Phantom Crash with shots galore.............
May 10, 2002 - Children are such a blessing. They're our future, sure, but they're just as useful now, when their fresh young minds are ready for cultivation, and their tiny, growing frames are the perfect size to pilot missile launching, machine-gun blaring robots. Just ask the parents from Evangelion -- there's nothing more satisfying than watching your young ones grow into helpful, polite, efficient killing machines.
With that in mind, welcome to Phantom Crash, the latest invention in TV sports, and a new way to keep your kids busy after school. Crafted by Genki, creator of games like Jade Cocoon and Tokyo Xtreme, Phantom Crash once again shows the company's penchant for finding a quirky niche in proven genres. In the case of Phantom Crash, you've got elements of robot-building, Virtual-On, and more traditional mech games, all mixed in with egg-like characters and kooky kids. I guess they figure kids have to have some sort of fun when their city's been devastated.
Features
Fast action robot battles in destroyed Tokyo (aka, "the arena")
Customize your own battle robot with a variety of parts
Utilize cool gizmos like Optical Camouflage to give you the advantage
Blow up stuff real good
Hey kid, wanna get inside and blow up that kid from English class that stole your glue?
Like any good sci-fi story, Phantom Crash begins with a little mass destruction. Tokyo's already a pretty packed place to live, but by the time 2025 rolls around, things are beginning to look more like Kmart around the holiday season... on the weekends... well, any time of the year. It's a mess. Pollution, deterioration, and apparently a few wars have made the city unlivable. Fortunately, a new capital has been built up, leaving Tokyo for the birds and stray dogs. But what about poor little Tokyo? Isn't it good for something? Let's see... homeless shelters, art projects, maybe a wild animal park...
Television!
Hey, how about a TV show where little kids can shoot the crap out of each other for ratings, destroying the city even more? Perfect. By the time 2031 has rolled around, the robot battles in old Tokyo have become a huge sport, broadcast on TV for the world's enjoyment. Hey, I just blew up the old capital building! Two thousand points!
You'll be able to take part as one of the children, er, contestants on the show, piloting a selection of "Scoobee" type robots ranging from the short, squat Holy to the tall, lean killing machine Phton. While details on the game are still pretty slim, it looks like you'll be able to customize each robot type into a variety of combinations, adding your own weapons as well as mobile legs. Feel like a combo of wheels and legs? Stout and short, or spider-like skinny things? It'll be up to how you feel they work in combat, and which ones fit best with your playing style. What parts you use with your robot will affect everything from its speed and amount of ammo it can hold, to its special weapons and abilities.
The main focus of the gameplay seems to be the Optical Camouflage, a way to make your 'bot turn invisible for a limited period of time. You're nearly impossible to see, and you'll be immune to things like homing missiles, though you'll be able to be spotted in the enemy's radar, not to mention the fact that your shadow and the dust clouds you leave with your movements will still be visible. You'll still have to play smart, even if you're only using the brain of a kid who just learned that second base is only sometimes related to baseball.
Outlook: A fast paced mech combat/sport game with cloaking? Are you kidding? This is the kind of stuff that everybody dreamed of when they said the Xbox would change videogames forever. Whole new concepts are open to developers now and Phantom Crash seems to be shaping up as a damn good-looking breath of fresh air.
http://xbox.ign.com/articles/137/137350p1.html
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