Horned Owl

Horned Owl is another shooter for the Sony PlayStation. You guide a cursor over a screen of targets. Aliens attack you, and the only way to avoid damage is to get them before they get you. The feature of Horned Owl are the detailed graphics that set it apart from its competitors.

Horned Owl looks like it's one of the most intense gun-style shooters around.

Horned Owl is a first-person shooter that places you on a set track, and tosses an army of mechs at you. It is highly derivative of Namco's Steel Gunner series; in fact, it's easy to confuse the two. Terrorist forces are attacking the city, and you must survive a number of missions. They vary between sweep-and-clear runs in the city to guarding an airport. Unlike many games of this type which use the same enemies over and over, this one makes sure each level has new things to tight. Some enemies are simple to defeat, like the robotic sentry hounds, while others launch out missiles. You have to adjust your response time to match the threat.

You begin the game with a full life meter, a load of ammunition and three grenades. Grenades clear the screen of enemies (a.k.a. a smart bomb). You have a set amount of ammunition, and you have to reload when you run out. It is possible to get a powerful spread shot if you hold down the Fire button. This shot depletes your ammunition for a short time, but it's well worth it. Strangely enough, there aren't any icons found in the game. So if you get shot up in the beginning of a level, you probably won't make it.

The graphics of Horned Owl are impressive. The characters were designed by Masamune Shirow, the man behind Japanimation films like M-66 Black Magic and AppleSeed. Anyone who has seen these films will recognize his style. This title just screams Japanese animation, especially during the cinema sequences which flash between the levels. If looks could kill, this game would be banned.

Horned Owl is a cool game that should appeal to mech lovers. While it is disappointing to be kept on the same track over and over, the action always seems fresh. Horned Owl can use the Hyper Blaster gun or a controller.

Sega seems to have had a lot of success with Virtua Cop. What started life as a decent coin-op has turned into one of the most enjoyable Saturn games around. Finally, however, the PlayStation has a superb, gun-based shooting game too. Horned Owl from Sony is the first game to take advantage of Konami's superb light-gun accessory.

The graphics are the main selling point, and they're basically a cross between Virtua Cop and an anime movie. Polygons portray the constantly shifting background as you move through the dangerous futuristic city, while more conventional sprites take care of the bad guys.

Although the game is fun and exciting, one small, but fairly serious, flaw is the fact that most bad guys take three shots to kill.This makes the game tiring rather than tough and that gun-hand fatigue sets in very quickly indeed. Having said that, the gun itself (sold separately by Konami) is one of the best ever designed. Comfortable and accurate.Two guns and the game w great, if expensive, purchase.

Graphics - 8

Sound/FX - 8

Gameplay - 8

Rating - 8