Stargate SG-1 Unleashed, Episode 1 Review
Prefacing this of course by stating that I would in no way consider myself a gamer. My accomplishments in the field go so far as finishing 2 games on the Sega mega system in the mid 90's (late to the party, even), and getting past the rats in the original Fallout.
But I loved it!
The game play itself is pretty funky for an app game. Not the smoothest, but for the price it's pretty fair. There were a few places where whether you passed the chapter depended on the whim of the device registering the correct moves on the touch screen (I played on an iPad 2). Such examples would be Jack racing down the rubble of the temple to get his hairy ass through the closing doorway, and Daniel's escape from the slave camp. The majority of the game is played as Daniel searching for information on their new enemy Sekhmet. This seems a rather odd choice of villian for me as Sekhmet pops up two to three years after this game is set in Ressurection. Ressurection suggests she was sealed in a canopic jar around the time Ra left Earth, unopened until her DNA was used to create Anna. Maybe I am being a little precious about canon, but this was an MGM approved venture *handwaves a few of the more questionable novels*.
It's certainly a Sally Malcolm script, and I do enjoy her take on the characters. The only thing that ruined it a little for me was the perceived 'shippiness' at the very end. Hammond practically telling Jack he can run after his Sammikins because of their tru wuv felt so jolting from the rest of the story line. Don't get me wrong, Jack/Sam has its place, but the overtness, not to mention the awkwardness of this scene just didn't sit well IMO. The rest however was fantastic. I intially groaned when I found out there was a time travel element to the storyline. I tend to find those sorts of stories the least enjoyable on screen, because it's always about the dilemma rather than the characters experiencing it. But Malcolm I felt used it advantageously to give us that angsty slap, just as we were connecting to the black BDU Jack and Daniel. It will be interesting to see how that aspect plays through in the next two episodes.
The voice acting was supurb. Love all the original actors, all nailed the cadence of their characters. I have to say, you get that little melancholic kick out of hearing them all together again. The guy they had play Hammond did a fair job, and I don't know why they didn't get Gary Jones in as Walter.
It took about 4 hours to complete and I did give it to Charlie to play as she *is* a gamer and she gives it an 8/10.
Also, we still have no idea why Daniel is wearing season 10 specs in season 5...
Likes:
- The future Jack and Daniel angst
- Daniel running around with half a 'shirt' on for most of the game
- The banter - just like old times
- Jack's complete innappropriateness <3
- Future Daniel's glasses
- Daniel all tied up again...
- The shooting sequences
- Daniel's parkour abilities *g*
- The heavy breathing (/perv)
- Jack's 'No one gets left behind' stuff w/out the shippy context
Dislikes:
- The insinuation that Daniel buys his glasses from Walmart :P
- The finicky countdown sequences
- Not getting to play as Teal'c
Stargate SG-1 Unleashed episode 1 is available for iOS (and Android I hear next month some time?) for $4.99US or $5.49AUS because somehow ever though our dollar has been kicking your ass these past few years, we're still overcharged for online purchases.
SG-1, you have a go!
But I loved it!
The game play itself is pretty funky for an app game. Not the smoothest, but for the price it's pretty fair. There were a few places where whether you passed the chapter depended on the whim of the device registering the correct moves on the touch screen (I played on an iPad 2). Such examples would be Jack racing down the rubble of the temple to get his hairy ass through the closing doorway, and Daniel's escape from the slave camp. The majority of the game is played as Daniel searching for information on their new enemy Sekhmet. This seems a rather odd choice of villian for me as Sekhmet pops up two to three years after this game is set in Ressurection. Ressurection suggests she was sealed in a canopic jar around the time Ra left Earth, unopened until her DNA was used to create Anna. Maybe I am being a little precious about canon, but this was an MGM approved venture *handwaves a few of the more questionable novels*.
It's certainly a Sally Malcolm script, and I do enjoy her take on the characters. The only thing that ruined it a little for me was the perceived 'shippiness' at the very end. Hammond practically telling Jack he can run after his Sammikins because of their tru wuv felt so jolting from the rest of the story line. Don't get me wrong, Jack/Sam has its place, but the overtness, not to mention the awkwardness of this scene just didn't sit well IMO. The rest however was fantastic. I intially groaned when I found out there was a time travel element to the storyline. I tend to find those sorts of stories the least enjoyable on screen, because it's always about the dilemma rather than the characters experiencing it. But Malcolm I felt used it advantageously to give us that angsty slap, just as we were connecting to the black BDU Jack and Daniel. It will be interesting to see how that aspect plays through in the next two episodes.
The voice acting was supurb. Love all the original actors, all nailed the cadence of their characters. I have to say, you get that little melancholic kick out of hearing them all together again. The guy they had play Hammond did a fair job, and I don't know why they didn't get Gary Jones in as Walter.
It took about 4 hours to complete and I did give it to Charlie to play as she *is* a gamer and she gives it an 8/10.
Also, we still have no idea why Daniel is wearing season 10 specs in season 5...
Likes:
- The future Jack and Daniel angst
- Daniel running around with half a 'shirt' on for most of the game
- The banter - just like old times
- Jack's complete innappropriateness <3
- Future Daniel's glasses
- Daniel all tied up again...
- The shooting sequences
- Daniel's parkour abilities *g*
- The heavy breathing (/perv)
- Jack's 'No one gets left behind' stuff w/out the shippy context
Dislikes:
- The insinuation that Daniel buys his glasses from Walmart :P
- The finicky countdown sequences
- Not getting to play as Teal'c
Stargate SG-1 Unleashed episode 1 is available for iOS (and Android I hear next month some time?) for $4.99US or $5.49AUS because somehow ever though our dollar has been kicking your ass these past few years, we're still overcharged for online purchases.
SG-1, you have a go!