Blake Stone: Aliens of Gold

The Good
As I said, this was the first FPS I ever played. I borrowed the floppy off my friend, and thought it was the best game ever! I loved the graphics,sounds, and especially the MUSIC!

The Bad
Now its sorta out of date. But I still play it every once in a while. Also, I bought this game because I thought you actually kill the boss, Dr Goldfire, in the last mission.

The Bottom Line
If you see it for less than $10, buy it. It will give you a few hours play.

The Good
What I like...no...what I love about this game is that it transcends its FPS roots to give you an experience that you cannot find anywhere else! Gone is the level-grinding, bone-smashing tedium that is Doom! Return to a simpler time and enjoy the Wolfenstein 3D-like search for Dr. Goldfire to seek revenge for your family's untimely death! Yeah, it's kinda cheesy, but in a good way this time.

The Bad
What's there not to like about this game. Sure...it LOOKS cartoony compared to games like Wolf-3D and Doom, but in reality it's just as serious. It's a pity that it came out in the same year as Doom, since Doom naturally and completely overshadowed it in nearly every way.

The Bottom Line
This may look like nothing but a Wolfenstein 3D clone, but looks can be deceiving. Much more vibrant than its predecessor of sorts, the overall presentation and backgrounds are much more appealing to the general audience despite its somewhat gory overall content. Taking features like saving scientists (or in other words, the ones you don't want to shoot), playing "cat and mouse" with Dr. Goldfire, and throbbing music by Bobby Prince of Doom and Wolfenstein fame and combining that with a good overall story (you have to read it to believe it), you may find here what you couldn't find in Wolf-3D or Doom - charm! It's just that plain and simple. And if you're lucky enough to find a copy of the game that still comes packed with the comic, you're in for a special treat!

The Good
Don't know how I got to know about this game in the first place. I think my dad, who used to be huge fan of Duke Nukem, downloaded it from 3D Realms site and showed it to me one day back in the mid 90's. What I saw was awesome, and I still find it quite cool even to this day. Blake Stone: Aliens of Gold delievers everything you want from a game like this. Cool soundtrack, huge and many levels, badass weaponry and a score system. I dare even say that the graphics are cool too, being runned by an overhauled Wolfenstein 3D engine. Planet Strike!, the second instalment in the series even implemented bobbing for the weapons.

The Bad
Sadly however, me and other fans of the game were a few bunch. The others had already gotten into Hell, known as Doom, that recently came out shortly after Blake Stone, nearly killing it. Every level has a theme that reminds of a labyrinth, exactly like Wolf3D. And just with that game, some levels are really easy to get lost into and may take quite alot of time to navigate out of. There are many weapons in the game, but none really feel better than the other despite how awesome they look. You can easily "snipe" a guy across the map with one bullet with your starter gun, which also is silent. The keybindings in Blake Stone can't be bound the way you want, and there's no Y-axis for looking up and down with the mouse. (Luckily though, since DOSBox lets us rebind however we darn please, that problem now becomes a memory of the past, and there's a tool that disables the Y-axis, so you can play almost exactly with WASD keys like today).

The Bottom Line
I'd describe this game as a cool FPS from the past, that's sadly is hugely underrated. "Thanks" to Doom.