Windows

I was an Atomic Mutant!

As depicted in I Was an Atomic Mutant!, the goal is simple: crush and destroy. Yet, you’d be surprised how much thought goes into my work: exploiting the incendiary nature of cars and gas tanks, for example, or looking for power-ups and disintegrating puny tanks, jet fighters, and stealth bombers before their artillery can halt my misunderstood deeds. All that’s missing is a multiplayer mode, but given IWAAM’s sub-$20 price, I can’t complain. Take it from a colossal floating brainstem: this game is a probing look at the atomic mutant lifestyle. So, until my devastating fury rips you asunder, I bid you adieu.

After playing I Was an Atomic Mutant, a movie monster action title developed by Canopy Games, I’ve decided on a new policy for myself. I’m not going to spend longer reviewing a game than I did playing it. Now, if I were a slow writer, then that could present a problem, especially since I review a lot of adventures, and the over-under for adventures is in the neighborhood of eight hours. But I’ve been writing reviews for a while now, and I can usually pump one of these things out in 2-3 hours.

On the outside, I Was an Atomic Mutant seems wildly successful at staying true to its subject matter. It has funny, great-looking menus, clever cinematics, an incredible original score, and lots of little details perfectly suited to its subject matter: 1950s giant monster movies. It's easy to become so charmed by the game's presentation (and the game's $20 price tag) that you start to forget that somewhere in this otherwise entertaining set of features there needs to be a good game. And, unfortunately, actual gameplay is I Was an Atomic Mutant's worst part.

Godzilla, King Kong, la femme géante... Tous ces films ont évidemment marqué l'histoire du cinéma même s'ils passent pour des navets aujourd'hui. I Was An Atomic Mutant leur rend là un vibrant hommage, remettant le concept de Rampage au goût du jour au passage.

For a few brief, shining moments, I thought I Was An Atomic Mutant! might just be the first real sleeper hit of 2003. The concept seemed too cool to miss: styled around campy 50's sci-fi films, you'd play one of four super-sized, radiationally-charged mutants, hell bent on destroying everything in sight. Cities would fall under your atomic power! Planes would drop from the sky at a mere glance! Puny humans would be squashed under your feet! In-game movies recalled the best (or worst) of Mystery Science Theater 3000. What could go wrong?

The game lasts for about four or five hours and you can always come back to it if you need to destroy something. While the graphics are old, the explosions are nice and the human cries for help have a satisfying touch to them. This game was more fun than I expected and it is worth about five times as much as I paid for it in Germany.

Jetzt war ich ein Atom-Mutant und muss sagen: selten so gelacht am PC. Die Aufmachung ist stimmungsvoller als die einer durchschnittlichen RTL-Sängerwettstreitbühne. Auch die 3D-Grafik ist solide und stimmig. Besonders langfristig hält der Spaß allerdings nicht an: Letztlich probiert man die vier Alien-Arten und deren Spezialwaffen, freut sich über ein paar nette Gags – und muss dann miterleben, dass sich alles ganz schnell wiederholt.

Si l'on se limitait à la dimension technique, au plaisir de jeu offert par le gameplay et à la durée de vie, I Was An Atomic Mutant n'aurait certainement pas les honneurs d'atteindre la moyenne. Maintenant, il me semble juste de prendre en compte également son faible prix et surtout la dimension kitsch qu'il dégage et qui ravira les nostalgiques et les inconditionnels de cinéma fantastique des années 50.

Overall this game had so much potential, its just that Canopy didn’t capitalize on that potential. This was the first game to take a stab at brining the classic monsters of the 50’s to life. For that Canopy deserves credit. The enemy selection was quite a pleasant surprise, with 15 different enemies to choose from. It would have been nice to see some more monster characters to choose from though. The games potential was crushed by the poor graphics, short duration and pathetic city design. It was unfortunate that Canopy could not invest a few months more effort in the game, but that is too be expected for a budget game. If you are looking for a quick fix of classic monster mayhem, then this is the game for you; at the same time, if you want a good quality monster sim, you better look elsewhere.

Zugegeben, durchgespielt habe ich nicht alle Monster, da mir nur der Godzilla-Verschnitt und der Mutant aus der Dimension X wirklich Spass gemacht haben. Nach einem stressigen Counter Strike War genieße ich es dann aber, einfach loszustapfen und alles platt zu machen, was mir gerade so im Wege rumsteht. Dadurch dass es auch so stimmig in Szene gesetzt ist, kann ich mich dann richtig in die Haut des Mutanten hineinversetzen und mich wirklich wie er fühlen. Dadurch und durch die kurzweilige Arcade-Action wird „I was an Atomic Mutant“ als kleiner Spielesnack immer einen Stammplatz auf meiner Festplatte behalten.

Schon in den Fünfzigerjahren fielen Wolkenkratzer in sich zusammen - und zwar im Kino, wenn Rieseneidechsen, mutierte Robotergehirne und 15 Meter große Amazonen ganze Städte in Schutt und Asche legten. I Was an Atomic Mutant ist eine Hommage an die klassischen Monsterfilme und bietet damit Trash auf höchstem Niveau.