Armed & Dangerous

Armed and Dangerous: 8/10: While certainly far from perfect Armed and Dangerous avoids quite a few of the pitfalls that have encumbered recent 3rd person shooters and it has a Shrek meets Monty Python sense of humor to boot.

What pitfalls you ask? Well there are two in particular; irritating and boring weapons and frustrating platforming. There are three main weapons in Armed and Dangerous. A main machine gun that is so darn effective and auto targets so well that it almost makes all the other weapons useless. A rocket launcher that is to effective and can make the later levels easier than they should have been. (Great for shooting snipers and just a trek back to the pub for a reload. Yes you reload at a pub,) And the Landshark gun which releases a great white shark that somewhat slowly eats you opponents in a hilarious manner.

The Landshark gun is loads of fun. So much so in fact that I often found myself risking my neck to use it rather than a more appropriate firearm. (It is however pretty good at taking out machine gun nests.) The rest of the weapons are either boilerplate (sniper rifle), useless (mortar) or silly and useless (instant Black Hole).

As for platforming there is none, only some simple jet-pack scenes to break up the monotony. The game also pretends to have squad elements as you control three characters two indirectly. Ignoring this and simply fighting with your main guy is highly recommended.

While the cut scenes are funny and very tasteless (and in one cannibal scene borderline racist) I was more impressed on the voice work during the fighting itself. It never seemed to get old (How rare is that.)

The graphics and gameplay get better as the game progresses and new weapons become available. An overall fun romp I find myself still picking up Armed and Dangerous after completing the game. Gotta love that Landshark gun.

This was one of the most hilarious games I've ever played, and I still look back on it fondly today.

In a strange fantasy land, the evil King Forge (Tony Jay- RIP) seeks to obtain the Book of Rule, a magical artifact of immense power to take over the world. Resisting him are a gang of rebels named the Lionhearts, consisting of their leader Rome (Brian George), Jonesy (Jeff Bennett) a Scottish mole, Q (Pat Fraley) a large robot who loves tea, and Rexus (John Mariano), a blind, senile old man and washed-up wizard. Together, they decide to steal the book before Forge does and thwart the kings' plans.

First of all, the game's cutscenes were full of top-notch, side-splitting British humor and dialogue styled after Monty Python. There were plenty of enjoyable references, such as from Star Wars and Aliens that will catch any sci-fi fans interest. There was great voice acting from a very talented cast, such as Tony Jay, Jeff Bennett, Kath Soucie, and Brian George. Plus, the song "Save the Last Pint for Me" at the ending was very catchy.

The controls were smooth and easy to handle, and the game had solid third-person shooter features. While on foot, you'll control Roman and have a selection of cool and exotic weapons, like the Fleming machine gun, Vindaloo rocket launcher, and Cyclops sniper rifle. Some of the weapons are a riot, such as the Topsy Turvey bomb, which literally turns the world upside down, sending enemies falling offscreen into the air and then falling back down to their deaths once the world re-adjusts itself. And, best of all, we've got the landshark rifle, which launches a massive shark that 'swims' through the ground, and emerges beneath an unsuspecting enemy, devouring them.

You'll battle your way across more than 20 levels, all the while fighting Forges troops, such as German foot soldiers, beastmen called Grunts, evil monks, and golems. The missions were quite fun, consisting of rescuing peasants and returning them to their homes, defending towns and villages from invading armies with a huge battle turret, and destroying enemy vehicles and fortifications. About half-way through the game, Rome will even retrieve a jetpack that'll help him navigate the levels more easily.

However, the game has its flaws. The missions and objectives are repetitive and get pretty dull after all while. And the graphics and animation are poor, even for the time. The levels and scenery looked rough, the character models all suffered from clipping and had jerky movements. The peasants were the worst, all having the same uncanny appearances with oversized teeth and bulging, dead eyed gazes. In fact, all of the characters had static expressions that rarely change, making them almost robotic.

In the end, this was more entertaining as a movie than a game if you only go by the cutscenes. So, by all means, give it a watch on YouTube if you're bored, because I'm sure you'll get a crack out of this.