Urban Chaos: Riot Response Review

Having played undesirables from the criminal underworld in any number of videogames, Eidos and newcomers Rocksteady Games turn the tables in Urban Chaos: Riot Response, the first in what the two companies hope will become a franchise. Set in a fictitious city where to be quite frank all hell is breaking loose, players follow the story of Nick Mason, an officer of the newly activated T-Zero response unit, whose job it is to fight against an anarchic (not forgetting pyromaniac) gang known as the 'Burners'.

Tying the events of Urban Chaos together is real-life newscaster Sally Shamrell playing "Lani York" for the city's Channel 7 News. Bringing a certain amount of professionalism to the role by writing her own scripts for the newscasts, the Channel 7 News sequences will be familiar to anyone living in the US or anyone who has ever seen US news reports. Big, bold, authoritative segments, Channel 7 News even features the dramatic headline slogans that litter US news, and stock footage of riots to bring a further level of 'realism', not to mention that the time of the news reports is read from the PlayStation2/Xbox clock - a neat detail. The reports not only broadcast details of the player's previous mission and the latest incidents to occur in various newsflashes, but also a further storyline surrounding T-Zero boss Adam Wolf and his apparent involvement in training militia on urban warfare...could he be involved in the Burner's actions in order to establish T-Zero???

Early missions set the scene and provide players with a number of essential pieces of 'kit' for the levels ahead, and aside from the weapons that every FPS packs, the most important is the shield. The good old riot shield is one bit of equipment that is used heavily throughout the game, and not just 'because it's there'. Its application in Urban Chaos is absolutely necessary if Mason is to survive the Burners, and isn't only restricted to protecting Mason from the flying objects thrown at him by the Burners, including the rather nasty butchers cleaver and Moltov cocktails. In fact players get a good idea as to how useful the shield is pretty much at the start of the game with Mason having to navigating through jets of ignited gas by using his shield and keeping the blue-hot flame at bay, whilst later missions see players use the shield to protect Mason from backdrafts in burning buildings, and more unrealistically (unless the shield was made from some sort of futuristic technology) rockets. Of course some gang members won't want to go out in a blaze of glory, instead Mason will be involved in hostage situations with a civilian being used as a human shield. Though they add a little bit of variety to the gameplay, they're fairly inconsequential and can be dealt with in the same way throughout Urban Chaos with a combination of shield and pistol (after all a sawn-off shotgun isn't quite appropriate in such situations.)

Beginning with a standard issue pistol, Mason widens his range of armaments as the game progresses, with players free from being limited to just two weapons. Split into three types, bullet/shell based, melee, and T-Zero stun gun, quick changes between the weapons can be made through the face buttons even when the shield is being used. The standard fare of FPS firepower is of course included here with shotguns and automatic weapons, but Mason can also use the Burner's weapons against them such as Molotovs and cleavers, the latter being especially nasty. With gang leaders required to be captured alive in order to gain further intelligence (part of the game's unlockables), Mason is also kitted with a stun gun, which can incapacitate an enemy in a couple of seconds, though it's worth letting go of that trigger button at that point unless you want them to burn and quite literally go up in flames.

In what's becoming almost an expected addition to FPS titles, Mason also has an infrared sight thanks to the Thermal Breather given to him by one of the city's firefighters. Useful not only to see enemies in dark places, the equipment also allows Mason to spot vulnerable or injured NPCs in smoke filled rooms as well as allow the character to breath in the difficult environment of a burning building. It also makes a sound not too dissimilar from a certain bit of equipment used by a Mr Fisher.

Urban Chaos reigns in all three emergency services throughout the game, using them to provide Mason with extra health (the paramedics), back-up or covering fire (the police), or clearing doorways and putting out fires (the firemen. Controlling them through a basic command system using the d-pad, Mason can tell them to take cover under attack, or point them in the direction of a specific target such as a civilian requiring medical attention. It's far from being a tactical shooter however, so don't think of this as a Ghost Recon wannabe, because Rocksteady have no such intentions with their franchise.

Visually it's a solid current-gen title that doesn't really try to push any of the remaining boundaries that the consoles have let to offer, so there aren't surprises or 'wow' elements from the graphics at face value. There are however times, such as the backdrafts, that do leave you in awe mostly because they happen quickly and violently. Players are also 'rewarded' after certain kills with a slow-mo sequence of the enemy in a nod to action movies. Perhaps a neat detail at first, the effect does get tiresome fairly quickly, and although they can be skipped, Rocksteady have at least added an option to remove them in the menu.

Speaking of options. there's a lot of them available to players in the form of objectives and side-objectives throughout Urban Chaos, which does create a feeling of progression and also motivates the players to continue with the game. Obviously there are key objectives in a mission such as rescuing a number of trapped civilians or capturing a gang leader, but there're a number of other incentives for the player too. Unlockables are a key feature of Urban Chaos, covering everything from new weaponry (Assault Rifles, Smoke Grenades, and Battle Armour) and the ability to upgrade the all-important shield, through to short time-based 'emergency' missions. To unlock these, players collect medals by completing a number of secondary objectives such as incapacitating a set number of gang members ('Non-Lethal Enforcer'), killing them with a certain number of headshots ('Sharpshooter'), or picking-up some of the Burner masks laying around the gameworld. Emergency missions, which sees Mason attempt to rescue a city VIP from meeting an untimely end within a time limit, are unlocked when a gang leader is captured alive, thanks to the T-zero stun gun. These missions, if completed, unlock 'prototype' weapons for Mason to use in the main game and also provide a level of variety away from the standard objectives found elsewhere in Urban Chaos. A strong element in the game, the breadth of side-objectives and the additional Emergency missions really help to create a solid foundation for the main gameplay - which is where it begins to go a bit wrong for Urban Chaos.

There's a feeling of repetition in the gameplay after the first few levels. Despite all of the bonuses open to the player, Urban Chaos does boil down into an FPS that's travel heavy, with Mason having to rescue a number of civilians sprinkled through a closed environment (such as a burning building) requiring the gamers to retrace their steps. Rocksteady has tried to implement enough variety so players aren't left with the same level of gameplay, for instance with the time-based Emergency missions and helicopter mounted chain-gun sequence, but it's not quite enough to distract players from the samey experience offered the rest of the time. Additionally the AI of enemies is quite disappointing, with the game relying on sheer numbers to provide a challenge. At no point do you feel that the Burners have a mind of their own, they don't even attempt to avoid Mason's aim, and it all feels quite artificial. Scripted to the hilt, they appear in exactly the same places and do exactly the same things if a player has to redo a certain section, dulling the experience and sense of immersion. Urban Chaos also features a number of multiplayer scenarios for up to 8-players for both Xbox and PlayStation2 across system-link/LAN or Xbox Live/Network Play.