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Dead Man's Hand |
CG rating |
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Developer: Atari, Producer: Human Head Studios System requirements: CPU 800 MHz, 256 MB RAM, 3D Video Card with 32 MB, DirectX 8.1 compatible Game: Dead Man's Hand Genre: Shooter |
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Dead Man's Hand
| Posted by Assassin on 07-Dec-2004 10:41 |
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Although it didn’t make any waves at its launch in 1997, right in the middle of the Quake outbreak, Outlaw still remains a special game for a lot of players. And not because it was made by Lucas Arts, but because it was the first FPS that was located in the Wild West, a time and place which are synonymous with Sergio Leone’s movies. Inexplicably, this theme has been exploited very poorly by game designers, Desperados: Wanted Dead or Alive produced by Spellbound and released in 2001, followed by Wanted Guns (developed by Swedish studio Iridon Interactive) in 2004 being the only major titles set in this theme that i can remember in seven years of gaming. The FPS fans however had to wait for the release of Dead Man’s Hand (DMH), made by producer Human Head Studios.
The use of the Unreal Engine in DMH will be evident right from the first setup screen, continuing in-game with some very detailed textures and shadows. The fact that it runs decently on more modest rigs is due to the absence of dynamic lighting, which makes the levels seem devoid of life, even though you’ll see critters like chickens or vultures. Although the vulture circling made me remember Will Rock, the fact that I could actually shoot them surprised me, since the movement freedom of the player is pretty limited. First of, the borders of the levels aren’t masked through the use of oceans, bushes or fences, but by invisible walls. Secondly, there is no alternate route to get from the level’s start point A to finish point B (with a few exceptions). For instance, I tried avoiding a wooden cabin by ducking under a log, but the bushes near it proved to be made from concrete, although just a few feet away I could walk through the same bushes with no problem. Almost everything in game is scripted, starting with the events and finishing with the spawning of your enemies, and you’ll be tempted to use cheats if you retry a level too many times. The only exception regarding scripting that I found is the first level, when you ride a horse and have to shoot some enemies: when I started the level again, my horse turned left, instead of right, like it did the first time, probably because I didn’t shoot the enemies in the same order I did the first time. At least, this is the only explanation I could think of, since the horse can’t be controlled in any way by the player.
Thanks to the Karma physics engine, the player can break windows, chair, tables, bottles and some crates, while the barrels can be moved if they are shot. As a side note, the same Karma engine, with the help of rag-doll physics, also contributes to the spectacular falls of your enemies, even though they are all scripted.
The use of the Unreal Engine in DMH will be evident right from the first setup screen, continuing in-game with some very detailed textures and shadows. The fact that it runs decently on more modest rigs is due to the absence of dynamic lighting, which makes the levels seem devoid of life, even though you’ll see critters like chickens or vultures. Although the vulture circling made me remember Will Rock, the fact that I could actually shoot them surprised me, since the movement freedom of the player is pretty limited. First of, the borders of the levels aren’t masked through the use of oceans, bushes or fences, but by invisible walls. Secondly, there is no alternate route to get from the level’s start point A to finish point B (with a few exceptions). For instance, I tried avoiding a wooden cabin by ducking under a log, but the bushes near it proved to be made from concrete, although just a few feet away I could walk through the same bushes with no problem. Almost everything in game is scripted, starting with the events and finishing with the spawning of your enemies, and you’ll be tempted to use cheats if you retry a level too many times. The only exception regarding scripting that I found is the first level, when you ride a horse and have to shoot some enemies: when I started the level again, my horse turned left, instead of right, like it did the first time, probably because I didn’t shoot the enemies in the same order I did the first time. At least, this is the only explanation I could think of, since the horse can’t be controlled in any way by the player.
Thanks to the Karma physics engine, the player can break windows, chair, tables, bottles and some crates, while the barrels can be moved if they are shot. As a side note, the same Karma engine, with the help of rag-doll physics, also contributes to the spectacular falls of your enemies, even though they are all scripted.
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