The Overview - I bought this game with a cringe on my face as I handed the pimply clerk at the local "Toys R Us" (yeah so I buy my games at Toys R U, go ahead and laugh) my last 30 bucks. This game has gotten so many bad reviews that I was almost embarrassed to be seen with it. But I went home and installed it figuring that if it sucked, I could claim that the CD was scratched and I could get my money back. However, as soon as I started playing, I noticed something odd. The 3D engine was running at over 40 fps on my "piece of crap computer" at 640x480, and about 25fps at 800x600! "This was pretty cool" I remember thinking. I noticed another thing, that the characters were extremely detailed. 

As I zoomed in on "Bob", the main character, I noticed that he just got more detailed the more I zoomed. I soon found out that the game's unique 3D engine had Dynamic Level of Detail built in! This basically means that the closer you come to something, the number of polygons in it are boosted very high, giving it better texture; but as you move away, the count is reduced, keeping up your games' speed. This may not sound like much, but it looks great on screen. So I played on. The main character, Bob, is a baby angel sent from heaven to straighten up the future earth, witch looks pretty much like the city in Blade Runner. Now Bob is very weak and cannot fight directly, but he is endowed with the power to posses. This is awesome! All you have to do is jump into someone, and you jump right into their soul, controlling their every move! There is a HUGE amount of characters to take over, including cops, workers, rats, genetically engineered giants, and my personal favorite, prostitutes! All of these characters have their own special abilities and talents. They are also very disposable. You will find yourself jumping from being to being hundreds of times throughout the game. I found that I could not put down this game! It has non-stop action, actually thoughtful puzzles, and a bad-ass theme. And with Fear Factory doing its sweet delicious soundtrack, I was in love! I would recommend that you ignore all the other reviews, and buy, not burn (cough, its free, cough) this game! 

Good points - Top notch graphics, great sound and music, decent plot, the cut scenes are friggin' hilarious! Plus, you get to tell God to shovit! (I didn't mean anything, I swear! You saw me on Sunday, right in the front row! I wasn't asleep, I was just concentrating!)

Crappy points - Some anomalies, like no matter how many times an enemy shoots at you, when you take his gun, it has full ammo. Also, there are some platform-jumping parts in the game that get a bit tedious. There are a few bugs (beginning movie has no sound, no way to skip some movies), but major ones get fixed in the patch.

Publisher: Shiny Entertainment:
Info: www.messiah.com