PC GAMEGUN SHOT DOWN
A Review of PC Gamegun and Crime Patrol
by Trey Murff
I have the dubious honor of reviewing the PC Gamegun and Crime Patrol hardware/software, but first, a little background information so you will know where I am coming from. I'll admit up front that I enjoy hunting and own a number of fire arms. I have also been through the Texas Parks and Wildlife gun safety program and treat firearms very seriously. I also understand that "quick draw and blast the bad guy" games can be a lot of fun. However, I found this hardware and software combination less than fun and slightly disturbing.
I'll begin by reviewing the PC Gamegun from it's technical standpoints. The gun is quite large (and orange) and requires that you disconnect both your joystick and parallel port. The joystick connector also doesn't have thumb screws, and with only four pins, tends to pull out very easily.
The configuration software is simple and over in a matter of seconds, so
you can quickly get to playing Crime Patrol. However, once you are in
Crime Patrol you will find that the accuracy of the gun leaves a lot to be
desired. In fact, if you are into this type of game, I would suggest
purchasing a similar product that is available for the Sega Genesis. I played
this at my sister-in-laws house and the accuracy was incredible.
Crime Patrol is very similar to games you saw in arcades a number of years ago. Basically, you are a cop and go from situation to situation where you have to shoot bad guy after bad guy. I didn't keep count but I think that after each section, you may have killed upwards of 20 people. This is not bad in itself (Ok...Maybe it is), but the attitude of the supporting cast really turned me off.
As an example, in the first mission your partner gets a radio call and turns to you and says "...Lets go kick some *&^." Throughout the game, Crime Patrol either portrays police officers as trigger happy gun wielding maniacs or donut eating buffoons. The game could have been much more subtle and the player would have just as much fun. Hopefully, some of the other games that are available for the PC Gamegun are more entertaining and less offensive.
So, if you were to ask my advice, save your money. The gun lacks the accuracy to really get into Crime Patrol and the premise just didn't do anything for me. However, some of the other games may be much better. The back of the box list Mad Dog II, Drug Wars, Who Shot Johnny Rock, Mad Dog McCree and Space Pirates as being compatible with the PC Gamegun and I will probably keep the game gun around just in case I get the opportunity to review one of them.
Gamer's Zone Scorecard
| Product: |
PC Gamegun and Crime Patrol |
| Company: |
American Laser Games
|
| Cost: |
$39 |
System Requirements:
IBM PC 486 DX2-66, MSDOS 5.0 or higher,
Parallel and Gameport.
Breakdown:
Fun Factor 1
Graphics 2
Sound 2
Interface 1
Replayability 1
Overall Score:
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