Game: Action Man Mission Extreme
Console: Sony Playstation
Developer: Blitz Games
Release Date: 8th November 2000
Although not my first choice of PS1 title, Action Man Mission Extreme seemed interesting enough for me to check out for a review. Published by Hasbro interactive just as the Playstation 2 was about to change the modern perception of videogames, it wasn't given a massive release or promotional campaign but it did have the advantage of being released for $9.99 as a budget title of sorts.
The overall plot of the game sees Action Man attempting to stop Dr. X taking over the world with an army of 'Skullbots' which are incredibly powerful robots. Action Man does this via both vehicular and on-foot levels in which he destroys essential parts of Dr. X's supply chain and infiltrates bases to make sure that various things don't go to plan.
The vehicular levels involve driving many of Action Man's cars, motorbikes, and aircraft from an overhead view to destroy a set number of other vehicles, then collect a number of power ups from around the map, before changing vehicles to beat a boss to complete the level. The driving itself feels similar to that of the early GTA games although not quite as precise. The AI of enemy vehicles isn't particularly advanced and it's usually easy to find and destroy targets.
Collecting power ups feels like the weakest part of every vehicular level due to the fact that there's no real reason to be doing so, and to collect all of them it's required to use all of Action Man's selection of machines for that level. Helicopters and jetpacks used in these levels feel quite difficult to control and general don't fare as well as cars.
Action levels in the game involve guiding Action Man from a fixed third person view which is elevated and generally not particularly helpful in showing players what is around them. There's the option to switch to a conventional first person camera by pressing R2, but whilst doing this Action Man cannot move at all which creates difficulties with finding your way around the level. Interacting with objects and finding objectives is fairly easy however, with most things requiring a simple press of the square button to select the right equipment. Weapons are a mixed bag with scoped ones like the sniper and longbow proving invaluable in taking out enemy guards, and regular gun types proving difficult to use due to the third person viewpoint and not being able to move in the first person.
The real problem with these levels however is how much you're guided through them by the game; after entering one base, the game stops for Action Man to remark that he needs to get up to the top floor. You're then given back control momentarily, only for the game to stop again and update your objective with "That crane may be able to get you where you need to go". There's hardly ever a chance to work things out for yourself which is a shame, and when there is it's the times you're really wishing for a clue on where to go. The boss battles in these levels reminded me a little of 3D Zelda games strangely, in the way you're expected to defeat the enemy.
Graphically the game is fairly disappointing in all aspects, even for the PS1. A lot of objects and textures are blocky and the cutscenes look only slightly better than the actual game. The vehicles are the best aspect of the graphics, from above as they're reminiscent of the GTA series for original Playstation. Soundwise the game has some decent voice acting and music, which seems almost above the standard of the actual content of the game a lot of the time.
Overall Action Man Mission Extreme plays a lot like a James Bond game at times, with a stealthy spy feel to it. With parts of other games mixed in, it feels like a melting pot of ideas, a lot of which still need some work. By around half way in the game it starts to get a little complex for kids to be expected to figure out what to do, but on the whole there's not a whole lot of appeal to other audiences. As a game it wasn't a big hit when it was released and it's not likely to ever be.
Rating: 55/100
Grade: D
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