RTX Red Rock
- July 07, 2003 00:00 AM PST
Slipshod production values aside, RTX's biggest problems are that it lacks direction and it�s just plain boring.
In RTX Red Rock, you play as E.Z. Wheeler�lone wolf and radical tactics expert who is sent to Mars to investigate a colony attacked by alien forces. Wheeler's got a mechanical arm that can be outfitted with an assortment of tools and weapons and an eye implant that provides four vision modes used to view maps and see invisible enemies. Sounds similar to Metroid Prime, but don't be fooled�RTX is nowhere near as compelling due to its sloppy controls, meandering pace, Ginsu-choppy frame rates, generic environments, and beat collision detection. The cumbersome inventory interface doesn�t help, either, and although the various vision modes are a cool accessory, you can�t move while switching between them. Even worse, the temperamental lock-on targeting system doesn't even work half the time. Puzzles are limited to fetching keys and backtracking ad nauseam to use them; even with a map, you'll wind up wandering around confusing levels hoping to stumble across a door you hadn't encountered before.Barely passable visuals and bargain-basement sound design round out what is the most lackluster of packages (one exception is a choice sequence where you enter a computer world, Tron-style). To say RTX has problems is an understatement, and the sum of all these mediocre components is a scattered game that�s just plain boring. That�s a shame because with some more development time and imaginative input, RTX could have been an engaging and innovative addition to the third-person action/adventure genre.
