Giants: Citizen Kabuto

[Regus]

Originally a PC game, Giants was ported to PS2 a not too long ago, and it can usually be found for under $15 used at EB and Gamestop. Giants is a third person shooter, akin to MDK, in fact it shares a lot with MDK, including not only it's game play, but it's sense of humor as well(not surprisingly, for some of the guys behind MDK created Giants). You play as either one of three species:

The Meccaryns

They’re species revolves around technology, and is evident in their weaponry and jet packs. You start with a single Meccaryn and will have to find the other four through out the islands. When you find them you can issue them orders such as Attack, Defend and Regroup.

Sea Reapers

Female warriors who attack using bows and magical spells, they are excellent swimmers and have to ability to fly around the terrain by selecting an area to fly to, similar to a grappling hook.

Kabuto

A giant monster who lives only to eat, and destroy. You can pick up any enemy and devour them for health, give birth to little minions to do your bidding, and you can body slam buildings and a shockwave to travel through the ground, like a rock being tossed into a pond.



The world of Giants takes place on several massive islands, who’s overall size can be quite impressive. The only problem with this is that the inhabitants of the world are barely an agrarian society, so all you will see are little stone houses, and assorted trees, and wild life. But this does not detract from the sheer scope of the environments.

The missions are nothing too cerebral, usually get to point B, or kill this thing or find that object. The combat is just like MDK, you run around shooting enemies up close, or you can snipe them from a distance. But the Mecc's jet packs add a very fun little wrinkle to the game.

The music in Giants plays according to the action on screen, so when you are in a battle, an exciting song with a fast tempo plays, but when you are exploring, with no enemies present, the music is more subdued. And I must stress that the music in Giants is simply stunning. It’s very difficult to explain just how gorgeous the music in this game can be. I can only describe the exploration themes as "awe inspiring".


I should also mention that the game’s characters have are great, they all have light hearted personalities, told through humorous cut scenes.



The game isn’t anything too amazing (it would have been a lot better had they incorporated multiplayer into the port), but if you like MDK, and you have an extra $15 in your pocket, I say give it a shot, you might be pleasantly surprised.

Any one else played this?

[NeoZeedeater]

I haven't played the PS2 version but the PC original is awesome. It has lots of personality. Jet packing around is damn fun.

[Jeremy]

I'll pick it up in a few weeks/months after I get all my primary game purchasing done.

[Regus]

I just found out that the man who composed Giants' music, also composed these game's soundtrack, so that this as you will:

Star Wars: Bounty Hunter

Morrowind

Never Winter Nights

Socom

Ice wind dale

The Secret of Evermore

[sggg]

I didn't know much about that game but now that I have read about it I am mildly interested. I'll put it on my list of games to pick up if I see it on the cheap.

[Jeremy]

The music in Secret of Evermore was awesome.

[stormy]

PC game was great...
UNTIL you have to play the sea reaper and do the faux RTS levels. They are a huge pain in the ass and not fun at all. I got stuck on one and gave up because it took all the fun out of the game. Too bad too because the meccaryn parts were so good, and i really wanted to play as Kabuto. Oh well

Don't forget the topless code for the sea reaper!

... i bet that was left out of the port!

[Jeremy]

I pray that the sea reaper is some kind of chick.

[Regus]

PC game was great...
UNTIL you have to play the sea reaper and do the faux RTS levels. They are a huge pain in the ass and not fun at all. I got stuck on one and gave up because it took all the fun out of the game.

Yeah, doing the base missions as Delphi sucked, because at least you could pick up multiple smarties with the Meccs, you could only get them one at a time with Delphi. And the matter of collecting souls was such a pain in the ass, untill I figured out that all you had to do was jump into the ocean and refill your meter.

Now the race levels, that's another matter altogether.... -_-

Originally posted by Jeremy
I pray that the sea reaper is some kind of chick.

[DacaZ]

One of these days I'll have to finish Giants. I pulled it out of the bargain bin a while back for around $20. I played about half of the game and enjoyed it a lot, but other things grabbed my attention at the time. One of these days I'll probably just start it over.

I can't think of too many games recently that really made me laugh. MDK2 did, and so did Giants.