Eradicator - PC Review - Coming Soon Magazine!

Accolade

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Kamchak

Kamchak
Treydan Warrior

The three moons of the planet Ioxa were the only places in the universe where the precious Mazrium could be found. The current technology was relying heavily on this rare resource, which was also used as a power source and had life-giving properties. One could have called this period the Mazrium Age, as it had become so important for the survival of living beings.

One day though, what everyone feared became a reality; all mining activities on the three moons had stopped for good, and not because of strikes! The last remaining mechanized Ioxan citadel, inoperative for over two centuries, was back online, preventing the access to the moons' surface with a strong and impenetrable ion field. After the dispatched force had been annihilated, the idea of sending one single element to infiltrate the defenses and shut down the power, was accepted unanimously. Where an entire army had failed, one had to be successful for the sake of the galaxy. Your mission will be to enter the Citadel, get rid of any resistance you encounter and lower the shields to restore mining operations as soon as possible.

In Accolade's Eradicator, you choose the character that you will incarnate during the game, each one having its own skills, weaknesses and weapons. Eleena Brynstaarl is a feline-type female mercenary that has been hired by the Universal Mining Guild (UMG), and while she is of a relative fragile constitution, she moves with the same grace and agility as felines. The strong built Treydan warrior Kamchak, is quite limited by his huge reptilian body, but his aptitude for combat is unmatched and his heroism doesn't need to be proved. Between these two characters is Dan Blaze, a cybernetically improved male humanoid working in the Mazrium mines as an engineer. Compared to Kamchak and Eleena, he is not as strong and fast as they are respectively, but he blends force and stamina to a good mobility which makes him a good choice to start with the game.

Eleena

Eleena Brynstaarl
Mercenary

Besides the physical differences, two other features will slightly alter the game play depending on the character you choose: the starting level and the primary weapon. Each character will have their own way to enter in the citadel. Eleena will land on the surface and have to pass through subterranean ducts, while Kamchak, after entering an outpost, will have to open mining tunnels and use them to find his way to the citadel. Trapped on one of the moons, Dan will first need to use a satellite array to jam Ioxan scanners, then locate a shuttle and pilot it to the citadel on Ioxa. These three levels will help players to familiarize themselves with the 3D environment of Eradicator, which in terms of interactivity is far superior to any other first-person perspective games out there. Furthermore, they will get to know their character better, and especially their specific primary weapon which is a ripper disc for Eleena, a photon bolt for Kamchak and a strident laser for Dan.

Once entered into the citadel, you will have to go through 21 levels (identical for the three characters) that will lead you to the inner core where the guardian G'or will be waiting for you. The real innovation in Eradicator is the third-person view that allows a panoramic view of the surrounding world through a camera placed above and behind your back. For those who would miss it, the standard first-person view is still available, and switching from one view to the other while playing, is done by pressing a single key that can be customized at will. Another great original feature of the game is the PiP (Picture-in-Picture). As you progress in the citadel's bowels, you will stumble on various monitors that you can use. Each monitor will allow you to view through the eye of a fully controllable remote camera, placed elsewhere in the complex. This will help you to elaborate your attack plan by first spotting where the enemy forces are located. Through monitors, it is sometimes possible to control a droid that you can then turn against its own side. The PiP window is placed at the upper left corner of the screen, but you can also bring its content on the main view to get more details, or reduce it to a simple icon. Some weapons will also be guided using the PiP view such as missiles, spider and flying bombs, and other deadly devices. The spider bomb, for example, can be guided exactly like you would do with your character. It can open doors, jump, and it will detonate when it reaches its target. These possibilities will greatly enhance the game play by adding a tactical approach to the game, which changes the play of the regular "blast everything out" offered by other games of this kind. The mission objectives for each level, as in Dark Forces, also contribute to make the game much more interesting than just wandering across levels looking for the bad guys.

Dan
Blaze

Dan Blaze
Cybernetic Miner

Throughout the citadel, you will encounter many sorts of enemies, ranging from gun turrets to hideous flying creatures through various droids. If with time you can figure out the best way to eradicate them, it might not be as simple for the three bosses you have to beat during the game. Only by combining force and ruse shall you be successful against these three adversaries. Fortunately, the weapons stock you have access to is quite impressive. There are 20 different weapons in Eradicator, and the least you can say is that they are very uncommon. Among the most innovative are the guided weapons mentioned above, but also the power-up Li'l Buddy, a flying device over your shoulder that will protect you and kill anything threatening. You will also find mines, projectiles acting like boomerangs, flying turrets, etc. During your exploration, you will collect several objects, either placed on the floor, in crates or hidden into secret places. These can be power-ups or special items. The power-ups will partially restore your health or completely, increase your weapons performance for a limited time, make you invulnerable for a brief instant, or give you additional ammunition. The items, placed in your inventory, will be removed once used. Among the most useful, there are the infragoggles, the null grav boots that compensate the effects of gravity and let you jump higher, and the Xenon Mist that renders you invisible.

Graphically, Eradicator can't pretend to the best score especially when you compare its VGA graphics to the SVGA resolution used in Duke Nukem 3D. However, for the same graphic mode (standard VGA), Eradicator looks better than Duke Nukem 3D, with a 3D environment as rich as the one featured in Dark Forces. The glaucous atmosphere of the citadel, obtained by realistic textures, is enhanced by the presence of a CD audio soundtrack that surrounds the player with a tense and somehow frightening feeling, that someone may be lurking behind you. Yet, the audio isn't really a musical score except for a level or two, but rather strange noises and intriguing rattles that re-echo within the underneath galleries of the citadel, which really gives the player the sensation of being there. You will also hear your character commenting the action, each with their own voice.

Eradicator is no exception to the rule of multi-player. With the possibility to play with up to eight on a network, in a cooperative or death-match play, Eradicator is the hottest multi-player experience of the moment, while waiting for Dark Forces 2. There are also modem and serial connections available for a two players game, and while there are no Internet multi-player services yet for the game, it shouldn't be too long before you can play with Eradicator on the net, other than via Kali.

Conclusion:

If Eradicator had SVGA graphics, it would be the game of the year. Still, it has enough to offer to take a particular place in your games' collection with original ideas that will surely give the competition lots of matter to think about! With its four levels of difficulty, and an excellent in-game help available in the easy mode, Eradicator can be played by all, from newcomers to die-hard action fans.

Written by Frederick Claude

Click here for screen shots.

Click here for the demo.

System Requirements:

IBM-PC 486 DX2-66 Mhz, Pentium and most compatibles,
Min 8Mb memory,
Windows 95 or Dos 5.0 or higher,
Hard drive required with at least 45Mb free,
Double speed CD-ROM drive faster,
VGA compatible video card,
Microsoft compatible mouse.

All major soundcards supported.

Keyboard and joysticks supported.

Network play: Modem play, serial connect, IPX Networks.