True Lies
Sega Genesis
Nostalgia Factor:
I remember renting this game when I was a kid, not really expecting a whole lot out of it. From the second I fired up the game, it proved me wrong. I started walking around the gala party in stage one - and no one would attack me or come after me unless I fired my weapon at them. Having NPCs walk around oblivious of your character is something that's normal nowadays, but back in the early 90s this was almost unheard of. In games back then, unless it was an RPG, if you encountered another character you were getting attacked immediately.
It may not seem like much, but this small little touch stuck with me for a very long time. Whenever I'd think back on True Lies, my mind would immediately go to that first stage of the game. I played the entire game and completed it (and loved it!), but it was that first stage that stayed with me over the years.
I haven't played this game since that one weekend back in 1995. 28 years have passed. Would I still like the game or would I find that it had aged poorly? Let's find out, shall we?
Story:
This game follows the same basic plot of the movie, with many liberties taken. You play as special agent Harry Tasker as he combats a terror group led by Salim Abu Aziz. The stages follow the scenes you see in the movie. There's the aforementioned gala party stage (after which Harry is chased down a snowy hill by armed skiers), a stage that takes place in a mall, one that takes place in a park, etc. There are a few added stages that I don't seem to remember from the movie, such as a subway stage, an oil refinery, and a stage that takes place in China.
Not that the story really matters in this game. You run around and you shoot enemies and you blow stuff up. Everything else is secondary.
Gameplay:
This is a shooter that takes place from an overhead perspective. Unlike the overhead stages that you see in games like Demolition Man or Contra III, the action in True Lies is much, much smoother. It's not as frantic and fast paced. Enemies do not respawn, so you can slowly make your way through each level, picking them off one by one. A surefire way to lose is to panic and frantically run into an area that's swarming with enemies. You'll be surrounded on all sides and your health will be drained before you know it.
The stages in this game are very maze-like. You can backtrack, take alternate paths, and find secret areas. This isn't like Ikari Warriors or Guerilla War where you are just moving up on the screen. You have full control of your movement. The only comparison that really comes to mind is Die Hard for the Turbo-Grafx 16. But that is still not quite right.
Aside from the d-pad, you only use a small handful of buttons: the fire button, the strafe button, the dive button, and two buttons that allow you to cycle through your weapons forward and backwards. Gameplay is fairly simple. You see a bad guy, you shoot him. Well, aside from the first few stages anyway. They are populated with civilians, and if too many of them die you fail your mission. But for the most part this is a very straightforward shooter.
The game takes a while to get used to. As I was playing through this, I kept telling myself that I don't remember this game being so difficult. I was taking a lot of damage and losing a lot of lives. I was having a difficult time lining up my shots as well. It wasn't until stage five, when I started to learn how to master the strafe button, that the game clicked in my mind and I started to really have a good time. There's definitely some strategy that you have to use as you play. Keep firing ahead of you, take on enemies one at a time (if you can), and always, ALWAYS be ready for a surprise. Bullets and enemies seem to pop up off the edge of the screen out of nowhere when you are not expecting it. Strafing helps you immensely if you are struggling to line up your shot, as well.
These levels are huge, almost to the point where it is a fault. The game does not move along quickly. Some of these stages take more than an hour to complete. They are SO big. It is easy to lose track of where you are or where you are supposed to go. I had a miserable time playing through the subway tunnel level because I was having such a hard time navigating it. Luckily, I didn't have this problem with the rest of the stages. The dock stage and the China stage were two standouts for me in how the exploration is handled.
I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the stage where you fly a fighter jet. I know a lot of people seem to love this stage. I thought it was okay. It's almost impossible to avoid enemy fire, and I found myself dying over and over again. I had built up a pretty large inventory of extra lives, but this stage whittled them down to just two going into the final level. I was tempted to just reload the save state I made at the start of the level, but I decided I wasn't going to play the game that way.
All in all, the gameplay is a lot of fun! If you're into overhead shooters, you would probably like this. This is not my favorite genre of game, but I still enjoyed it quite a bit.
Graphics:
This is not a spectacular looking game, but it still looks pretty good, especially considering it came out in 1995. The stage design is the best thing about the graphics. That first stage where you are walking around at a party looks really good. Bookshelves, picture windows, dinner tables, grand pianos, some nice rugs and floor mats. I love the mall, too, and all the creative names they have for the stores you walk by. I enjoy the aesthetic design of the park, as well. All the levels look good, really.
Kudos to the enemy design. There is nothing special about the green and blue basic enemies you fight, but you do encounter a nice variety of foes along the way. The only thing that really looks bad is Harry himself. He is oddly proportioned and kind of grainy looking. He also swings his arm in a bizarre manner as he walks around.
Sound:
The music and sound effects are nothing special. The first thing you'll hear when you turn the game on is its cheesy intro music. It sounds like a watered down version of something you'd hear in Vectorman. Get used to hearing this song, as it is used off and on throughout the game. It is very generic, along with pretty much all the other music in the game. One of the game's stages doesn't even have music. Good effort, guys.
The sound effects are equally forgettable, although they fit the tone of the game much better than its music does.
Overall:
I was surprised by how much I liked this game back when I first played it as a kid, and I'm just as surprised at how well it has held up nearly 30 years later. The large stages are fun to explore, and the challenge level of the game is just right. I always wanted to keep playing and keep pushing my way through this game. It is addicting and fun, and much better than the usual movie licensed crap you used to see all the time back in the 90s.
Is it a perfect game? Not at all. You could make a case that the levels are too long, the shooting mechanics could use some work, the difficulty is a bit on the stiff side, and the music leaves a lot to be desired. These are all valid points, but I still think this game has it where it counts: the fun factor.
Check this game out if you're a fan of the genre and you have the means to play it. It won't be for everyone, but if you stick with it, you will hopefully find it to be a relatively fun and rewarding experience like I did.
THE GRADE:
B
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