Loadstar: The Legend of Tully Bodine

While the controls make this game harder than it looks, the looks make it much better than the average shooter. This game is a high-quality production. As they say in Hollywood, "Ready...action!"

Rocket Science has led the planet in promotional/PR editorial over the past year. Now, we have their first game: Loadstar - "Silwood's" first full functioning move game. Technologically, the project is fantastic-a great movie, unfortunately it has "Sewer Shark" gameplay. Loadstar is probably about as good as this type of game is going to get. But the one-dimensional gameplay is not going to keep anyone interested for very long.

If Rebel Assault is among your favorite games, then why don't you try Rocket Science Games' first PC title, "Loadstar: The Legend of Tully Bodine"?

It's down the tubes again in this first-person perspective shooter that will bring back memories of Sewer Shark. The graphics are very well done and seeing Ned Beatty in the full-motion scenes was a surprise. A decent shooter.

Resultatet blir snyggt och fyllt av humor och fart, men i grund och botten handlar det bara om att skjuta så mycket som möjligt och emellanåt växla in på ett annat spår. Inte dåligt om man vill ha en stunds hjärndöd avkoppling.

Grafisch und inhaltlich droht schnell Leerlauf, auch in späteren Levels gibt es wenig neues. Wenn das actiongeladene Wetlands ein ICE und das atmospährische "Rebel Assault" der Orient Express wären, ginge Loadstar nut als Bummelzug mit Verspätung durch.

Nothing beats a special guest appearance by Ned Beatty, but if you're looking for a beefy shooter, you may just have to look elsewhere. It's a decent shooter, but most of the time it doesn't feel like you're really getting anywhere.

Und noch eine Video-Orgie von Rocket Science, die sich diesmal zur Abwechslung im Weltall abspielt. Loadstar zeichnet sich durch hübsche Bilder, eine hakelige Steuerung (der Hauptkritikpunkt bei den drei Debütprodukten) und massive Hardwareanforderungen aus. Zu massiv für ein Ballerspiel!

C'est désespérant ! Autant de talent mis à contribution pour accoucher d'une souris. Je le répète bien fort, ce n'est pas en faisant des jeux "pour le grand public" que ces gens-là vont trouver un public tout court. Quand je pense que le développement de cette merde a bien dû se chiffrer en millions de francs lourds, je me fais du souci pour les programmeurs indépendants.

The game itself is completely about driving around the rails, avoiding blocked tracks, and trying to use your compass and landmarks to get to your next destination on time. Throw in defending your ship, and that's it. It seems intentionally a lot like Sewer Shark, but more hectic and less enjoyable. The movies are barely interesting, and the story is bland and clearly only serves as a thin excuse for the lackluster gameplay. At least the idea of interstellar trucking as shown seems believable, but if there was anything interesting in the world Cobb created, it didn't get fully translated into this game. Thankfully, someone else in power agreed as this is the first and last episode in the "epic story of Tully Bodine".

After endlessly driving around the tracks that all look the same, I turned the game off in disgust. I did find it amusing how the manual listed Loadstar hats and shirts that you could order, as if the the game was going to be a surefire hit.