I-War

I-War by Imagitec Design for Atari
Genre: Tank action
Levels: 20 regular + 20 bonus
Players: 1-2
Perhiprials supported: Procontroller
YOR: 1995
Big Jam On The I-Way

Everyone's worst fears have come true. The supercomputer that handles the world's information is filled with mutated databases and lethal viruses. You must enter the I-Way, clear the clogged channels and restore the system. Choose an anti-virus craft to get you through the vicious attacks, challenging puzzles and tormenting mazes. And good luck. You are mankind's only hope.
I-War is a 3D action game that takes place inside the future version of the internet, called the I-Way. If you've ever seen the movie Tron, then imagine being one of those guys in the tanks. The object of the game is to clean up the I-Way, by collecting virus datapods and destroying mutant databases(which hold 3 to 4 datapods), although this isn't a very easy objective to accomplish as there are tons of different enemies you must face, as well as puzzles.

When you first start off the game, you can chose from three different types of tanks: Light, Medium, or Heavy. Each has it's own advantages and weaknesses. For example, Light tanks are really fast, but holds the least variety of weapons. The Heavy tank is the slowest, but holds the maximum amount of weapons. And obviously the Medium tank is in-between. During the game, you can also change camera views with the Jag's keypad if you want to, although by default it's in 1st-person view.

The levels are composed of 3D gourdard-shaded poly rooms, with a few texture-maps in at time. You travel between rooms by use of transporters, which are in every room. All the enemies are 3D as well, and they look cool. There are a couple of enemies which use an impressive reflection t-map(it's small, but noticable if you look). The AI on the enemies is good to, some of them are a pain to kill, only becuase they're heavily armored or smart enough to evade. I-War uses a mix of 3D and 2D for the explosions. The 2D is OK, not great, but when enemies explode, it looks cool. Also, with the t-mapping they do use, it isn't varied and warps as well...this game would look so much better had they finished releasing it on the Jag CD, but that's for a different story.

You don't just collect pods though. There are many weapons and upgrades you can find as well. You can collect Double Lasers, Plasma Cannons, Missle launchers, and minelayers. Also, you can get radars(several different types), an Auto-targeting device, batteries(for recharging your energy), and shields. The shields are the most impressive looking graphical effect on the game. If you use an outside camera angle and activate the shields, then you'll see what I'm talking about. It'll surround your tank with 3D polygons that are all mirrors, which reflect everything around you. It looks really cool, it's one of the most impressive graphic effects I've seen on the Jag IMHO.

The music of I-War is among the best on the Jag, thanks to the talents of Imagitec's music group, the same one's who composed the awesome tracks for Tempest 2000. It consists of several soft techno tracks that fit perfectly with the game. As in other cases with Imagitec's work, I think a soundtrack would work out perfectly with I-War. The sounds are good too. They're all crystal clear, even include a robotic voice that's not at all annoying.

One last thing, is that there's a 2-player split-screen mode. Personally I think it would've made more sense to use the JagLink/CatBox(since the game's based on a network) but it's not to bad. There's only one arena that's not really big, but it's still fun to play against your friends.

Overall, I-War is a worthy purchase for the Jaguar's library, despite what a few people may think. I think it's a fun game, and it's more original than some software you come across now-a-days. Not to mention it's a Jaguar original, and there aren't other versions of it on some other platform! I personally feel the Jag needs a lot more software that isn't on another system, but that's for a different review...
RATINGS

Graphics- B++ - Overall, they're OK, mostly gourdard shading like CyberMorph, but there's T-maps, and some cool effects as well.

Music/Sound- A++ - It's Imagitec's techno. Obviously it's going to be good =)

Control- A - Other than being a little sluggish in a few parts, it works out great.

Fun Factor- A- - Despite a couple flaws in the game, if find it fun to play. Not extremely addictive like Tempest, but it's fun.

OVERALL- B++ - As I've said, I think I-War is a cool, underrated game that's worth of any Jag collection.

By Adam Pratt 1