DOS

Shattered Steel

Shattered Steel wendet sich nicht so sehr an die Freunde gestandener Mech-Simulationen, sondern mehr an diejenigen, die geballte Action in technischer Perfektion zu schätzen wissen. Daß ein derartiges Programm viel von der Hardware fordert, versteht sich inzwischen fast von selbst - erst ab einem Pentium 90 mit 16 MB Ram stapfen die Planet Runners in hoher Auflösung flüssig über die Planeten.

Shattered Steel konnte mir vom Fleck weg gefallen. Die Landschaftsoptik im Voxel-Design ist zwar recht unspektakulär, dafür entschädigen aber die gerenderten Gegnergrafiken um so mehr. Spinnenartige Kampfmaschinen und Blechsaurier bewegen sich elegant über das Spielfeld und sind schon von weiten an irhen spezifischen Geräuschen zu erkennen. Die stimmigen Lichteffekte, wie rotierende Suchscheinwerfer, gleißende Blitze oder feurige Explosionen, machen die Schlachtfeldillusion perfekt.

Admittedly, Shattered Steel has all the features (multi-player options, the usual crop of external views, not to mention a virtual cockpit and some slick presentation) that are traditionally part and parcel of the big robots genre. But despite the pretty graphics and the fairly exciting gameplay, this Interplay effort doesn't quite match up to the delights of MechWarrior 2: Mercenaries. It's not a bad game. Far from it. It's just that Shattered Steel lacks the imagination and the originality that would make it a real contender for the MechWarrior crown.

As mentioned before, Shattered Steel is more of an action-oriented sim than Mercenaries and is more comparable to Psygnosis' upcoming Krazy Ivan. But this isn't necessarily an asset, unless you're thoroughly satisfied by the simple task of reducing an unrelenting stream of airborne attackers, mechanized arachnids, and bipedal reptilians to scrap metal. Though it's true that most of the beginning levels are relentless shoot-'em-ups between you and what ever juggernautical bionoid happens to cross your path, the missions become a little more interesting and absorbing as you advance through the levels. But even so, the game still has graphical shortcomings. Without question, the graphics are stunning in hi-res mode, but running it that way ultimately means sacrificing performance.