Review: Lock 'n Load - Rise of War
Score:
61%
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As a game nerd I pretty much play everything I can get my hands on, but a genre that holds a special place in my heart is the First Person Shooter. Since first playing Wolfenstein 3D, Doom and Blake Stone I have always felt the immersion of these games is much greater than any other genre I've played. I love strafing out into a battle and owning the room or opening a door and being face to face with something amazingly unpleasant having only my trusty shotgun to protect me. Games like Ashen and Ghost Recon made that a reality for me as an N-Gage gamer but until now I haven't seen anything for the Series 60 side of my mobile entertainment to satisfy my FPS itch. Synergenix, publishers of such titles as the previously reviewed Golf PRO Contest and Anarchy Boxing 3D, have satisfied my itch and showed that they are at the forefront of S60 gaming with their new release, Lock 'n Load - Rise of War.
Lock 'n Load - Rise of War is an FPS game in the style of Wolfenstein but with a more 3D engine and simplified design. The setting is 2096 and you are the sole surviving United Earth Elite Soldier of a ruthless Zeki attack on Base Delta in the wastelands of Tau. Before every level you are given a little bit of story in the form of a single block of text overlaid on your screen and then set off to find your way to the end of the level and progress the story. Sometimes you are required to find red or blue key cards to open doors that block your progress but other than these and the health and ammo packs scattered throughout the levels there are no items to speak of. Enemies are also simplified to only 2: the canine like Zeki and their robot soldiers the BG-nevi. These simplifications, along with the fact that there is only one single weapon the player uses throughout the game, might lead some to believe the game is lacking and for a console FPS it would be, but this is basically a cell phone game and for a cell game it's not bad at all.
The gameplay goes right back to the Wolfenstein 3D era, where there is no up and down within the game, but strafing is intact and it's strafing that makes the game, like Wolfenstein 3D, one of corner jumps, where players reach openings or corners and spring out, guns blazing in anticipation of conflict. This the game does very well and the level design is really good for such a simple game. The levels lack in variety, much like many of the elements of the game, but with what they have they work hard to make a fun experience.
In short, Lock 'n Load judged by the standards of modern console and computer based FPS games would be a horrible joke, but for a cell phone game or a S60 game it's the cutting edge and is pushing the envelope. Whether you should get it or would like it depends on what you want from your FPS experience. If even now you can go back to Wolfenstein and have a great time then this would be worth your time. If anything less than CS or Half-Life 2 would annoy you then you'd be expecting a little too much from this title. I rate it at 61% and eagerly look forward to where Synergenix goes with future releases in the genre.
Reviewed by Chris Rydberg at