Windows

SCARAB

The only flaw, if one can call it that, is finding good human opponents. During the review period, most gamers on Mplayer treated SCARAB like a Doom clone, playing deathmatch only (which strips most of the strategy from the game). As a straight-action first-person shooter, SCARAB is mediocre at best. But played the way the designer intended, as two teams (up to three �bots per side) struggling for control of a cityscape, SCARAB excels, and is one of the better games to show up thus far this year. Highly recommended, and please, learn the rules and play the full game. You won't be disappointed.

On one hand, Scarab is simply another mech game. Mind you, these mechs look like ancient Egyptian gods and the playing field has translucent elevators, floating ankhs, and flying supply ships. On the other hand, this is a very detailed, fast-paced strategy game that's full of subtleties. It succeeds on many levels, but falls flat on an important one: the learning curve. You can have fun with Scarab. The multiplayer games reach resolution at a good pace and the 140 scenarios will challenge single players for a long time. But to get full playing satisfaction, you'll need to corner some expert players and hope they show you the ropes. Fortunately, the game's version 1.1 patch has an excellent ranking system, and you might be able to track down a few good players.

Genoeg gezeverd, besproken en geleuterd, ram die SCARAB-CD in je PC, vergeet alles over de grafische afwerking en het geluid en ondervind aan den lijve dat gameplay nog steeds primeert!

Als es dann gefunkt hatte, war ich zunächst mit Feuereifer dabei: Es bringt einfach Spaß, in dem Gebiet herumzulaufen, Türme aufzustellen und die gegnerische Aktionen zu sabotieren. Allerdings nur eine Zeitlang, denn nach der fünften Mission wird eintönig, so daß es bei der Wertung nicht für vier Sterne gereicht hat. Wesentlich genialer ist der Mehrspielermodus.