Independence Day

Air Combat and Agile Warrior vets should obliterate these aliens in one sitting. But mid-level jet jocks who give this game a chance could find that Independence is worth fighting for.

Over het algemeen zit het spel goed in elkaar. Het geluid en de videofragmenten zijn van een goede kwaliteit. Spijtig genoeg kan het eigenlijke spel niet mee met het betere werk in het genre. Independence Day is wel een leuk spel, maar niet één waar je dagen mee bezig bent, aangezien je steeds opnieuw moet beginnen wanneer je sterft. Je moet echt van arcade games houden om te kunnen genieten van dit spel.

Younger pilots and ID4 fans will find plenty of thrill in these skies, but this basic shooter ranks as a fun rental for everyone else. Stick with Black Dawn and Soviet Strike for serious combat.

Independence Day isn't a total waste of time; rather, it's a so-so game. The full motion video is pretty cool and it's neat to hear Will Smith's voice. But if that's what you're after, rent the movie.

Spillet er forudsigeligt og halvkedeligt fra første færd, og heller ikke muligheden for flere spillere gør meget for at forlænge morskaben. Hvis man vil flyve over netværk, skal man ligefrem have flere cd'er, og det er nok lovlig optimistisk, når selve spillet er så simpelt. Fox Interactive har ikke fået ret meget ud af deres licens, og spillet lever slet ikke op til den relativt høje pris.

Mit dem Untertitel "Der Tag, an dem wir zurückschlagen" sind nicht die Käufer gemeint, die sich bei Fox Interactive für dieses 3D-Shoot ´em Up revanchieren wollen. Obwohl diese allen Grund dazu hätten.

Der Film baut nach einer Stunde ab - ähnlich ergeht es dem Spiel. Man merkt ihm seine kurze Entwicklungszeit an: zu kleine level, die nicht mit taktischem Vorgehen, sondern nur mit brachialer Gewalt und einem gehörigen Quentchen Glück zu meistern sind.

As if things weren't bad enough, there's a time limit on each mission, apparently infinite enemies, and a force field creating a tiny area to fly in. Even the interface is awful, with the spacebar used to indicate a selection rather than the enter key, and "Load Saved Game" hidden in the Options screen. All in all, this is one to be avoided. Add half a star if you have a 3Dfx card, as that version of the game plays slightly better.

EA's Independence Day licence, though potentially lucrative, was inevitably a proverbial albatross around the neck of developer Radical. With creativity no doubt hamstrung by what was essentially a special effects vehicle, a plane-based shoot 'em up was perhaps the lesser of genre evils to adopt. Eschewing the basic Afterburner format, ID4 utilises almost fully 360° movement as a basis for blasting action.