blast. No two planes have the same armaments and honestly I couldn’t figure out how some of them applied any damage to opponents. Now that might sound rather strange, but I actually had some craft with such unique secondary weapons that they didn’t seem to even put a scratch on my competition. Since Warjetz also has you taking out land units and installations, you also have the ability to turn your plane into a groundpounder’s worst nightmare and lay down an inexhaustible supply of bombs. Once again, the strength of your ammo will reflect the style of craft you are piloting. The tiny nimble copter will be dropping dirt clods compared to the nuclear arsenal that the heavy bomber is packing in her belly. One nice touch is that when you shift from dogfighting to bombing, your visual perspective changes from a third-person view to that of a topdown 1942-ish one. This helps to let you know where and what you will be firing at, as there are those times where a finger will slip here and there and flip you into one or the other modes accidentally.
Controlling your craft is pretty simple and it will only take your a battle or two to get the full hang of fighting in the skies. The DualShock 2 is utilized efficiently and the crafts all respond rather well to your button inputs. Switching between your normal fighting and the bombing modes is handled with ease and can really turn the tables when facing the numerous ground and air opponents. Your planes can do all of the normal maneuvers, along with the rather neat barrel-rolls and loops to avoid missiles, but some of the button assignments are doubled which can cause you to zig when you meant to zag in the heat of a dogfight.
Visually, Warjetz is just about average. There is some noticeable draw-in and popup evident and I did experience some random slowdown when the missiles started flying hot and heavy, but normally you get a clear view of whatever is going on without a major distraction. Nevertheless, having any 128-bit game demonstrate deficiencies of this nature really shows a lack of commitment towards the product and the gamers who buy them. This is one of the reasons why 3DO is no longer around making games. At the beginning of every round, and usually once in the middle of the three assignments for each area, you are treated to some rather droll movies with your two official commentators from the WDL. Although the female of the team is rather easy on the eyes, it’s going to be her rather loud and obnoxious partner that draws your attention with his whiny voice and poor slapstick humor. Obviously, 3DO was going for the cheap laugh instead of actually sitting down and finding someone with an actual sense of humor to lighten up your mood and the final product really suffers. After watching the first couple of movies, I really wanted to just hit the start button and skip the whole affair.
Your ears are treated just as rudely. Players only have the bare-bones stereo/mono options without a Dolby surround sound selection in sight. You do have the ability to alter the various levels for the BGM (BackGround Music), special effects and the background voice-overs. There is also, thankfully, an on and off selection so you can completely turn off the useless babbling from the color commentator. Honestly, this freak makes Madden’s Monday Night Football chatter seem like brilliance and really would have been better to been left out altogether.
Once you get tired of the single player story mode, gamers do have the option to try out the skirmish portion of Warjetz. All of your unlocked planes and territories are selectable and they are broken down into three different degrees of difficulty. What is nice with this feature is that you can play it solo or invite up to three other human players to fight for the dominance of the skies in four different categories; Ace, Bomb, Cash or Capture the Flag. Ace simply is the first player to reach a set amount of planes shot down. Bombing is a race to see who can level the most structures. Capture the Flag is just what you would think and the Cash mini-game is a race to see who can collect the most bux. All of the players can modify their experience level, even the computer controlled units, to keep things on an even keel and teams can be established to make the contests two against two, three against one or a free for all. Believe it or not, the multiplayer aspect is probably the highlight to the whole game and really is the only true reason for picking up a copy.
Gamers are treated to two preview videos for other 3DO games. Of course what 3DO title would complete without some connection to an Army Men game. You get a look at Army Men: Air Attack 2. You also get a look at their other stablemate Warriors of Might and Magic. However, neither really gives you an in-depth view of what either title offers and both are nothing more than teasers.
Nevertheless, there is some good to go with the so-so. Whenever you complete the story mode of the game, you are given different codes that can be inputted into a special cheat section to add special abilities for additional action. Of course, the resourceful gamer will know exactly where he or she could get all of the codes without having to put all the time and effort into beating the game numerous times. However, once you start inputting codes, the challenge of the game goes right out the window and it becomes nothing but running through the levels being an unbeatable force. While some players might find that enjoyable, I found it unnecessary and would have rather had different planes with better abilities to work my way again through the levels.
Warjetz brings a new look to an already established genre. Although it in no way surpasses the king of vehicle combat, it does offer gamers a somewhat pleasant distraction from the norm. Nevertheless, the depth, or rather the lack of it, turns your expectations of hours of fun into nothing more than an afternoon distraction. None of the characters or their combat equipment radiates that desire to experience each and every one of them. The story mode is rather short and the only possible extension for its shelf life would be in the multiplayer mode, and that too probably won’t capture the attention of your guests for more than an hour or two. Now don’t take this the wrong way. Warjetz is not an awful game, but neither is it something that I would put at the forefront of the genre. The title is simply middle-of-the-road and we all know what happens to things walking down the center line of a highway. Unless you can pick up this game for a true bargain, I would suggest saving your dollars for something more deserving of your attention.
Difficulty: 5
Control: 7
Visual: 5
Sound: 4
Replayability: 7
Overall: 6.2
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