Summary: dammit, i wish i have the full version
this game is sick!, if you love robots, anime and jap stuff, get this game, or if you are a first person shooter fan, still get it, people that don't know about this kind of game can still get it, they will love it, cuz it is action packed
Summary: If Shogo would've had the AI or MOD-ability of Half-Life, then it would've been an all-time classic.
Shogo is a story-driven first person shooter (FPS) that was released BEFORE Half-Life.
At the time it was released Shogo had great graphics, excellent weapons, immersive sound, and a good storyline with multiple branches.
Unfortunately, two things kept Shogo from becoming an enduring classic.
First and foremost, the AI was pathetically bad. I've played many action games (Quake II, Jedi Knight, Hexen II, Half-Life, Unreal, System Shock 2, Thief, Thief 2, Rune, Heretic II, Oni, Red Faction, Serious Sam, SWAT 3, Rogue Spear and many others).
So I know bad AI when I see it. And brother let me tell you, SHOGO HAS PATHETIC AI.
Repeatedly I could come within eye sight of NPC's. They would not react at all until I came within a certain distance. I could jump up and down, throw grenades, shoot my guns and basically make all the noise I could. And they just stood there. Then when I finally came into their "visual range" I could pick off one NPC while his buddy 5-10 feet away didn't respond at all.
The AI did not seem to react to sound at all, and it only reacted to sight when you got into it's limited "cone-of-vision".
And, yes, I did apply the latest patch, and it didn't help.
The other thing that held Shogo back was the fact that it was very hard to do mods for it. Mods are what has kept Half-Life (and other enduring games) going for so long.
Also the multiplayer was buggy and slow (based on reports I've read). I only play single player so this wasn't a great loss to me, but it is a big item for most gamers.
Okay enough of the bad. What about the good?
Here they are:
> Very good graphics
> Great immersive sound
> One of the best storylines of any game I've ever played
> Branching storyline. There are a few key points in the game where the decision you make affects events later in the game (not as extensive branching in Deus Ex, but kinda like Deus Ex lite).
> Excellent customizable controls
> Fast-paced action
> Varied levels with good design
> Mech and On-foot gameplay
One would think with all this going for it that Shogo would be a household name like Half-Life or Quake. So why has it been mostly forgotten?
Two letters: A.I.
Yes, the poor AI affected gameplay that much.
I am not a very good gamer. I play all single-player games on Easy, and I often get my butt kicked. It took me forever to beat Half-Life and I had to use cheats to beat the bosses. I have to work pretty hard to beat UT bots on Novice. But I beat Shogo in a single weekend, and I was only killed about 5-6 times. Why was the game so easy to beat? Because the AI enemies were so easy to outsmart and pick off.
It's a shame really. Shogo is a really good game. It had a lot going for it, but in the end it's just an average game.
That's why I rate it Overall 3.
So would I recommend this game. It depends.
If the price is right ($10 or less) and if you can overlook it's pathetic AI and enjoy the graphics, sound and great story, then I recommend this game.
Summary: I honestly don't know what that guy is smoking. Shogo is quite possible the best game I've ever played, if you can get past the old-fashioned graphics. Shogo is the only game I've ever played where I actually cared about what happened to the characters. Oh, and that part about it being "pulled off the shelf because it was so buggy"? Umm, no?
Shogo is more than just a game, it's like an interactive epic. It's this that kept me interested until the end in a way that Half-Life simply didn't.
Shogo's characters will startle you, humor you, and anger you.
Maybe our big-headed reviewer just didn't pay attention to the story and subtleties because he was to busy going "pachoo, bang, biff, wazoo" in his head. Who knows. Put the number of negative reviews against the number of good reviews...and you see my point.
Rating Reviewed by: Eddie Jeckle(Unregistered User)
Review Date July 17, 2002
Overall Rating 1 of 5
Visitors rate this review 3.00 of 5,
2 votes
Review NaN of 25
, from Neo Tokyo
Price Paid:
$7.00
from eBay
Summary: There's a theory among some of us game criticism fanatics. Some of us believe that certian companies upon releasing new games actually bribe official zine reviewers to give their new games high ratings. A perfect example is SHOGO. I have a habit of going around digging through review archives of online game publications and finding "gems" I missed in the past. Usually a "gem" is a game that five or more magazines gave exceptionally high ratings. Once I find that "gem" I'll buy it all cheaplike off eBay and play it to death. Then I come here to give it my two cents for folks like yourself. But sometimes... sometimes I get a "gem" that turns out to be a wretched pile of binary waste. Examples in the past of games which all the rags glorified but were actually horrendous include Oni, No One Lives Forever, Die by the Sword, SWAT 3, Heavy Gear 2, there's more... but we can safely add SHOGO: Mobile Armor Division to that trash-list. I'm willing to bet Monolith paid off reviewers to praise this crud back in 1998. Considering when it came out it had to be pulled from the shelves because it was so buggy, good sign of a quality game huh? I hope by writing this review, that I can save a few fellow fanatics from wasting their hard-earned dollars on yet another lackluster title disguised as a masterpiece.
You can trust Eddie Jeckle cut through the hyperbole. Even if I do it four years late.
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