User Reviews (1 - 11 of 32)

Show these reviews first:

Highest Rated
Lowest Rated Newest
Oldest Most Helpful
Least Helpful

GUN METAL: Action All The Way

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 26 / 28
Date: June 29, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Gun Metal has been one of my most anticipated XBOX games since I first caught sight of it late last year, as more screenshots and movies were released that anticipation grew even more. When it finally landed on my desk, I suddenly found my self playing one of the best games yet on the XBOX.

The story behind the game is fairly simple, the bad guys are trying to take over the world, and its your job to stop them. But instead of giving you some weedy guns to play with, your given Gun Metal, a 10 meter tall Mech which also doubles as a Jet Fighter, packed with virtually every single type of weapon there is, its one hell of a machine. Controlling the machine is easy as pie, left analog stick for moving, right analog stick for looking around, primary and secondary weapon fire on the back analog buttons, weapon selection and changing from a Mech to a Fighter done by a single press of a button.

The world you have to protect is fully organic, wildlife roam the hills and forests. Farms are fully working, fields move in the wind, cloud formation changes. Using the inbuilt hard drive anything that changes during the game, is changed for the full game. For example if a farm is destroyed in one mission, an enemy craft crashes, wildlife dies, it stays destroyed or dead when you come back to the same area on a later mission. Protection is one of the key objectives if your to succeed in saving the world. Luckily if am important area is destroyed in an earlier mission, you can retry the mission and attempt to save parts of the world you couldn't before.

Saving the world involves completing 25 missions, each with its own unique challenge. Tactics play a huge role in successfully completing a mission, one mission involved protecting three different locations that were under attack from enemy forces. Saving the first couple of bases were relatively easy, but by the time I had got to the 3rd base my ammo was limited, several attempts were unsuccessful as the base just kept getting destroyed, but after changing how I approached the base as before I was attacking one of the enemy drop ships, unfortunately I hadn't noticed an enemy bomber had already entered the base by the time I had got there. So by changing back into a Mech after flying to the 3rd base, I was able to get inside and destroy the bomber first, then attempt to defend the base from attacks by the enemies that were left.

Enemies come in many different forms, ranging from little droppers that can be destroyed just by stepping on them to massive drop ships, fighters and bombers. Missions become incredibly difficult by the different methods used by the enemies, some will provide back up to their allies, some will just go all out and attack you while others sit back and wait. Making it even more difficult they come in several waves of attack, once you think you've finally got rid of an attack, drop ships will fly in and land more troops, more fighters will fly in and attack you. Sometimes it feels like it will never end, as you fight to survive with only a few bits of ammo left.

To give you the upper hand Gun Metal comes equipped with some devastating weapons, standard machine guns, several different types of rockets, bombs and plenty of other fancy space age weaponry that any star trek fan would be proud of. Each weapon has its own uses, machine guns can easily destroy enemy fighters while more powerful weapons are needed to dispose of the larger space crafts. Run out of rockets you can carry out bombing runs to destroy the last remaining soldiers. Its action all the way, during any of the 25 missions there isn't a movement to spare, while the difficulty can be sometimes a bit too steep it always remains fun, even though you'll find yourself attempting the same mission several times before you finally find the key to success.

Gun Metal also boasts some spectacular graphics, the quality of the textures and detail is up there with Halo, in fact the graphics even surpass Halo in places as for the first time I've noticed in any video game, the sky and clouds constantly change, and small clusters of cloud form randomly over hills. The actual Gun Metal is extensively detailed, the transformation between 10 meter tall Mech and a Jet Fighter is a joy to watch. Even with this detail the graphics hardly ever falter, with only the slightest bit of slow down when battles get really heavy.

Sound doesn't disappoint either, the change over from Mech to Fighter sounds just as good as it looks. Each weapon has its own unique realistic sound effect, from the moment it leaves Gun Metal to the split second it explodes. During the missions there is some guy giving voice overs on where to go, what do to, what the current situation is and how well or how badly you are doing. This commentary unlike most games is timed just right, not too frequent, and when something is said, its useful and vital information.

Gun Metal is one of the best XBOX games so far, the best game I've played from Rage since Incoming. Even though the learning curve is sometimes overly difficult, you won't be able to stop yourself from giving it that one final attempt, no matter how many times that final attempt is.

Gun Metal is one of the best games of the year so far, its pure action all the way through, and you won't be able to stop coming back for more

Extremely Fun, But NO STORY WHATSOVER! Definantly an Arcade

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 5 / 6
Date: January 20, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Well, I played this game when the XBOX majorily lacked Mech games. It was before games like MechAssualt, Steel Battalion, etc...

I poped this in my XBOX, and right from the top it was a lot of fun. But after awhile it got a bit old.

Here's what I thought of the first MAJOR Mech game for the XBOX:

1) Gameplay: It's fun! You can do all kinds of cool things, beggining with turning into a jet, TONS of upgrades, rockets, the ability to use incredible fire power, and the overall fun of the game. Unfortunantly, after the first cut scene, the game in NO way refers back to the story. It is fun, but it gets a bit dull on the *>12th mission (NO connection with the story) trying to now destroy a ship. You did it! Good job, now destroy that city. Good job! Now detroy that plane. Good job! Now, resist the battle tanks and protect the civilians. Good job! Mission complete, now this time...". The whole thing IS fun, but its just endless destruction. Then more destruction, then a bit more, now fly to this new base, a bit more action.

It is fun, but with NO story and minimal upgrades, it gets really dull, and has almost NO replay value. And to add to all this no multiplayer, this is probably just a rent, not a buy. No story, multiplayer, and no real organazation of levels or even ability to figure out what mission your on. If u like button mashing Mech killing, this is for u. But if your also looking for some sort of story, and maybe a good multiplayer game, this isn't for u.

As for the button mashing, flying Mech frenzy, its a BLAST! You can turn into a jet and fly all over the place freely, shoot rockets, machine guns, jump, etc... and its all a BLAST. Definantly a good rental, this will keep u busy for a FEW nights.

2) Graphics: Pretty good. Lots of shooting, explosions, dirt, destruction, etc...and it's brought to life pretty well. The problem I had with this was that u CANT really enjoy these graphics to their finest the entire time, as there is quite a bit of frame-rate slowdown (where when a lot is going on and the screen gets really slow and choppy). It happens so often it gets a bit annoying, and it took away largely from a great gaming experience. To finish this section, the graphics were very good, NOT GREAT, and the frame-rate slowdown was too big a deal to ignore, and it after awhile got so annoying, I shut the thing off for a few minutes. Its not 24-7, but its hard to go more than 15 minutes without seeing it...which is just not exceptable counsidering the XBOX's power.

3) Options: Where the game failed. No multiplayer, no different types of games or difficulty settings, NO way to have more than a few games. I mean, its like they just slapped this game together in less than a month. Theres a single player game with NO story, and thats it. No multiplayer, different game types, and or ways of playing the game.

What would have been cool was a way to win awards, train, a few more graphics, and actual story to go by. This game was not a very good one, because of the so few options and work seemed to be put into it.

Overall, this is a good rental on a night that your bored, but definantly NOT a buy unless u can find it for less than a twenty. It just doesn't go up there with the great games the XBOX has to offer, and the depth it claims to have just isn't there. A game that could have been so much more, GUNMETAL was a very good game...until u looked for more than endless button mashing and Mech power.

Overall, I'd give this a 2.5 stars* out of 5. Felt like a half game, not reccomended to anyone who wants more than a button masher.

Hope this helped,

Thx!

Very fun, but hard as hell

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: September 07, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I like this game a lot. It's got pretty nice graphics, just about par for the Xbox. It does get sluggish at times, though. The gameplay(shoot [almost] everything) is [really[ fun. (More fun than even MechWarrior, in my opinion.) I love a game that comes along every once in a while that forgets all the realism ... and goes back to the basics of why shooters are so fun.

But, don't get this game if you don't like 'em difficult. It does get frustrating at times, but the only thing I found was that it makes the game more rewarding knowing that you found out the STRATEGY of beating a mission. (Yes, strategy. It exists in this game.)

Yes, the voice acting can get a little annoying at times and the in game music is mediocre. That's the main drawback of Gunmetal. Still, it's definitely worth a buy if you're getting tired of "Counter-Hack" and want a back to basics shoot 'em up.

VERY disappointed!

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: August 18, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I'll keep this review simple and give you the highlights since some people were already kind enough to elaborate on all of this game's faults.

There is NO plot to this game. It's just a bunch of missions thrown together.

Remember playing Command & Conquer and having to protect some equipment or some dumb convoy every once in a while? Remember how much you hated those missions? Well EVERY mission in this game involves you protecting something! IT [stinks]!

The narration is SOOO FAKE and annoying. You'd think they could have spent the extra dollar on some realistic narration. I would have expected gaming companies to have learned their lessons from their past mistakes on the fake acting and fake sense of urgency in the voices. They RUIN the game.

The graphics are great but barely par for the XBox. The kills are pretty lame.

It's got decent gameplay....until you get tired of losing everytime because the convoy you always have to protect gets wasted after a few measely shots.

A realistic, practical review

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 5 / 8
Date: August 10, 2002
Author: Amazon User

The first question you have to ask yourself is why did I give this only 3 stars when the majority of reviewers are rating this game 4-5 stars? Actually, I'm tempted to give it only 2 stars, but there are a few redeeming qualities to bump it to 3.

I can't understand why in the world this could be one of the most anticipated games since Halo. Halo is the epitome of the Xbox action game, and it only seems wise to at least try to emulate it. Let's break it down:

Graphics: The landscapes are very nice and rendered very well, but this should be considered par for xbox. The clouds are rendered believably well too, except the cloud "layer" that you pass through while flying is simply a light fog, always the same density. The trees are rendered very well, and when destroyed by bombs, fire, etc., the effect is pretty neat. The rest of the graphics, however, are very "video game"-like, meaning, they appear plastic, and extremely non-realistic, i.e., brightly mono-colored regions. This is definitely a "mech-warrior" look and feel. The GunMetal transformer appears rendered in unchanging perfect colors, no splotches or blends. I remember reading a review about how realistic the "blood & guts" are in this game. Nothing could be further from the truth. When GunMetal "kills" something, the blood shoots out in the same 8-point star pattern every time--it appears to be rendered with the "sponge" paint brush tool & looks really bad for such a highly awaited game. In a nutshell, except for the landscapes, the graphics are very 80's arcade-like.

Audio. The mission commander is a good idea, yet in this game it is WAY over the top. The commander's voice sounds like Alec Baldwin on steroids after a pack of cigarettes. The urgency in the voice is lost because of how much of a parody it seems. The cues during the mission become repetative, even though they are timed correctly. Someone else said that the weapons each have their own realistic sounds. I personally have never heard what a tomohawk missle is supposed to sound like, so I wouldn't vouch for that. Each weapon does have it's own unique sound, but again, they're all very arcade-like.

Overall: Game controls are somewhat easy to master. Audio is NOT impressive, and graphics are cartoon-arcade-like execept for terrain. The missions are rushed and you're forced to keep moving too quickly. Worst yet, it's not even multiplayer. This game would be a great rental, but I would recommend saving your money toward Halo 2. Good thing I bought FIFA 2002 Soccer at the same time--at least it's realistic. And I still always come back to Halo.

In the dog days of gaming, hops out a savior!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: August 09, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Everyone knows in the summer, gaming is usually dull and the developers are working to live up to what they had said at E3 a month before the start of the season. Gun Metal is a fresh new title that's a bit short, and the price is pretty good.

Story:
Okay, in Gun Metal, you are in the future and Earth is all crapped up because of us, but from many decades of space exploration, we have finally learned how to utilize warp-holes to our advantage. Many people have moved to new places, but now a new place called Helios is in the spotlight. however only a few get to go and because of this, people start to bicker and fight, but a few make it through the warp-hole and when they finally reached Helios, they closed the gate for what they thought was forever. however, the people on earth opened up the gate to Helios and started to bring people to conqueror the place. the life on Helios used to be good, but now war is destroying the place and your people are starting to lose. Project Gun Metal is finally put into action to liberate the planet of Helios. Failure is not an option. 4/5

Gamplay:
Gameplay for the Havoc (Project Gun Metal Prototype 1, ie YOU!) battle suit and in jet mode is conducted in 3rd person. Mainly, you are a mech (big 40' robot, run 1 km in a matter of seconds) with missles, machine guns, so called "shotgun" for mechs of your size, plasma disc launchers, grenades, and other stuff you can think of the blow up stuff. In "mech" mode, you can strafe, jump, and absorb a limited amount of attacks via a rechargeable energy sheild (Halo, anyone?). and also in Mech mode, you can switch to a Jet, which is an airplane fighter with 10x the speed of the mech and the same amount of explosives. however you do have different weapons. There is no multilplayer in Gun Metal, which explains the below-average price. The single player campaign is short, but you'll find yourself replaying mission because of new weapons and to test new skills. however, the gameplay never goes beyond tried and true, its still a good addition to your xbox game collection. 5/5

Graphics:
Xbox is really an amazing machine that beats the PS2, GCN, and PC (sometimes!) at its graphical power. i would have to say that if you have ever seen halo's graphics, its on par with it. the explosions are amazing and each detail has been paid attention to. 5/5

Sound:
Finally, an xbox game that supports custom soundtrack, yet it is not a racing game! Also, you can hear huge explosion and if you have surround sound with your entertainment system, the bass frequencies get really low so you can feel the explosions! 5/5

Replayability:
This is where Gun Metal falls. it only has a single player mode, and there is only 14 missions in the entire game. no mission takes more than 30 minutes (it shouldn't). some are really hard though, and may take a little longer than 30 minutes to complete a mission (the time counter does not take in account on how many times you retried the mission. some of the missions are really hard becasue you have to keep from destroying something of your ally's and the thing that you have to protect gets broken really easily. 3/5 if you are a casual gamer 2/5 if you are hardcore. if ur hardcore, you'll finish it in about 4 days max and then trade it for something else.

overall:
there is absolutly nothing wrong about this game. replayability may be a slight issue, but this game is excellent and well worth its price. (note, the end missions get really hard, so if you are on the 7th mission, don't say that you are half done!)

i hope this helped you in your decision to buy a new game for your little xbox that has been sitting there collecting dust =)

A must

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: August 01, 2002
Author: Amazon User

This is the prhaps the best game for the Xbox, second only to Halo. With a quick learning curve, excellent gameplay, and stunning graphics, this game is a superb choice.

Good Fun

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: August 05, 2002
Author: Amazon User

This game is a lot of fun to play but it has its issues.

Some stages are extremly easy and some are just too difficult and can become repetitive.

The graphics are better that most games, but judging from halo, they can be a lot better.The enviroments are great but the mech in it's non-jet form can look better.

The sound is average.

The mech moves too slowly, maybe I need to read the instructions becuase I can't seem to get it to run. Moving about the environments quickly requires flying, which is a lot of fun but can become dangerous in mountainous environments where you have to stay in the valley or be shot down.

On thing that I really don't like is that if there is a lot of action taking place, the gameplay slows down tremendously.

Having said these things, I don't consider this a waste of money. I wish I could give it 3.5 stars. I really like the variety of guns that can be acquired (different situations require different guns), blowing up stuff (animals, tanks, fighter jets, motherships, buildings, etc), flying (a bit awkward at first but I got the hang of it), dogfighting, and the mixture of tactical strikes and brute force.

Great & Greater, but not the greatest

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: August 30, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Gunmetal's graphics and gameplay are outstanding by any means. Adding the Xbox's custom cd player for background music is always a plus in any game. Especially since the original Gunmetal score was nothing like Halo's. The visual effects and transforming sequences are outstanding. It was like watching Transformers when I was a kid. The movie sequences were absolutely top notch. Most anybody who likes action will find what they are looking for here. The action starts with a bang and just gets louder. The major flaw that I saw in the game was the challenge. I beat the game after the first day. It didn't even take that long. I was hoping for a little more after I spent forty dollars on it. The missions objectives where short and sweat (not to mention they were all the same). Go in, blow up everything you see, and then go home. It's fun to a point, but it got old after a while. In my opinion, they needed more diverse missions to break up these fast paced objectives and add a little length to the game. Asside from the challenge, the game surpassed many others that I've played in the past. Over-all it was an excellent game.

Pretty Darn good Actually!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: May 16, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I was suprised how engrossing this game was actually. The Graphics were great and unless you are a super hardcore Robotech Fan you are going to enjoy this one alot more than Battle cry. The controls can be a little sticky (switching between weapons is kind of slow) but it is still a really good game. If you can get this game for [cheap], I say buy it. If not then definately rent it.

Review Page: 1 2 3 4 Next 

Actions