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REVIEW: Sandwarriors
After months of market research, Interplay has finally addressed one demographic that is notoriously adverse to its smash hit, Descent II: claustrophobes. Historically, the fear of enclosed places outweighs the need to blast alien ships in a 360-degree environment. Enter Sandwarriors, which has all the action of Descent without that "walls are closing in" feeling.
Sandwarriors is an arcade flight simulator based in an Egyptian society with advanced technology (much like the movie Stargate minus Kurt Russell). The word "arcade" denotes that I needn't mention the lack of an accurate flight model, target leading and other realisms (uh oh, too late). Although it isn't based on Descent II technology, fans of Descent II will notice a resemblance. Controls are very similar in both games with 360 degrees of freedom. However, there is even more freedom in Sandwarriors since the only walls to worry about are the ground and the invisible ceiling in the sky. Your aircraft also has the ability to fly inside of buildings to recharge and replenish weapons. This welcome twist is where the similarity with Descent is most noticeable. Once inside, the sandship handles a lot like a Pyro GX with a sticky throttle.
The graphics in Sandwarriors can be stunning with all of the detail turned on at the highest resolution (800-by-600). However, anything less than a P-200 will choke on this configuration. Unfortunately, aside from some graphic effects and the extra flying room, there is little that Sandwarriors does better than Descent II, but few games can claim even that. The controls are tricky to handle, and new pilots will find themselves crashing into the ground often, especially when using a digital gamepad or joystick. Also, Sandwarriors doesn't offer any 3-D card or multiplayer support, which would help leverage its main advantages: graphic detail and large battlefields, respectively.
Even with its shortcomings, I enjoy playing Sandwarriors. Now that I have mastered the controls, it is fun in the sun. There is a lot of sand to explore and the missions are very challenging even on the easiest level. If you love Descent, have a powerful system and are in desperate need of a tan, Sandwarriors is for you. Now even claustrophobes can enjoy Interplay action games, and you can expect software kiosks to appear at a therapist near you. The next assignment for Interplay's marketing team is to crack the lucrative vertigo market. Maybe their next game will solve this problem as well.
-- Hugh FalkHugh Falk, a known gaming felon, started PC gaming 15 years ago on his TI 99/4A, later adding a Commodore 64 and an Atari ST to his weapons collection. He is now serving a five-year sentence writing game reviews.
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