Chaser is an older, forgotten
title dug up from the grave. Released in 2003,
the game was developed by Cauldron HQ based
in Slovakia, using their own CloakNT engine.
The engine was definitely an
improvement over competitors such as the Quake
3 / id Tech3 engine. But this is 2003, and id
Tech4 is only one year away. Chaser's main competition
would have to come from Unreal II, and I'm afraid
the two are hardly comparable.
Chaser had a variety of environments,
plenty of which looked good such as; the sewers
of Little Tokyo, a cold and snowy Soviet Union,
the Mars Spaceport and underground Prison. In
fact there were a few levels that really reminded
me of Quake2, but being reminded of a game five
years old isn't saying much for Chaser. The
problem is, while there were good looking levels,
there was nothing truly spectacular. And on
top of that there were plenty of levels that
looked well below average. There are too many
rooms and corridors that look the same as the
last, which makes the game rather disorientating.
There were times when I was completely lost,
despite the game being very linear.
On to the gameplay; it started
off action-packed as you get a weak gun and
face a plethora of tough enemies. The guns took
some getting used to, as they seemed to lack
firepower and substance. It felt like I wasn't
holding a real gun, but a little toy that spews
millions of rounds a second. And when the enemies
get hit nothing really happened. After a while
I did get used to the weapons and there are
a LOT of weapons to choose from. Ammunition
was never a problem, nor was health. Gameplay
was in fact very fun, but only if you don't
mind reloading aplenty. Your enemies can take
you down fast - their weapons are quite powerful,
so you need to make sure you kill them quick.
The enemies were very repetitive all the way
through the game - it might as well have been
the same opponent with slightly different guns.
But even until I finished the game I still enjoyed
the gameplay, despite there being absolutely
no big finale - the game just ended. Speaking
of which, the disappointing and confusing ending
did nothing for the game whatsover.
One last criticism of the game
is that there are some parts that are very frustrating.
The submarine levels were not only ugly, but
disorientating and possibly the worst levels
I've ever played in a first person shooter.
Fortunately they don't last long, and most of
the game is enjoyable. The graphics are a bit
outdated and level design can be average at
times, but it's still worth playing for the
hardcore FPS fan, especially seeing as it's
quite a long game.
