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Dom Robinson reviews

Chase the Express

for Sony Playstation

Distributed by
Sony

As the game is titled, "Chase the Express", I thought at first this was to be a belated sequel to the ZX Spectrum classic, "Stop the Express", which pitted you as a shrunken Pillsbury doughboy' character running and jumping across the roof of a train until reaching the front and putting a stop to the speedy shenanigans. Nothing could be further from the truth.

You are Lieutenant Jack Morton, the sole survivor of a NATO operation that went pear-shaped. Now it's time to make amends and you'll do this in a game that combines elements of third-person shooters and the ever-popular Resident Evil series.

A group of terrorist nutters named the Knights of the Apocalypse have kidnapped the French Ambassador and his consorts. They want $20 million and safe passage to France to blow up Paris and top this respected government official. This is important because everyone knows the Ambassador's receptions are noted in society for those delizious chocolate balls handed out by his butler.

Covert Ops: Nuclear Dawn plays out in third-person perspective, similar to Tomb Raider at first as you make your way across the top of a hijacked train, avoiding the bad guys' bullets before gaining access to the carriages. From there the fixed camera points ape those the aforementioned gory monster hit as the one nearest to you shows what you're up to. However, like Big Brother, they follow you about, although there have been times when I was ambushed and couldn't see the enemy because they were off-camera. It's difficult enough to get the hang of moving about sometimes without such extra hindrances.

Perseverance is the key though and patience definitely is rewarded. The animation of your character and those around is fluid and smooth with detailed graphics. Enemy A.I. is acceptable but they're not really required to have a brain here, unlike a game such as Thief 2. Upon entering a carriage, you're shown where any enemies are residing and if you want to take them on, that's up to you, but if you get too close they will find you. One carriage early on had a hidey-hole enabling me to hold off firing until they came past and a clear head-shot eliminated the problem.

You can hold up to eight items at once, with a menu/storage system that's lifted straight out of the Resident Evil series, making that one part of the game that's easy to understand. The puzzles aren't too taxing though as many are a case of picking up items from one area and using it in another.

Overall, this feels at times like Soldier of Fortune Lite for Playstation owners. That game had a train-based level but the emphasis was more on killing than problem-solving. However you still get a number of occasions in which to open fire and a small amount of thought should see you through the puzzles (hint: search all dead bodies lying around for goodies).

PC owners will definitely feel short-changed, even if this one stills finds it compelling. First person-shooters are advancing all the time and few games, Covert Ops excluded, can match the sheer atmosphere and terror brought about by the nemeses in Thief 2. There I had to change my pants hourly, whereas here I don't even break into a sweat.

Overall: 4/5

This review was on Freeloader.com before it closed.

Review copyright © Dominic Robinson, 2000.

As of April 2009, Blu-rays and DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TH-37PX80B 37" Plasma TV with a Sony BDP-1500 Blu-ray player and played through a Yamaha DSP-AX820 amplifier.

PC games reviewed by the editor are on: