tryzon
Joined Apr 2010
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tryzon's rating
Another day, another Star Wars title, because who doesn't like Star Wars? True, these games would have been vastly improved if they were based off of the original trilogy, but a good game-film adaptation can break free of the limits imposed upon it by the source material and become something good in its own right. Now I personally think that the prequel films were actually passable, and the quality generally went up later on, but it's undeniable that most of the games based on them outranked the movies without much trouble. One need only look at the bombastic pair of Starfighter games or the refreshingly brainless Bounty Hunter to see that goodness can come from mediocrity.
On the subject of Starfighter, eons ago in my first ever review I called it a more than decent space shooter which you should all run out and buy immediately. I can only assume you all did just that, and you probably liked it if you enjoy the genre. Well I think I've found a contender.
For whatever inexplicable reason, Clone Wars is almost worthless on GameCube but fetches a considerable price on PS2. I make a point with multi-platform releases to go for the PS2 version of things (DualShock 2 pwns your mother) unless there is a considerably superior or cheaper version elsewhere. I needed something to actually do with my Wii other than Metroid Prime anyway.
Gameplay can be summarised as a combination of ground and air vehicle combat (is this my third vehicle combat game review in a row?) against endless hordes of mean old droids and the occasional alien. Sadly no actual space levels turn up, making this technically not a space shooter, but it's Star Wars, and therefore sci-fi enough for my liking. You get to control such fun toys as STAPS, AATs, bland tank things, a Republic Gunship, AT-XTs, a weird lizard thing and even Mace Windu by himself a few times. They all have various boomers and bangers, plus a special ability unique to each, such as temporary invincibility. Such variety is refreshing, although it should be noted that each mission forces you to use a particular vehicle, rather than giving you a choice.
While in Starfighter you're limited to forward, back, turn and spin, modes of transport that utilise the ground are mysteriously more manoeuvrable. This is demonstrated by the ability to strafe, something that was sorely lacking in the space-based adventures. It allows for Motorsiege-style stand-offs, where adversaries circle each other stupidly until someone's hull blows. Complicated? No. Fun despite itself? Yes.
I'm still not entirely used to the (admittedly quite nice indeed) GameCube controller, but it must be said that Clone Wars handles with no real problems at all: it's responsive and functional. Plus I like how the big tanks feel slow and cumbersome while the wee things are lightweight and nippy. And it's the standard scenario where smaller things are usually weaker but harder to hit while the more massive things can lay waste to cities but crawl along the ground like slugs. It's nothing new, but a tried-and-tested formula is as good as any.
Blowing crap up is considerably fun, which is fairly crucial since you spend all your time doing just that. A logical tactic is to use your trusty blasters on the smaller blighters and save your missiles for the less little 'uns, although frequent ammo pickups mean that management is not hugely necessary.
The Jedi sections are just about acceptable, but they follow the Resident Evil tradition of thinking that humans move much like tanks, although it must be said that NOTHING could control as badly as the old Resi games. I feel that the on-foot bits were thought up quite late on just so something could be added as a bullet point on the back of the box, and it did look cool in the trailer.
Being on the battlefield is quite the experience, with tonnes of laser-shrapnel (is there such a thing?) landing all around you. It's got a similar style to Starfighter, in that you're told to do something as an overall objective for that mission, but then loads of little things pop up unpredictably that need your attention. Once or twice you need to defend a convoy, which may be asking for scorn (being the very definition of an escort mission), but since you only need one of the transports alive to win, you start with three or four and they can chew a lot of plasma before going boom, it's kept minimally frustrating. And there is just something about gunning down the clueless onslaught of droids headed for the convoy that amuses me.
Speaking of amusing me, anyone who read my original Starfighter review should remember that I was almost freakishly fond of crippling ships flying above the ground so that they would fall spinning to their inevitable demise. Well Clone Wars usurps this by letting you do the exact same thing, only this time large dropships carrying tanks can be caused to sink pitifully towards the solid rock below. And it happens a lot, so I was very happy indeed. That feature alone makes this game worth recommending, I say.
Clone Wars is not a colossal game, but its sheer variety and occasional epic boss fights keep it consistently entertaining. You travel from the final battle of Episode II to unknown reaches of space, and end up fighting ghosts (seriously) and preventing universal apocalypse once again, often accompanied by a bad Obi-Wan impersonator. Ah, joy.
In my usual disjointed and non-flowing way, I'm trying to recommend you a fine and dandy game available at low-low prices. It's short, but very enjoyable for the most part and very challenging if you adjust the difficulty accordingly, leaving something for completists to memorise. Unless you're hell-bent on getting the PS2 version, I'd recommend the far cheaper GameCube edition.
On the subject of Starfighter, eons ago in my first ever review I called it a more than decent space shooter which you should all run out and buy immediately. I can only assume you all did just that, and you probably liked it if you enjoy the genre. Well I think I've found a contender.
For whatever inexplicable reason, Clone Wars is almost worthless on GameCube but fetches a considerable price on PS2. I make a point with multi-platform releases to go for the PS2 version of things (DualShock 2 pwns your mother) unless there is a considerably superior or cheaper version elsewhere. I needed something to actually do with my Wii other than Metroid Prime anyway.
Gameplay can be summarised as a combination of ground and air vehicle combat (is this my third vehicle combat game review in a row?) against endless hordes of mean old droids and the occasional alien. Sadly no actual space levels turn up, making this technically not a space shooter, but it's Star Wars, and therefore sci-fi enough for my liking. You get to control such fun toys as STAPS, AATs, bland tank things, a Republic Gunship, AT-XTs, a weird lizard thing and even Mace Windu by himself a few times. They all have various boomers and bangers, plus a special ability unique to each, such as temporary invincibility. Such variety is refreshing, although it should be noted that each mission forces you to use a particular vehicle, rather than giving you a choice.
While in Starfighter you're limited to forward, back, turn and spin, modes of transport that utilise the ground are mysteriously more manoeuvrable. This is demonstrated by the ability to strafe, something that was sorely lacking in the space-based adventures. It allows for Motorsiege-style stand-offs, where adversaries circle each other stupidly until someone's hull blows. Complicated? No. Fun despite itself? Yes.
I'm still not entirely used to the (admittedly quite nice indeed) GameCube controller, but it must be said that Clone Wars handles with no real problems at all: it's responsive and functional. Plus I like how the big tanks feel slow and cumbersome while the wee things are lightweight and nippy. And it's the standard scenario where smaller things are usually weaker but harder to hit while the more massive things can lay waste to cities but crawl along the ground like slugs. It's nothing new, but a tried-and-tested formula is as good as any.
Blowing crap up is considerably fun, which is fairly crucial since you spend all your time doing just that. A logical tactic is to use your trusty blasters on the smaller blighters and save your missiles for the less little 'uns, although frequent ammo pickups mean that management is not hugely necessary.
The Jedi sections are just about acceptable, but they follow the Resident Evil tradition of thinking that humans move much like tanks, although it must be said that NOTHING could control as badly as the old Resi games. I feel that the on-foot bits were thought up quite late on just so something could be added as a bullet point on the back of the box, and it did look cool in the trailer.
Being on the battlefield is quite the experience, with tonnes of laser-shrapnel (is there such a thing?) landing all around you. It's got a similar style to Starfighter, in that you're told to do something as an overall objective for that mission, but then loads of little things pop up unpredictably that need your attention. Once or twice you need to defend a convoy, which may be asking for scorn (being the very definition of an escort mission), but since you only need one of the transports alive to win, you start with three or four and they can chew a lot of plasma before going boom, it's kept minimally frustrating. And there is just something about gunning down the clueless onslaught of droids headed for the convoy that amuses me.
Speaking of amusing me, anyone who read my original Starfighter review should remember that I was almost freakishly fond of crippling ships flying above the ground so that they would fall spinning to their inevitable demise. Well Clone Wars usurps this by letting you do the exact same thing, only this time large dropships carrying tanks can be caused to sink pitifully towards the solid rock below. And it happens a lot, so I was very happy indeed. That feature alone makes this game worth recommending, I say.
Clone Wars is not a colossal game, but its sheer variety and occasional epic boss fights keep it consistently entertaining. You travel from the final battle of Episode II to unknown reaches of space, and end up fighting ghosts (seriously) and preventing universal apocalypse once again, often accompanied by a bad Obi-Wan impersonator. Ah, joy.
In my usual disjointed and non-flowing way, I'm trying to recommend you a fine and dandy game available at low-low prices. It's short, but very enjoyable for the most part and very challenging if you adjust the difficulty accordingly, leaving something for completists to memorise. Unless you're hell-bent on getting the PS2 version, I'd recommend the far cheaper GameCube edition.
Ever played the Spider-Man 2 game of the movie? Of course you have, because everybody has. It was the latest in the endless parade of licensed games which were all but guaranteed best-sellers. But amongst the sludge that is churned out by the industry every year, there's always the one gem. Spider 2 was that gem: it's badly put together, the combat is repetitive to the max, the boss battles mediocre, and the acting average, but one thing is great: the swinging. You cruise through the city, making use of a near-perfect system for movement that is both easy to pick up and hard to master, meaning that just buggering about in the central hub was far more fun than actually playing through the story. It is rare that a single feature can save a title, but Spider 2 manages it.
Following in this surprisingly pretty good effort's footsteps is Ultimate Spider-Man, an adaptation of the alternate reality comic of the same name. Once again developed by Treyarch, the game inevitably shares many of its genes with the company's previous effort.
The first thing that jumped to my attention was the lovely cell-shading that envelops the entire experience, coupled with the genius use of panels like in a comic, which sees such moments as when characters jump to dodge an attack, fly out of a panel and land in another. It looks supremely stylish.
Less great, any veterans of Spider 2 will doubtless spend the best part of a half-hour struggling to get used to the unnecessarily altered control setup: whereas before one had to swing with R2, before pressing X to release and then fire another webline, the new game just requires holding and releasing R2 to move around. Some people prefer this, others don't, and I fall neatly into the latter category. It feels different to what I got so used to less than a year earlier, and therefore earns a good shunning from me. Still, a single nice addition comes with the ability to climb up a webline by holding triangle, which is a nice way of gaining some quick height. The worst part? The button layout is fixed, ergo completely uneditable. Grr.
Despite the flaws, I adjusted and enjoyed zipping about the (slightly smaller than before) city to a fair degree.
More problematic is the combat: to date, no Spider-Man game seems to have possessed a truly 'good' fighting system, and Spider 2's was competent at best, but Ultimate takes a step backwards. While less overflowing with pointless combos and more weightier-feeling, beating thugs up is simply a chore, made worse by the maddening requirement of webbing foes up either just before or after delivering the final blow. A minor annoyance, but absolutely essential, because the bastards keep getting back up otherwise.
An interesting mechanic is the fact that switching between kicking and punching (triangle and square) does extra damage, which is a big help during the game's many boss fights.
On the subject of boss fights, this is another adventure that is mysteriously spent witling away at massive life bars for half its duration. The brawls in question are almost all enjoyable, and display at least some level of development competence, although very similar repeated encounters can drag on.
The music is pleasantly acceptable, being a mix between funkiness for general work and orchestral epicness during the critical story battles. It's not that exceptional, but the main menu tune is pretty catchy, and sure as hell got stuck in my head a while. Why, there it is now....actually, that's bothering me....
The plot is based on the comics (nah, really?), and presented with gusto, through use of the nicey-nice cutscenes and generally hunky-dory acting. It's a combination of cartoonish silliness and grim seriousness, but makes for a more compelling watch than the awkward romances of the films, at least.
Highlighted amongst this are Spider-Man's trademark quips, which flow from his mouth during every cutscene and every clash. While it is all very much hit-and-miss, the majority of his comments are grin-inducing, although I can assure you that your sides are unlikely to split.
So far, I've made it sound a lot like Ultimate is just a prettier, more technically impressive version of its spiritual predecessor. While that is partly true, the most interesting aspect of the game is the supposed arch-villain and second playable character Venom, who was much-hyped, deservedly.
In contrast to Spidey's nimble acrobatics, Venom lumbers through the city like the beast he is, and jumps colossal distances rather than swinging, although his tentacles act as a comparable tool to the Spider's web-zip, and are used to move forward at speed.
Along with those extremities, the big purple dude slashes with his claws, punches, kicks, faceplants people, throws cars around, breaks the backs of slow-moving adversaries and even eats folks. By absorbing them into his body, Venom gains health (which constantly dwindles), before spewing the victim out. I checked, and they are clearly breathing, sadly. Still, broken backs are less easily remedied, eh? At the very least, there are now far more paraplegics in the world. Also, I count having THAT tongue as a superpower.
Back on the topic of Venom, he is so much more preferable to Spider-Man that the game became a case of slogging through until the next section where he was available. Typically, these bits are considerably fewer and less lengthy. Well, if that ain't just peachy. But not to worry, fans of evil teeth-and-tentacle monsters; if you manage to beat the (easy, and short) main plot, you can play as Venom whenever you want, with no restrictions, and even partake in a destruction mini-game wherein you fight endless hordes of human resistance, with different levels of pain-bringing.
Venom's inclusion is reason enough to buy this, but by no means the only thing going for it. Definitely worth having.
Following in this surprisingly pretty good effort's footsteps is Ultimate Spider-Man, an adaptation of the alternate reality comic of the same name. Once again developed by Treyarch, the game inevitably shares many of its genes with the company's previous effort.
The first thing that jumped to my attention was the lovely cell-shading that envelops the entire experience, coupled with the genius use of panels like in a comic, which sees such moments as when characters jump to dodge an attack, fly out of a panel and land in another. It looks supremely stylish.
Less great, any veterans of Spider 2 will doubtless spend the best part of a half-hour struggling to get used to the unnecessarily altered control setup: whereas before one had to swing with R2, before pressing X to release and then fire another webline, the new game just requires holding and releasing R2 to move around. Some people prefer this, others don't, and I fall neatly into the latter category. It feels different to what I got so used to less than a year earlier, and therefore earns a good shunning from me. Still, a single nice addition comes with the ability to climb up a webline by holding triangle, which is a nice way of gaining some quick height. The worst part? The button layout is fixed, ergo completely uneditable. Grr.
Despite the flaws, I adjusted and enjoyed zipping about the (slightly smaller than before) city to a fair degree.
More problematic is the combat: to date, no Spider-Man game seems to have possessed a truly 'good' fighting system, and Spider 2's was competent at best, but Ultimate takes a step backwards. While less overflowing with pointless combos and more weightier-feeling, beating thugs up is simply a chore, made worse by the maddening requirement of webbing foes up either just before or after delivering the final blow. A minor annoyance, but absolutely essential, because the bastards keep getting back up otherwise.
An interesting mechanic is the fact that switching between kicking and punching (triangle and square) does extra damage, which is a big help during the game's many boss fights.
On the subject of boss fights, this is another adventure that is mysteriously spent witling away at massive life bars for half its duration. The brawls in question are almost all enjoyable, and display at least some level of development competence, although very similar repeated encounters can drag on.
The music is pleasantly acceptable, being a mix between funkiness for general work and orchestral epicness during the critical story battles. It's not that exceptional, but the main menu tune is pretty catchy, and sure as hell got stuck in my head a while. Why, there it is now....actually, that's bothering me....
The plot is based on the comics (nah, really?), and presented with gusto, through use of the nicey-nice cutscenes and generally hunky-dory acting. It's a combination of cartoonish silliness and grim seriousness, but makes for a more compelling watch than the awkward romances of the films, at least.
Highlighted amongst this are Spider-Man's trademark quips, which flow from his mouth during every cutscene and every clash. While it is all very much hit-and-miss, the majority of his comments are grin-inducing, although I can assure you that your sides are unlikely to split.
So far, I've made it sound a lot like Ultimate is just a prettier, more technically impressive version of its spiritual predecessor. While that is partly true, the most interesting aspect of the game is the supposed arch-villain and second playable character Venom, who was much-hyped, deservedly.
In contrast to Spidey's nimble acrobatics, Venom lumbers through the city like the beast he is, and jumps colossal distances rather than swinging, although his tentacles act as a comparable tool to the Spider's web-zip, and are used to move forward at speed.
Along with those extremities, the big purple dude slashes with his claws, punches, kicks, faceplants people, throws cars around, breaks the backs of slow-moving adversaries and even eats folks. By absorbing them into his body, Venom gains health (which constantly dwindles), before spewing the victim out. I checked, and they are clearly breathing, sadly. Still, broken backs are less easily remedied, eh? At the very least, there are now far more paraplegics in the world. Also, I count having THAT tongue as a superpower.
Back on the topic of Venom, he is so much more preferable to Spider-Man that the game became a case of slogging through until the next section where he was available. Typically, these bits are considerably fewer and less lengthy. Well, if that ain't just peachy. But not to worry, fans of evil teeth-and-tentacle monsters; if you manage to beat the (easy, and short) main plot, you can play as Venom whenever you want, with no restrictions, and even partake in a destruction mini-game wherein you fight endless hordes of human resistance, with different levels of pain-bringing.
Venom's inclusion is reason enough to buy this, but by no means the only thing going for it. Definitely worth having.
Ah, aliens: the prototypical video game bad guys. Along with Nazis, zombies and goblins, more extra-terrestrials have appeared as enemies in games than sewer levels and annoying sidekicks, and games like today's subject use this cliché to their advantage to serve up some enjoyably cheesy FPS blasting. Pull on your HEV suit and dive in with me. And don't touch anything sticky and glowing.
The famous base with untold mysteries is portrayed as what every conspiracy nutter claims it to be in real life: chock-full of intergalactic guinea pigs, reverse-engineered technology and enough mad scientists to host a convention of the gits with. The least stable of the lab jockeys decides to unleash the various captive nasties one day and as a result the entire complex is overrun, as folk either get eviscerated or turned into mutants by a super-contagion. Intrigued by all the screaming, some HAZMAT blokes are sent in and soon wish they hadn't been. You're the sod who has to go in and get 'em out. This wonderfully two-dimensional plot setup is what I'd want and expect from a common or garden shooter, and Area 51 gets it just right. A convoluted plot can be more of a detriment than a positive addition in games like these, and keeping the focus on exaggerated action is the best option. After all, TimeSplitters has basically no story, and look how that turned out. My only problem with the plot for Area 51 is that it's hard to take seriously, since historical documents prove that the crew from Futurama were the cause of Roswell's famous enigmas, so this junk about human-alien pacts and the like seems far-fetched. Bender was the UFO, obviously. Basic stuff.
The weapons themselves are mostly disappointing, consisting of your bog-standard shotgun, rifle and pistol, but though predictable they're also sufficiently boomy. Much like Republic Commando, just because the equipment selection is forgettable doesn't mean it's not entertaining. Plus you do eventually get an alien gun that fires bouncy, sticky explosives, and another that just destroys a whole room, so at least it's not completely boring. It's definitely no Ratchet and Clank, though. One saving grace is that the rifle and shotgun can be dual-wielded, and the extra firepower is much appreciated in small corridors. In short, there are a good few brown trouser moments.
I mentioned the mindless "leapers" before, but you also get mutants with guns, headcrab impersonators, the occasional hulking titan, some shadowy military types and eventually a few Greys. Of these opponents, the only truly memorable ones in my mind were the Greys, which is ironic considering they're the only creature designed to mimic a popular established image. For whatever reason, they stuck with me and little else did. Perhaps the main Grey's voice actor had something to do with it, having given such a chilling performance. Who might it be, you ask? Only that lord of all weirdness, Marilyn Manson. I smeg you not. Both the alien and his actor are a bit wrong in the head, so you can't fault the casting choice. The extra features show Marilyn identifying with his character (known as Edgar), and saying that they "share a general contempt for mankind".
Perhaps most easily remembered about Area 51 is its lovely sense of humour. It's nothing of Armed and Dangerous levels, but worthy of the odd snigger. Most of the comedy comes from documents that can be scanned to reveal either backstory or description of some ludicrous government project. Bigfoot, cropcircles, cow mutilation and more are explained. It seems that every urban legend from the 40s onwards was related to the secret base, and the most amusing thing I discovered revealed the true nature to a certain famous mission in 1969. Just watch and try not to chuckle. Destroy All Humans! is more funny overall, since the B-movie styling and alien perspective are hard to beat, not to mention the fact that Invader Zim plays a starring role. Even so, Area 51 has regular bursts of comedy and sometimes a flash of brilliance.
It's immeasurably awesome that the troubled grunt you play as should be voiced by Mulder from The X-Files. He sounds exactly the same, with that monotone mumbling which just embodies him as an actor. He works not only in terms of performance, but also because, you know, Area 51? X-Files? It's just too perfect, and quite the privilege to have The Man himself lending his voice to you. Just keep the tank topped up and be gentle with her.
A great inclusion is the level select, which goes a step further by letting you continue from any checkpoint. Many, many games before and since should have incorporated the same idea but didn't. It allows for replayability, as you can avoid the less good bits and focus on reliving the best sections, mainly the middle third.
The music is some very stylish synthesised goodness that's most similar to the Return to Planet X theme from TimeSplitters 2. It's appropriate in terms of frantic mood and alien-ness, and you've gotta love it.
Cover-ups, conspiracies, traitors, Illuminati, genetic manipulation...it's all here and all brilliant silliness. Combine that with passable shooting and a handful of cunning sections and you've got a well-made game that's more than competent and the gaming equivalent of popcorn cinema: utterly derivative, but one Hell of an expedition. A respectful nod towards such gaming traditions as invaders from space and escaping before the facility blows up in classic Metroid fashion lends character to proceedings, and elevates the package above being "just another FPS". It's not outstanding, but it's nearly there, and ideal throwaway entertainment.
The famous base with untold mysteries is portrayed as what every conspiracy nutter claims it to be in real life: chock-full of intergalactic guinea pigs, reverse-engineered technology and enough mad scientists to host a convention of the gits with. The least stable of the lab jockeys decides to unleash the various captive nasties one day and as a result the entire complex is overrun, as folk either get eviscerated or turned into mutants by a super-contagion. Intrigued by all the screaming, some HAZMAT blokes are sent in and soon wish they hadn't been. You're the sod who has to go in and get 'em out. This wonderfully two-dimensional plot setup is what I'd want and expect from a common or garden shooter, and Area 51 gets it just right. A convoluted plot can be more of a detriment than a positive addition in games like these, and keeping the focus on exaggerated action is the best option. After all, TimeSplitters has basically no story, and look how that turned out. My only problem with the plot for Area 51 is that it's hard to take seriously, since historical documents prove that the crew from Futurama were the cause of Roswell's famous enigmas, so this junk about human-alien pacts and the like seems far-fetched. Bender was the UFO, obviously. Basic stuff.
The weapons themselves are mostly disappointing, consisting of your bog-standard shotgun, rifle and pistol, but though predictable they're also sufficiently boomy. Much like Republic Commando, just because the equipment selection is forgettable doesn't mean it's not entertaining. Plus you do eventually get an alien gun that fires bouncy, sticky explosives, and another that just destroys a whole room, so at least it's not completely boring. It's definitely no Ratchet and Clank, though. One saving grace is that the rifle and shotgun can be dual-wielded, and the extra firepower is much appreciated in small corridors. In short, there are a good few brown trouser moments.
I mentioned the mindless "leapers" before, but you also get mutants with guns, headcrab impersonators, the occasional hulking titan, some shadowy military types and eventually a few Greys. Of these opponents, the only truly memorable ones in my mind were the Greys, which is ironic considering they're the only creature designed to mimic a popular established image. For whatever reason, they stuck with me and little else did. Perhaps the main Grey's voice actor had something to do with it, having given such a chilling performance. Who might it be, you ask? Only that lord of all weirdness, Marilyn Manson. I smeg you not. Both the alien and his actor are a bit wrong in the head, so you can't fault the casting choice. The extra features show Marilyn identifying with his character (known as Edgar), and saying that they "share a general contempt for mankind".
Perhaps most easily remembered about Area 51 is its lovely sense of humour. It's nothing of Armed and Dangerous levels, but worthy of the odd snigger. Most of the comedy comes from documents that can be scanned to reveal either backstory or description of some ludicrous government project. Bigfoot, cropcircles, cow mutilation and more are explained. It seems that every urban legend from the 40s onwards was related to the secret base, and the most amusing thing I discovered revealed the true nature to a certain famous mission in 1969. Just watch and try not to chuckle. Destroy All Humans! is more funny overall, since the B-movie styling and alien perspective are hard to beat, not to mention the fact that Invader Zim plays a starring role. Even so, Area 51 has regular bursts of comedy and sometimes a flash of brilliance.
It's immeasurably awesome that the troubled grunt you play as should be voiced by Mulder from The X-Files. He sounds exactly the same, with that monotone mumbling which just embodies him as an actor. He works not only in terms of performance, but also because, you know, Area 51? X-Files? It's just too perfect, and quite the privilege to have The Man himself lending his voice to you. Just keep the tank topped up and be gentle with her.
A great inclusion is the level select, which goes a step further by letting you continue from any checkpoint. Many, many games before and since should have incorporated the same idea but didn't. It allows for replayability, as you can avoid the less good bits and focus on reliving the best sections, mainly the middle third.
The music is some very stylish synthesised goodness that's most similar to the Return to Planet X theme from TimeSplitters 2. It's appropriate in terms of frantic mood and alien-ness, and you've gotta love it.
Cover-ups, conspiracies, traitors, Illuminati, genetic manipulation...it's all here and all brilliant silliness. Combine that with passable shooting and a handful of cunning sections and you've got a well-made game that's more than competent and the gaming equivalent of popcorn cinema: utterly derivative, but one Hell of an expedition. A respectful nod towards such gaming traditions as invaders from space and escaping before the facility blows up in classic Metroid fashion lends character to proceedings, and elevates the package above being "just another FPS". It's not outstanding, but it's nearly there, and ideal throwaway entertainment.