Quarantine

The Good
Quarantine is one of the few games that successfully created it's own universe by borrowing different elements from Sci-Fi material, without turning into a complete ripoff. The game starts off with a nice intro, where we are introduced to the plot of the game:

We are in Kemo city in the year 2047. Originally Kemo was rich and wealthy, but the growing crime problem brought the city in financial decay. Police enforcement could not be supplied so therefor a giant cooperation by the name of Omnicorp proposed a solution to the problem. They promised to clean up the city and get rid of the crime with the so called "Q" solution. A giant wall was built around Kemo city, the inhabitants were told it was a defense measure, but it proved to be otherwise...

"Q" was for "Quarantine", and Kemo city was now transformed into a prison city. Besides serving as a prison for the millions of citizens, Kemo was also used for criminals from the outside world. Omnicorp had plans for Kemo city, and they decided to test the so called "Hydergine 344" which is suppose to eliminate any criminal thoughts in brain. Hydergine 344 is put into the city water supply, but unfortunately Omnicorp failed to discover a bacteria within the water supply. This bacteria made the Hydergine mutate, creating a virus and instead of eliminating criminal thoughts it did the exact opposite, infecting people making them into raging mad men.

As the virus is spreading, you must escape, and let nothing stand in your way. You make a living as a cabdriver, and you earn money by safely delivering a passenger or a item to a certain destination. As you make more money you can upgrade your cab with armor and new weapons (Flame throwers, chainguns etc.). Kemo city is divided into different sectors and you have to figure out how to get from one to another without getting killed by the countless of virus infected mad men.

Quarantine is a awesome game. You get drawn into the universe, and once it's got a hold of you it's hard to let go. You often find yourself just driving around for hours instead of trying to accomplish missions. This is very entertaining too...

The graphics in the game are of '94 standards average, but nicely done none the less. The sound is very good, the sound fx works good, but especially the music is magnificent. The Australian garageband sound somehow fits totally in with the universe, and with the exception of a few weird tracks the entire soundtrack rules. (I still listen to it to this day). The gameplay works good, and once you've gotten use to drive the cap it's smooth. The enemies aren't very clever, but it doesn't really matter with this type of game.

The Bad
The main problem in this game is in my opinion the skill level. It's very hard, and you often have no idea how to progress in the game. None the less, this doesn't ruin it in anyway...

It also seems as if the code for the game is a bit buggy, because I've experienced some weird crashes.

The Bottom Line
A great game, which successfully manages to mix Sci-Fi elements and create a futuristic universe which you are drawn into.