Home | News | Reviews | Previews | Hardware
Danger Girl
Score: 89%
ESRB: Teen
Publisher: THQ
Developer: n-Space
Media: CD/1
Players: 1
Genre: Action

Graphics & Sound:
>From the moment you hear those kickin James Bond-esque tunes, you know you're in for a good time. Danger Girl was inspired by the comic book series of the same name by J. Scott Campbell and Andy Hartnell, and fans of the series will not be disappointed. Not only will you find fantastic FMV movies throughout the game starring those luscious Danger Girls, Abbey Chase, Sydney Savage and JC, but the girls have been lovingly recreated as characters you control as well. Think Tomb Raider times 3!

Game levels all look good and have just enough detail to make them work. Sure, you won't be mesmerized by your surroundings, but the action will keep you busy enough. True fans will be happy to note that actual 'making of' sketches are contained in the game manual - just a little extra thrown in for good measure

In the sound department, Danger Girl has got it goin' on. The background music is perfect for the mood of this game. At times, you'll actually jump for a brief moment and look around for the weapon that made the sound you just heard. But it was just the music in a song that revved into high gear during a tense moment. Good stuff. The voice acting goes from incredible to 'is that the pizza guy doing these voice-overs?' The girls sound divine. Very sexy stuff. And Deuce, the fearless leader of the Danger Girls' operation, sounds like none other than the dashing Sean Connery. Excellent move. Now, most of the enemies on the other hand, sound pretty lame. Almost like they were trying out for a bit part in a B movie. But hey, everything else looked and sounded so good, I can deal with it.


Gameplay:
Danger Girl picks up where comic #7 left off, with the girls chasing after one Donavin Conrad and the nefarious terrorist group, The Hammer. Your mission begins in the jungles of Costa Rica controlling Abbey Chase in a level that feels an awful lot like Tomb Raider, with the foliage and all. But I am a big TR fan, so no complaints from me. However, it is not always clear what your next move should be, well, without rooting around your inventory and such. Suffice it to say that what you are supposed to do next is not always exactly clear, even though hints may be given during the FMVs. Just pay attention amd explore everything. And don't be afraid to blast a few vents and boxes.

Danger Girl comes to us from N-Space, the folks who brought us Duke Nukem. Now, if there's one thing these guys know, it's action and babes. Ok, that's two things, but eh. As your missions progress, you'll get the chance to play as all three Danger Girls. The newest addition, JC, makes her first appearance in this game as the engineering gearhead chick, while Abbey and Sydney use femine wiles and keen sharpshooting to accomplish their missions. DG features an auto aim feature and also a sniper mode for those oh-so-lovely head shots that take out the baddies with one blast. Of course, scads of weapons and gadgets will be at your disposal, depending on the level and girl. Overall, Danger Girl is filled with action, babes and fun. It's the stuff good games are made of, and fans of 3rd person action adventure should take note of this one.


Difficulty:
Danger Girl is a tough game. I won't sugarcoat is for you. As I mentioned earlier, not really having a clear direction at times as to what you must do adds to the frustration, but truly, you'll press on wanting to see more of the story. Also, when you die, you start back at the beginning of the level and I have thrown my controller down in disgust many a time after having to repeat the same level over and over. And then I just come crawling back to it later. You can really make things hard on yourself by turning off your radar and auto aim. Talking about ramping up the difficulty! All in all, a hard but good game.

Game Mechanics:
Danger Girl suffers from the bad control syndrome that plagues all 3rd person action adventures, it seems. I found myself screaming at my character to run this way or turn that way. At times, she didn't seem able to climb into an alcove that was no problem at other times. This kind of spotty control is frustrating, but you just learn to work around it. Another downside was really stupid AI. At times, you could shoot one enemy and the guy next to him seemed clueless as to your presence until you capped him in the head and he shouts, 'Dayum!' on his way down. Ugh. Other times, it was better, but overall, the AI was fairly poor and easy to outsmart. Now on to the good stuff. When your character is in sniper mode, the gun sight moves about slightly after a few seconds, just as a real, stressed-out, heavy breathing person's gun site would. I thought this was a nice little touch. An on-screen radar a la Metal Gear Solid is featured as well (and can be turned off to up the difficulty). This handy device lets you know enemies' locations and if they are alerted to your presence or not. With tihs, you can use stealth to sneak up on unsuspecting baddies and take them out before they even know what happened.

I really liked Danger Girl alot. I wasn't sure what to expect when I popped the CD in, but was impressed from the start. This game had a way of dragging me back to it time and again with it's engaging storyline and action-packed gameplay. Rent it first to be sure you can deal with the controls, but if it looks like it's your thing, buy it.


-Psibabe, GameVortex Communications
AKA Ashley Perkins

This site best viewed in Internet Explorer 6 or higher or Firefox.