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Most of the weapons are just slight variants, and most of the outfits are color swaps with better stats, but this does allow you to customize your character until you get the sniper rifle that feels just right. I especially dig the hunting rifle that takes a long time between shots so you can really feel the impact. Your sixteen potential allies, only three that can be brought into battle at one time, each have their own unique abilities that can be upgraded with leftover cash. I have no idea what most of them do since I always went with the butch medic, the Storm (of X-Men fame) clone with the enemy-stopping barrier, and the bazooka-toting Action Jackson wannabe. They're not exactly bright, but the enemies aren't philosophy majors either. These malicious robots do have enough sense to run away if they take damage, only to flank around and shoot you in the back when you least expect it, so they would probably be able to pass junior college.
Stumbling at the finish line.
At the end Project Minerva suffers a severe case of game length panic. Where the developers realize that the game could be too short for those who don't bother with the optional missions, and decide to beef up the final run to not only make it nearly impossible, but forcing you to redo every mission in the sequence should you fail. These are also the only non-defense missions that have infinitely respawning enemies that you can't do anything about, and make sure to spray you with enough missile fire from helicopters and mecha to keep you from remaining in first person for more than a few seconds at a time. Now you need to go back to play those other missions in order to unlock and afford the best equipment just to bring this war story to an end.
If Project Minerva had come out a few years earlier it might have gotten released as unique arcade game where the player clutched a stick and one hand and fondled an Operation Wolf style mounted gun with the other, swearing profusely when the Time Over screen demanded coins to allow them to continue. No one would have really cared about the jerky animation, the three song soundtrack, or the sometimes sparse surroundings with their limited... well, no interactivity. Flaws would have gone unnoticed in the rush to get the next quarter in the slot before the timer hit zero.
While Minerva isn't the ultimate immersive experience, it is a unique take on the shooting things genre that gives you the freedom to hover so close to failure and yet succeed often enough that it's hard to feel too discouraged no matter how many times you see "You Died" flashed across the screen. Lacking the will to finish most games these days, I need all the encouragement I can get.
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