M87

M87 is a 3rd person shooter and action game that I came across by complete random. This is what happens when you are browsing, looking at random games late in the evening, you come across titles like this that you had no idea existed. The price was right, and I liked the sound of the story, so I decided to give this a try, and it ended up being a fun time. Granted, it is not going to revolutionize the 3rd person action game genre. However, this all worked really well and it was fun while it lasted, so much so, I wanted to spread the word and hopefully, get a few more people to take a chance on this.

The Rise Of The Machines

The story that is here in M87 is pretty awesome, even if it does have some real familiarity about it. Mankind was messing around with advanced AI, and guess what? The AI rose up and took over, and now humanity could face extinction from our robot superiors! Does messing with AI and robots ever go well for humanity? Anyway, we play the role of a marine/soldier who shares their name with the title of the game, and we need to fight our way through the robot forces to try and save humanity. There is not tons of story here, but if you enjoy stuff like The Terminator games and movies, I think you will enjoy this.

More Brains Than Braun

I came into M87 expecting more of an all out 3rd 3rd-person shooter kind of game, and while there is shooting here, it has way more “gameplay” than I was expecting. I do not mean that in a bad way either; it was a pleasant surprise. There is way more platforming and running around here, you can do a little hover jump to get over gaps and avoid traps, but you can also run and slide, the movement feels pretty solid, but there is a little getting used to, as far as the hover jump thing goes. There is also puzzle solving in this game, nothing too cryptic, but you may be required to move a block to reach a higher area or take some kind of energy source to power a door.

Locked And Loaded!

The gunplay of M87 more than gets the job done. There are not as many enemies to mow down as I was expecting, more often than not, you will do a bit of platforming, solve a puzzle, and then end up face to face with a handful of enemies you need to take down. The AI here is not the smartest, and I found that as long as I kept moving, I could pretty much take them down without too much trouble. On some occasions, enemies would be a bit more aggressive, but that added to the fun and stopped me getting too complacent. I do think that more weapons or attacks would have been nice, but the game does not last all that long, so you do not have to worry about the combat overstaying its welcome.

The Seventh Generation

When it comes to the overall style and presentation of the game. M87 has the look of something that I could have imagined coming out on the PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360. The game has a very shiny, tech look to it, if that makes sense. It takes place in a world that looks like it was designed by AI machines and that is something which I think is pretty damn cool. There is not a ton of detail in the game, but what is here works, and the cold and sterile look of everything is a solid design choice considering the setting and the story that they are trying to tell here.

Pros:

• I thought that the setting was pretty cool
• There was more variety to the gameplay than I was expecting
• If you love AI taking over stories, you may appreciate this
• This is a bit of a hidden little gem

Cons:

• A few more weapons would have been cool
• It was fun, but I am not sure it is a game I would go back to