Import Impressions

Kileak, The Blood -- Sony Music Entertainment, Inc.

You wander through halls, blast aliens and search for information to help you solve the puzzles - all of this from the comfort of your Mechanized Robot. Fully texture-mapped 3-D environments surround you in Kileak, The Blood for the PlayStation.

Ferrari Man
The PSX does have its limitations, and Kileak showed it. If you let several characters on the screen, the slow down was intense. After a short time playing I found an easy cheat - simply walk at full speed down the halls, and when you start to slow down that means that there is an enemy ahead in the distance, shoot now! It worked every time. The same texture maps kept sliding by, again and again... Very repetitive. However, the game was still very impressive. Perhaps I've been spoiled by the PC Doom genre with diverse textures and zones.

E.Phoenix
Wow, a fully texture mapped 3-D maze-blaster with true 3-D objects!? A fully rendered intro with zero tiling, incredible animation and awesome sound, that made me dookie in my shorts!? I was in heaven, for the moment. Where Kileak excels in those areas, it falters in others. First off, when ever you get near a room with a moving enemy in it, the game slows down. KTB also, does not have a "run" option that is a staple in other 3-D games. The music is good, although it never really adds to the atmosphere. Major problem: if you die on any level, and don't have a memory card, you must start at the beginning (that really sucked). Other than those problems, the game was pretty good and had the coolest intro animation that I have ever seen.

R.I.P.
Another spectacular first generation title for the PSX. I really liked this game, but as with all of the new PSX titles, I've got one problem with it, albeit a different problem... Apparently you can't continue a game when you die without the purchase of an additional memory card from Sony. In my most honest oppinion, this sucks. WHY?!? Sony could have easily added a tiny 4k static RAM chip onto the motherboard of this system to use for game saves. In the kind of volume they would have used, the price would have been negligable and would have been a good PR move. Then, if they wanted to offer additional capabilities through an external cart, fine. Grrr... Other than that, this game was fun. While the other guys ran into slowdown, I didn't notice it, but I also tended to blow away enemies before they even came on the screen. I also found play control to be very precise. I personally managed to get to the fourth level by my second play, further in later plays. All in all, while the game was challenging in Japanese, I think it would be easier in English just by virtue that you would be able understand all of the verbal messages that you get during gameplay.

Salamander
Good: Incredible 3-D hallways and enemies. Bad: Incredible processor slow-down.

(04/95)