Armed and Dangerous Screenshots   The Final Say! Gameplay 9.1 Graphics 8.5 Sound 9.5 Value 9.5 Armed and Dangerous - reviewed by Andrew B Review Date: March 2003 Review Score: 9.2/10  Distributed By: Electronic Arts

"Based on a true story..."   After just finishing one of the lengthiest gaming sessions in years, it only just dawned on me why I enjoyed Armed and Dangerous so much... it was developed by Planet Moon... the creators of Giants, probably one of the most underrated and best games of all time. Armed and Dangerous is the latest instalment from Planet Moon that puts gamers in the role of Roman who is not only the hero of the game but also pays homage to the legends of Robin Hood.   Roman is the leader of the Lionhearts, a band of outlaws that steal from the insidious and dastardly King Forge and then return it to the needy. Fortunately for Roman, his band of merry men (no pun intended) are just as hardened and heroic as the leader and the group is made up of Jonesy, a mole miner whose forte is explosives and Q1-11, a former eliminator droid who now has a heart of gold... well steel. And for added comedy relief, the outlaws are joined by Rexus, a strange little old man who happens to be blind as a bat.   Although the storyline behind Armed and Dangerous is extremely clichéd and one could say "tarnishes" the Robin Hood Legacy, it is probably the most amusing and game-friendly storylines that I have seen in years... actually, since Giants first appeared on the market those so many years ago. The plot is simple, recover an ancient tome called the Book of Rule before King Forge discovers how to unlock its secrets. If these secrets are unlocked, the King may use this power to destroy vast cities in the wake of his madness. From Star Wars quotes to a variety of entertaining anecdotes such as the King's son Stig taking too much medication and thinking that King is a talking ostrich, this game is hilarious.   Although there is a small snag, only Rexus can unlock the magics that guard the book so a deadly game of cat and mouse begins. It is up to the Lionhearts to prevent the King from capturing Rexus and while they are at it, they may as well close down the tyranny of King Forge. The storyline also contains some extremely entertaining humour that had me laughing out loud at some of the anecdotes of the Lionhearts. For example, when the Lionhearts rescued Rexus, the poor old thing was suffering from frostbite so in order to keep him warm Q1-11 decided to insert him into the backside of a dead dinosaur. Unfortunately for Rexus, the dinosaur was only sleeping and Rexus went for one of the most frightening rides of his life... not to mention that *umm* warm feeling. Armed and Dangerous also  features over 21 levels with 3 bonus missions that are unlocked as you progress through the game.

In its essence, Armed and Dangerous is a third person shooter that heavily emphases on action. You basically control the leader of the Lionhearts, Roman who has access to a variety of different weapons from powerful machine guns to deadly sticky bombs.

The developers have also ensured to keep the gameplay fresh and unique because as you progress through the game, you are give access to even more powerful weapons that are quite simply awe-inspiring in the damage that they cause. Armed and Dangerous also supports a destructible environment which means just about anything in the game can be destroyed from deadly barrels of fuel to huge enemy enforcements. The game also features more subtle weapons such as sniper rifles that allows you to pick off enemies in the distance without causing the alarm to sound. The control system of the game has an extremely low learning curve and you will be playing like a master military chief in no time. The left thumbstick is used to control the camera angle in the game with the right tumbstick used to control your character in the gaming environment. The other buttons are used to change weapons, jump, fire alternate weapons, reload and of course give orders to your outlaws such as guard or attack the enemy.

Although no "save anywhere" feature in the game, the game automatically saves once a mission or mission objective has been completed. You can also save the game if you visit a pub that is also used to purchase additional weaponry. The game also offers three levels of difficulty with the 3rd level of difficulty only accessible to the player once they have completed the game. I must admit that on the easiest setting, the game is somewhat a little too easy so I would recommend a medium setting for a true challenge. The combat of Armed and Dangerous is brilliant and you basically take on a plethora of enemies that range from extremely dumb soldiers to intelligent bosses.

Armed and Dangerous uses a modified version of the Giants engine that still looks quite impressive on the XBox gaming console. Although the majority of levels are outdoors, the gaming environment contains a plethora of detail from trees, buildings, rocks, ice and everything else you would expect to find in a frozen wasteland, desert and forest. The character models are extremely detailed and contain some great textures such as reflective surfaces on their metallic armour. There is also a variety of special effects such as reflective surfaces on ice, buildings and of course some realistic weather effects such as falling snow. I must admit that I was extremely disappointed with the movies of the game. Not because it uses the in-game engine but because the movies were turned in MPEG's and some of the artifacting that plagues these movies are quite disgraceful as I didn't know if I was watching a poorly downloaded movie from the internet of a console game. I'm a little confused as to why the developers didn't just use the in-game engine or kept the compression rate of the MPEG's high? Thankfully the in-game graphics don't suffer from any bugs or poor programming but every now and then the frame does become a little sluggish.

The musical score of Armed and Dangerous was composed by Anna Karney who does a wonderful job at linking various folk tunes with dramatic Hollywood type pieces to help immerse the gamer into this futuristic yet medieval world. The developers have done a great job at keeping the music in the background but once the action starts to heat up, the music changes dramatically to indicate the upcoming threat of battle or danger. There is also a variety of realistic sound effects in the game from the grunts and screams of King Forge's army getting slain by the Lionhearts to the noises of guns, explosions and the sounds of background ambience. Apart from the impressive musical score and sound effects, Armed and Dangerous also features some of the most professional voice acting to ever grace a game, although it is extremely cheesy and overtop, each voice suits the character perfectly.

In conclusion, Planet Moon have once again outdone themselves with Armed and Dangerous and all the problems that plagued Giants have been fixed in this amazing medieval and futuristic world. With a very sturdy gaming engine that contains some jaw dropping graphics and special effects to the beautiful musical score of Anna Karney and of course the in-depth and highly amusing storyline, this game has it all! If you love third person shooters or was a fan of the original Giants game, then look no further because this is one game that must be added to your collection. Don't walk but run to your nearest retailer and bring this game home now! A big thankyou to Electronic Arts and Planet Moon for a truly wonderful gaming experience.

- Andrew B

"Not really based on a true story... but highly entertaining!"