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Will Rock. . . Rocks

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 9 / 9
Date: June 23, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Since "Serious Sam: The Third Encounter" is mysteriously absent this spring, it's a good thing we have "Will Rock" - since this game is essentially, well, "Serious Sam" with better graphics and a Greek motif. Instead of aliens, the title character guns down all manner of mythological beasties, including minotaurs, firebirds, centaurs, satyrs and more. And, of course, if you're at all familiar with "Serious Sam," you can rest assured that these creatures are going to come at you in droves. Fortunately, you have plenty of ammo and power-ups with which to deal with the onslaught.

The engine behind "Will Rock" is impressive, especially when you consider that it has been designed for a budget title. The Greek locales Will Rock explores are vast and intricately detailed, though you'll rarely have time to take a deep breath and admire the scenery. Enemies are well-animated and believable looking, and it goes without saying that there is no engine slow-down when several enemies are onscreen at once (provided your system meets the needs of the game). Interestingly enough, the game's technology allows for some nifty tricks. For instance, when you shoot a foe with the acid gun they swell to three times their normal size before exploding. Or if you opt for fire arrows, watch as your burning opponents wither away and fall to ash before your very eyes. Will's arsenal of weapons is certainly impressive (if not particularly original).

Of course, if you like your shooters deep (more "Deus Ex" and less "Doom"), you probably won't find much to like about "Will Rock." The game is one huge arena that constantly spews enemies your way, and like any one man army, it's your job to destroy them, guns blazing. Just like uncle Sam, that's as deep as this one gets. And, of course, it must be faulted for its lack of originality. This is Sam through and through - even some of Will's one-liners are shameless variations of Sam's quips (which weren't that great to begin with). Will Rock is kind enough to provide a discernable storyline, though, unlike its predecessor - although, when it's all said and done, the stylish opening is just a lean excuse to get you wading through mythological corpses right off the bat.

When Will Rock is battling his enemies in large, spacious arenas or courtyards, the game is truly at its best. Unfortunately, the designers occasionally opt to take you into narrow corridors and hallways, and the ensuing fights are not well-suited to the engine. Will also has some slippery feet, which makes leaping to and from narrow walkways a needlessly frustrating chore. Fortunately, these kinds of situations are the exception rather than the rule. Also expect some minor graphical glitches (such as levitating shadows).

The bottom line is this: if you've been playing first-person shooters since the early days, and you're nostalgic for those less-than-cerebral firefights of olde, then "Will Rock" is your game. If you're a fan of "Serious Sam," "Will Rock" is your game. If you just like to blow stuff up, "Will Rock" is your game. If your coffers are limited and you want something cheap and exciting, "Will Rock" is your game. Sure it's derivative of an existing title, and one regrets that more creative license was not taken to provide the game with an identity of its own, but "Will Rock" does exactly what it set out to do, and that is provide the same fast, furious, irreverent action that made "Sam" such a hit. At a budget price, it represents bargain excellence.

Final Score: B+

Run and Gun

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: July 16, 2003
Author: Amazon User

This a typical "run and gun" type game. No bullcrap puzzles and no "which way do I have to go?" situation. It's a straight forward gunner. I never got tired of the waves of different enemies popping up from the ground, around a corner or even in the air.
This game also makes you think just enough to satisfy you but not leave you wondering, "how the heck do I get out of here". The puzzles are more along the line of figuring out how to launch yourself with a catapult. Will doesn't take damage when he lands which is a big plus. Or flipping a large (obviously visual) switch in this room, opens a door close by.
Also it has some pretty (I hate to say it) cheesy tag lines which are adult oriented but it's still funny.
I almost never ran out of ammo and health. It's everywhere you look. And treasure is almost everywhere too.
Enjoy the carnage!

Will Rock is a Kick-A** title for $$

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: June 16, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Wow, this game has incredible graphics, intense gameplay, shattering objects, morphing Greek monsters, and amazing scenery. The reflections and attention to scene detail make this a visually enticing game, while the sheer number of mindless monsters kept me on my toes, especially those sword wielding skeleton creatures. For $$, you can't go wrong with this game--it simply Rocks!

Not smart or original, but still fun

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: January 01, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I have to admit that I almost stopped playing Will Rock after seeing the intro. The story is about as ridiculous as they come, and having finished the game I can say that it really doesn't get much better. That said, who plays shooters for the story? When it comes down to it, Will Rock is one heck of a stress reliever.

Every review I've seen of this game says that it's a Serious Sam knockoff. All right, I admit I've never played that game so I can't say for sure. The point of the gameplay is quite simple- blow away everything in your path and get to the goal. You'll often find yourself in massive arenas full of enemies that throw themselves at you in homogeneous waves. Sound dumb? It is, but it's also strangely enthralling in a 'me blow stuff up' sort of way.

There are a few tricks to finding your way, but nothing particularly stupefying. Rather, the difficulty is getting past the hordes of monsters that will come at you. They pop out of the ground, out of statues, even out of bolts of energy fired by altars. This usually happens en masse, and if you sit still you are a dead man. Happily enough, the individual enemies are weak, and your weapons are formidable. I know enough to say that the arms aren't particularly new for a shooter, but it's still highly satisfying to spray a horde of resurrected ancient Greek monsters with a minigun.

The game graphics are all well done, with good looking enemies and better looking bosses. The areas are quite nice, with a Greek motif (I found the Underworld to be especially cool) and level design is quite good. If you have any problems finding your way around, there's an included Black Box guide. The narrator is a lady with a British accent that is downright hilarious- I played the walkthroughs just for laughs.

There are times, however, when you can see that this was a budget title. Aside from the concept being 'borrowed,' a lot of the art looks like it was scanned out of an encyclopedia, and some of the music is 'borrowed' as well. It's all good, though, and even picky players will find themselves too preoccupied blowing stuff up to notice. The AI has minimal intelligence- melee enemies will charge maniacally your way no matter what you've got aimed at them, and ranged enemies will stand in one spot and shoot until you find the time to blow them away. Masses of enemies will group and be decimated by your area-of-effect weapons or even their own allies. The damage you take will largely be a result of strategically placed spawn sites and splash damage rather than enemy tactics.

Despite its lack of intelligence and originality, Will Rock is quite a value. It's a decently long game, and has enough action to keep you going. I have to admit that it was just the thing for wasting time and pleasing that sadistic alter-ego. So long as you don't expect anything new or revolutionary, it's a lot of plain dumb fun.

Good when it works.

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: September 02, 2003
Author: Amazon User

The graphics are excellent in the first-person shooter, but the game is filled with bugs (bombing out of the game back to the desktop when trying to save and continue; inexplicable color shifts; freezing up entirely at times which requires a reboot of the computer.)

Strangely Enjoyable

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: February 08, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Having played Will Rock before Serious Sam, I had no expectations (the game came in a Radeon 9200 pack so I didn't intentionally purchase it).
However, apart from the over corney script, this game is actually very fun to play.
The graphics are very smooth, crisp and full of eye candy. A step ahead of Serious Sam: Second Encounter.
Though the AI won't burn out any brain cells, I personally found the battles very satisfying. Especially the bosses.
Many Computer Game websites have given this game the thumbs down, which co-insides with the fact they give thumbs up to games I hate. Will Rock is about killing thousands of mythical monsters, with plenty of weapons and great scenary. Putting a bullet into a statue throwing worlds at you and watching it collapse into thousands of pieces will put an evil grin on your face.
If you're not expecting the next best thing, the game is worth the cheap price.

PS: Avoid getting your hands on the bundled version (the one that comes with a gigabyte radeon). It cannot be patched and therefore you cannot get rid of the annoying mouse bug. I still enjoyed it however :)

Serious Sam Meets Zeus..

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 2 / 5
Date: June 15, 2003
Author: Amazon User

This is a fairly decent FPS, that is alot like Serious Sam: One man against a horde of monsters. Flying monsters, hopping monsters and running monsters; all in a Greek mythology inspired environment.

The weapons are OK and the graphics are good but the controls are a little sticky at times.

Ubi Rocks

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: June 28, 2003
Author: Amazon User

This game is all about fast, furious fun. The graphics are amazing even on low end systems. No boring cutscenes, a purposefully cheesy story and awesome sfx - weapons like none other. 30+ hours of gameplay for a bargain price!!!

C'mon...Get Serious!

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: August 05, 2003
Author: Amazon User

This game is buggy, but it can be some fun with the patch.

A couple of years ago, Croteam's _Serious Sam_ gave gamers like me what we wanted: a no-brainer, high adrenaline, shoot-em-up with a unique and suprisingly powerful engine that can handle *dozens* of simple-minded but fun enemies on even a mediocre PC. Furthermore, the developers (a team based in Croatia) delivered all this with plenty of laughs at a price that ought to be the standard: [$$$]!

Not to mention a *fantastic* cooperative mode for all us folks using an LAN at home. Next of kin love it: how's that for "quality family time"--? Just awesome.

This UBI knockoff delivers more of the same at about the same price. And yet, you can't play this without feeling like they just didn't *get it*. Every inch of this game breathes: "Marketing decision."

The humor is flat. Bugs get in the way. Cooperative mode is nonlinear (just one level at a time, and then you start your character over again). Death means clicking to respawn until you just don't care anymore. And enemies either bore you or frustrate you, rather than making you angry enough to wanna kick ... .

All in all, Will Rock makes for a bland diversion until the next Serious Sam comes out. If you haven't played the Serious Sam games, do those first. Once you've gone through those at least few times, *maybe* consider this title.

Sam meets Greek Times

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: August 24, 2003
Author: Amazon User

This essentially takes the role of being a "Serious Sam" style shooter, it just takes place in greek times with greekish historical ancient enemies rather than mindeless monsters and has much better graphics. This certainly makes up for the absence of Serious Sam: The third encounter! This is a purchase that will rock your world! ;)

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