Apocalyptica

Hell on Earth, eh? Some would say it's being crushed next to an estate agent's armpit on the London tube, but developer Extreme FX is close to realising its own vision of a dystopian nightmare with Apocalyptica. Set in a gothic, sci-fi future when ol' Satan himself has razed our planet and unleashed his devilish hordes, Apocalyptica involves four distinct player classes - Templar Knights, Seraphs, Nuns and Robots - battling for the future of mankind.

A recent hands-on play revealed an intense third-person action/adventure, which in the single-player game has you and your Al-controlled team-mates hacking, slashing and shooting through four different worlds and 18 levels using a new combat system especially created for the PC. Timing the mouse-clicks in conjunction with the movement keys, pulls off triggers combos that range from lethal chain-sword attacks by Knights to explosive spells conjured by angelic Seraphs.

Apocalyptica will also arrive complete with 10 manic multiplayer maps - some reminiscent of UTs Assault games - and the ability to play co-operatively through the single-player campaign.

When humanity is on the brink of destruction, who ya gonna call? Ghostbusters? No. Superman? No. What you need is the best of the best, the ultimate crusaders. That's right -robotic saints. And we're not talking Roger Moore cyborgs.

Apocalyptica's gameplay is a battle between mechanised warrior saints and demons -and, all things considered, the idea is a novel one. After all, it's not every day you get to play as a robot nun with a rocket launcher.

Don't get too excited, though. Despite boasting a wholesome choice of 16 lead characters as well as spells, melee weapons and guns, in reality the combat element of the game is weak. Swordplay is sluggish and limited by too few moves, and ranged warfare frustrates with a showing of fairly ordinary pistols.

However, where Apocalyptica does impress is with its thoughtful single-player missions that manage to incorporate bots as team-mates. For instance, one level sees your team searching for a cog from a piece of machinery to take to another piece of machinery to complete the mission. Nothing unusual there, but while you're doing your thing, evil bots are doing theirs - and that means taking the same cog to another machine, which happens to flood the sewers and drown you. CTF? Indeed.

What's more, there are Jailbreak-style missions to contend with too. Such variety almost leads you to forgive the aforementioned lack of combat grit - and that may well have happened if it wasn't for the bots' insane behaviour. These 'super' saints have their own agenda, which plainly has nothing to do with tactics or strategy. You have absolutely no control over them as they crash headlong into enemy lines and hack away viciously until their inevitable death. Failing that, they attempt to launch themselves from the nearest balcony or cliff. And if that doesn't satisfy their lust for lunacy, they stand in a comer somewhere twitching with directional angst. But it's not just your saintly troops who are preoccupied. Satan's sinister subjects appear equally mystified by the whole thing.

Seen It Before?

Graphically, Apocalyptica does nothing groundbreaking and the textures throughout lack detail or depth. You never get the feeling that existed before you came along. In fact, the level design feels like more of an afterthought. Add to that the animation, which is no better, and the fact that every character model (allied or otherwise) lacks fluidity or realism and overall, it's indicative of the average nature of the game. Online play with similarly skilled competitors raises the enjoyment levels slightly, but when it comes down to it, Apocalyptica is half saint, half sinner.