Gene Troopers

In Many Ways, Gene Troopers is a lot like communism. I'm sure it has good intentions, but you have to face the cold hard truth that it just doesn't work. All the Havok physics and paint-by-numbers vehicle sections in the world couldn't save Gene Troopers from its bitter fate at the bottom of a retail bargain bin.

That's not to say that the basic premise isn't fine though. Earth has become a giant alien experimental laboratory, and as the only non-enslaved human, you not only have to work out what's going on, but rescue your daughter into the bargain. The few original features sound great on paper. Gene Troopers takes the traditional FPS formula and splices it with core RPG elements like skill points and multiple story arcs. In theory, you should be having lots of strategic fun upgrading your health points and purchasing all sorts of amazing slow-motion powers, but due to poor integration, you soon find it's much simpler to pretend that the skill points aren't even there and just have old-fashioned fun shooting things.

I say fun, but what I actually mean is 'moderate amusement'. Gene Troopers is far too by-the-numbers to entertain, especially if you've played the likes of Far Cry or Half-Life 2 for any length of time. The weapon: are essentially all the same with different models, the enemies just stand around getting shot and the breast physics on the female characters are incredibly inaccurate (so we're told).

Bad Science

This is the sort of game in which you'd expect to find invisible walls, and, yes, you've guessed it, they're scattered liberally around the levels. Gene Troopers vainly attempts to include all the standard features you'd expect from a modern-day shooter, but where the game fails is in its complete lack of compelling new ideas. Shoot out the security cameras? Take out the snipers? Those enemies are standing next to an explosive barrel? It all feels like a Sunday afternoon re-run of the shooters you've been playing for the last ten years.