Scrapland
Posted April 22, 2005
American McGee is back and this time trying to do for robots what he did for Alice. Unfortunately though, lightning doesn’t strike twice for the developer and you’ll quickly realize that Scrapland is nothing more than a Grand Theft Auto hybrid filled with quirky robots. By borrowing the elements from several different genres this game loses something in the process and it comes off as a bot of all trades, master of none even though it does several things right.
You follow the tale of D-Tritus as he explores the galaxy. Soon you’ll come across a little world named Scrapland and that’s when our tale starts. With more curiosity than George the monkey, D-Tritus finds himself in the midst of a murder mystery and winds up taking a job as a journalist. Talk about the short end of the stick.
Something is happening in the citadel of Chimera and the essences of robots are being stolen from the Great Database. You see every robot has something called a Matrix which is essentially like their soul. It saves their information and stores it inside. If the robot dies they can be revived for a nominal fee thanks to the Bishops of the Database.
I know what you’re thinking, “If a robot can be revived, why is D-Tritus reporting a murder?” It turns out that Matrixes are being stolen from the Database, so without those digital bits robots can truly die. Bummer, huh?
Gameplay:
Its tough being the new metallic kid on the block and everyone knows you’re green, especially by the way D-Tritus talks. Thankfully he has the ability to steal the essence of other robots and turn into them to perform tasks. Each robot can have access to areas other bots can’t go and even have unique attacks. It’s a neat ability that adds a lot of variety to gameplay and requires that you use some strategy. You have to be careful while you are in disguise though, beholders and cops will suspect you and it is illegal to impersonate someone else.
While on foot you’ll be exploring environments and interacting with other robots to get to the bottom of what’s going on. Key interest points are highlighted on the map of your HUD by a big yellow arrow that’s pretty hard to miss. It can sometimes be frustrating trying to get to where you need to be because while the arrow shows where you have to be, how you get there requires some wandering around. That holds true for being both on foot and flying a ship.
Thankfully you don’t have to stare at D-Tritus’ steel behind the entire game, you commandeer ships to fly from one destination to another. You goals are highlighted by that yellow arrow and navigating the sprawling city can be quite a pain. With towering buildings, multiple tunnels, highways, traffic and a barrage of neon lights this is the driver’s license test from hell.
Cars aren’t just for traveling though and right away you’ll be thrown into the middle of a dog fight. Your prey is highlighted on screen so you can easily target them and stay on their tail. Soaring through the masses of other vehicles and weaving in and out of buildings is a blast and even though there are invisible walls at the top and bottom of the zone there is a lot of freedom of movement.
As you progress through the game you will come across parts and blueprints for other ships, so you’re not stuck with just one ride. Working on these can get pretty expensive, but it’s well worth it in the grand scheme of things. Upgrading hull plating, weaponry and engines is the key to surviving battles and winning crazy bets. Those crazy bets are one of the best ways to yield some monetary growth.
Crazy bets are just one form of a side mission you can undertake, it’s the main ones that further the plot. Unfortunately several missions become extremely repetitive and involve doing the same task multiple times in a row. Running from point A to B and over to C gets pretty old after you do it for the third time in a row. You can only find your way to a location and take a picture of an object so many times before it gets boring. Spicing things up with crazy bets and getting into trouble can be fun, but ultimately you’ll find the gameplay rather dull.
Despite these flaws the bulk of Scrapland remains enjoyable to play and there are enough elements to explore to pass the time. Overwriting characters is a blast as are ship upgrading and vehicle battles. Scrapland is an interesting world with a story that will make you want to trudge through the monotony of the missions. There is even a multiplayer mode for two players tossed in for good measure with ship combat in death match and capture the flag.
Graphics:
One of the strongest points about Scrapland is the graphics engine. These visuals create a thriving artificial world that is awe inspiring in its grandeur and scope. The city of Chimera is so sprawling that it’s easy to get lost and dizzy in the sea of neon lights. The best way to describe it would be to think of a New York City set in Tron. The soft glow lights, smog and constant activity deserve a look.
On foot the interiors of buildings bustle with activity like the cityscape does and the textures give off the sense of old scrap and new technology blending seamlessly with each other. That can be said for the inhabitance of Scrapland as well and every robot you come across has a unique look to them. Whether they are floating, walking or rolling along, the characters each have personality and feature vibrant colors much like the world D-Tritus finds himself in.
There is a little bit of slowdown at points, especially when you get into the many open areas of Chimera. It’s not enough to mar gameplay horribly, but it sure does get annoying. The game is still beautiful and visionary no matter how you look at it though.
Audio:
The sound department gets some more high marks for their job here. The soundtrack is befitting of the game’s theme and features techno tracks that play throughout. It’s not really my cup of tea, and there are a few points where moments where the looping audio can get pretty irritating, but for the most part it works well.
What’s better though is the fantastic voice acting. Each character you come across from main robots to random inhabitance each sound great. The better performances come from the main characters though as they still sound and appear robotic with slight traces of humanly emotion and nature. You’ll really enjoy listening to D-Tritus and crew as the plot unfolds before you.
Conclusion:
A mixed bag of monotonous missions, fun combat and some innovative features, Scrapland is a tough nut to crack. I wanted to like it more, but the gameplay ultimately leaves something to be desired, even though there are enough aspects to have fun with for a while. The visuals and audio are phenomenal though and do not disappoint even though there are a few hiccups. A rich world awaits you and taking a glimpse at McGee’s creative future may hold interest for fans his other games. The story is original and intriguing even if the missions you have to go through to see it unfold are boring and the game comes off as relatively linear.
You follow the tale of D-Tritus as he explores the galaxy. Soon you’ll come across a little world named Scrapland and that’s when our tale starts. With more curiosity than George the monkey, D-Tritus finds himself in the midst of a murder mystery and winds up taking a job as a journalist. Talk about the short end of the stick.
Something is happening in the citadel of Chimera and the essences of robots are being stolen from the Great Database. You see every robot has something called a Matrix which is essentially like their soul. It saves their information and stores it inside. If the robot dies they can be revived for a nominal fee thanks to the Bishops of the Database.
I know what you’re thinking, “If a robot can be revived, why is D-Tritus reporting a murder?” It turns out that Matrixes are being stolen from the Database, so without those digital bits robots can truly die. Bummer, huh?
Gameplay:
Its tough being the new metallic kid on the block and everyone knows you’re green, especially by the way D-Tritus talks. Thankfully he has the ability to steal the essence of other robots and turn into them to perform tasks. Each robot can have access to areas other bots can’t go and even have unique attacks. It’s a neat ability that adds a lot of variety to gameplay and requires that you use some strategy. You have to be careful while you are in disguise though, beholders and cops will suspect you and it is illegal to impersonate someone else.
While on foot you’ll be exploring environments and interacting with other robots to get to the bottom of what’s going on. Key interest points are highlighted on the map of your HUD by a big yellow arrow that’s pretty hard to miss. It can sometimes be frustrating trying to get to where you need to be because while the arrow shows where you have to be, how you get there requires some wandering around. That holds true for being both on foot and flying a ship.
Thankfully you don’t have to stare at D-Tritus’ steel behind the entire game, you commandeer ships to fly from one destination to another. You goals are highlighted by that yellow arrow and navigating the sprawling city can be quite a pain. With towering buildings, multiple tunnels, highways, traffic and a barrage of neon lights this is the driver’s license test from hell.
Cars aren’t just for traveling though and right away you’ll be thrown into the middle of a dog fight. Your prey is highlighted on screen so you can easily target them and stay on their tail. Soaring through the masses of other vehicles and weaving in and out of buildings is a blast and even though there are invisible walls at the top and bottom of the zone there is a lot of freedom of movement.
As you progress through the game you will come across parts and blueprints for other ships, so you’re not stuck with just one ride. Working on these can get pretty expensive, but it’s well worth it in the grand scheme of things. Upgrading hull plating, weaponry and engines is the key to surviving battles and winning crazy bets. Those crazy bets are one of the best ways to yield some monetary growth.
Crazy bets are just one form of a side mission you can undertake, it’s the main ones that further the plot. Unfortunately several missions become extremely repetitive and involve doing the same task multiple times in a row. Running from point A to B and over to C gets pretty old after you do it for the third time in a row. You can only find your way to a location and take a picture of an object so many times before it gets boring. Spicing things up with crazy bets and getting into trouble can be fun, but ultimately you’ll find the gameplay rather dull.
Despite these flaws the bulk of Scrapland remains enjoyable to play and there are enough elements to explore to pass the time. Overwriting characters is a blast as are ship upgrading and vehicle battles. Scrapland is an interesting world with a story that will make you want to trudge through the monotony of the missions. There is even a multiplayer mode for two players tossed in for good measure with ship combat in death match and capture the flag.
Graphics:
One of the strongest points about Scrapland is the graphics engine. These visuals create a thriving artificial world that is awe inspiring in its grandeur and scope. The city of Chimera is so sprawling that it’s easy to get lost and dizzy in the sea of neon lights. The best way to describe it would be to think of a New York City set in Tron. The soft glow lights, smog and constant activity deserve a look.
On foot the interiors of buildings bustle with activity like the cityscape does and the textures give off the sense of old scrap and new technology blending seamlessly with each other. That can be said for the inhabitance of Scrapland as well and every robot you come across has a unique look to them. Whether they are floating, walking or rolling along, the characters each have personality and feature vibrant colors much like the world D-Tritus finds himself in.
There is a little bit of slowdown at points, especially when you get into the many open areas of Chimera. It’s not enough to mar gameplay horribly, but it sure does get annoying. The game is still beautiful and visionary no matter how you look at it though.
Audio:
The sound department gets some more high marks for their job here. The soundtrack is befitting of the game’s theme and features techno tracks that play throughout. It’s not really my cup of tea, and there are a few points where moments where the looping audio can get pretty irritating, but for the most part it works well.
What’s better though is the fantastic voice acting. Each character you come across from main robots to random inhabitance each sound great. The better performances come from the main characters though as they still sound and appear robotic with slight traces of humanly emotion and nature. You’ll really enjoy listening to D-Tritus and crew as the plot unfolds before you.
Conclusion:
A mixed bag of monotonous missions, fun combat and some innovative features, Scrapland is a tough nut to crack. I wanted to like it more, but the gameplay ultimately leaves something to be desired, even though there are enough aspects to have fun with for a while. The visuals and audio are phenomenal though and do not disappoint even though there are a few hiccups. A rich world awaits you and taking a glimpse at McGee’s creative future may hold interest for fans his other games. The story is original and intriguing even if the missions you have to go through to see it unfold are boring and the game comes off as relatively linear.