MechAssault: Phantom War (DS) Review

Oh, to control a gigantic mech and tear apart enemies with all kinds of gunfire. That's the dream of most tech geeks out there, to wander about open territory and let loose with all kinds of firepower. At least, that's from what I assume. Now we finally get a chance to test our robot-handling wares with the release of Mechassault: Phantom War for the Nintendo DS, a spin-off of the popular Xbox games of the same name. In the game, you're assigned to a special league trying to shut down an evil army, going about it in a systematic way- with large robots. You have to work your way through a series of missions, upgrading to new bots along the way and occasionally doing a hack-job to get ahead through doors and into enemy robots.

I was skeptical as to how Majesco would handle a game such as this, since the folks at FASA weren't completely on board with taking care of the conversion. However, Backbone Entertainment, with some consultation from Day 1, has done a pretty good job in carrying over controls for the game. Maneuvering your robot feels like a cinch, and there's a simplistic touch-screen interface that allows you to exit and enter robots, as well as switch off between different types of firepower and other tools of the trade. There's also a pretty cool hacking feature, where you have to move around icons with the stylus in the right spots in a small amount of time to successfully get the hack off. It takes a little practice, but it's very cool.

The variety of mechs in the game will keep you playing, but I think more could have been done with the graphics. There's solid 3-D here, but it looks washed out at times, with colors that don't really belong in certain spots and smaller enemies that become hard to see from a distance (unless they're targeted). With sound, there's very minimal music, but Backbone's done superb work with a lot of strong voice readings, as well as some solid sound effects.

The main problem with Mechassault is that it's too easy to beat in single player mode. The game has a variety of missions that you have to get through, but they can be beaten in a matter of hours, with only a few unlockable 'bots and maps available afterwards. Where the game excels is with its multiplayer. Simply find a friend with another copy of the game and you can engage in some seriously entertaining versus action. It really does get fun, just like the Xbox games did with the Xbox Live service. My main problem, however, is that there's no online Wi-Fi support against competitors who aren't in your area. Also, you each have to own a copy of the game to take part- single-cart multiplayer is not an option here.

Mechassault: Phantom War could have been a hell of a lot better. But, on the flip side, it also could have been completely worse. The graphics and multiplayer options should've been weighed out more, but are made up for with excellent gameplay and decent Wi-Fi against a friend. If robot bashing is beating heavily anywhere in your body, it's time to settle in with a few rounds of this game. You won't be sorry.