Martian Gothic: Unification
- March 23, 2000 00:00 AM PST
While it bears more than a passing resemblance to the Resident Evil series, Martian Gothic's compelling story and unique gameplay features are sure to make it stand out from the pack.
Imagine yourself in an abandoned space station. The bodies of the crew line the litter-strewn corridors. Sent as a member of a three-person team to investigate the deaths, you are cut off from the rest of your party and wander the dark halls alone, searching for clues. Suddenly, in the distance one of the dead crewmembers begins to rise�Martian Gothic: Unification is the latest entry in the survival horror genre. While it bears more than a passing resemblance to the Resident Evil series (which itself was wholly inspired by the Alone in the Dark series), Martian Gothic's compelling story and unique gameplay features are sure to make it stand out from the pack.
Martian Gothic's most interesting feature is the ability to switch between the 3 main characters at will. Because the crew was warned to "stay alone, stay alive," they have entered the station through separate airlocks and are completely cut off from each other by bulkheads, which were automatically sealed during the mysterious epidemic that killed the crew. Fortunately your team members, however, can communicate with each other via radios and transfer items through the station's vacuum tube system.
A major part of any survival horror game is the fright factor and in this area Martian Gothic is right on track. Parts of the space station evoke a haunted mansion, with gothic style architecture and strangely patterned carpets and wallpaper, while others rely on the cold steel of the space station's empty corridors to instill a creepy atmosphere. Adding to the chills is a spooky soundtrack, complete with eerie music and whispering voices echoing through the halls.
Martian Gothic features plenty of exploration and puzzle solving, much of which involves the 'find the key that fits the door' variety, although in this case the keys are pass cards and each card will open a variety of doors. Other puzzles will require utilizing the skills of specific team members, like one character's ability to pick locks with just a paper clip. Guns and ammo can be found lying around the space station, so there will be plenty of zombie-blasting action, as well.
Given the success of the Resident Evil series, it's surprising that there haven't been more games like it. We'll find out if Martian Gothic: Unification will bring a unique experience to the survival horror genre when it shuffles into stores in May.
