| G-Police: Weapons of Justice | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Psygnosis |
| Publisher(s) | |
| Producer(s) | Jools Jameson |
| Designer(s) | Stuart Wheeler |
| Programmer(s) | Gavin Whitlock |
| Artist(s) | Robert Osborne |
| Composer(s) | Stuart Duffield |
| Platform(s) | PlayStation |
| Release | |
| Genre(s) | Combat flight simulation |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
G-Police: Weapons of Justice is a combat flight simulation video game and sequel to G-Police, developed by Psygnosis exclusively for PlayStation.
After the corporation wars of the first game, Slater is now a veteran pilot within the G-Police. However, the gangs that lay dormant during the battles between Nanosoft and G-Police have now emerged once again, and the weakened G-Police are struggling to contain them. The United Earth Marine Corps has sent units to assist in enforcing peace upon Callisto, but until they arrive Slater has to do his best to fight the tide. And when the Marines do arrive, the trouble is only just beginning...
After initially aiding the G-Police in their battles against the gangs, the Marines suddenly turn against them. Commander Grice of the Marines, now in control of his own army, attempts to quickly crush the G-Police and take over Callisto, and then move to attack Earth itself. Slater and the G-Police manage to resist and, with the help of Earth-loyal Marine defectors, then beat back his revolution. Grice sabotages the communication devices that allow the colony to communicate with Earth. Grice retreats from Callisto and heads for the safety of space, but Slater leads the assault of a small force of space-capable vessels, Corsairs stolen from the Marine bases, and attempts to destroy Grice's fleet as it retreats. However, despite capturing the Barrosa and using it to cripple the Talavera, G-Police are simply too few to prevent Grice from escaping on his third battleship, the Excelsior. The Marine force continue to head towards Earth - and the G-Police have no way of warning the homeworld in time. Despite the odds, Slater and his crew prepare to follow Grice and hope to delay or outrun him as they both race for Earth.
For the most part, the game handles only slightly differently from the original: the controls have been changed slightly to allow vehicles to strafe and fire two weapons at once, although they can no longer lock on to enemy craft, retreat and bombard them with missiles from afar. Missions are once again linear - they must be completed in a certain order, and key objectives must be achieved or the mission is failed. They are accompanied by secondary missions which are optional.
The greatest change comes in the form of the three new vehicles: as well as the Havoc and Venom gunships, there is the Rhino (an armed car, which was playable in a training level for G-Police but lacked the armament that it boasts in Weapons of Justice), the Raptor (a heavily armed and armoured bipedal tank, capable of jumping and gliding) and the Corsair (a Marine spaceship, used in the final levels to pursue Grice's armada beyond the atmosphere). The mission dictates which vehicle must be used - the player cannot decide for themselves.
The game has 25 weapons, the majority of which are unique to specific vehicles. The vehicles primary cannon can be fired with the Square button and has an infinite amount of ammunition, although they do need to recharge after extended periods of use. The Circle button uses the ships secondary weapons, such as bombs, missiles (both guided and unguided), rockets or an electronic jammer. Throughout the game, the player is often accompanied by a wingman or an armoured ground team. These can be used as a weapon by locking on to targets and pressing the secondary fire button.
The game also has 35 different types of enemy vehicle to engage. They come in different forms, such as SAM systems, corsairs, armoured APCs, droids and large Gunboats. 30 missions are included in the game, all of which must be completed in a linear order. They vary greatly from patrolling the domes of Callisto, protecting important assets, carrying out bombing raids or simply engaging and destroying enemy forces. Weapons of Justice also includes new training and special missions, unrelated to the game's plot (with several exceptions which act as bonus material between the main missions), as well as bonus artwork and features which are unlocked by progressing through the game and fulfilling secondary missions.
| Aggregator | Score |
|---|---|
| GameRankings | 72% [1] |
| Publication | Score |
|---|---|
| Consoles + | 80% [2] |
| Edge | 5/10 [3] |
| Electronic Gaming Monthly | 6.625/10 [4] [lower-alpha 1] |
| EP Daily | 7/10 [5] |
| Game Informer | 4.75/10 [6] |
| GameRevolution | B− [7] |
| GameSpot | 5.8/10 [8] |
| IGN | 8.5/10 [9] |
| Next Generation |   [10] |
| Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine | [11] |
| The Sydney Morning Herald | [12] |
The game received above-average reviews according to the review aggregation website GameRankings. [1] Rick Sanchez, writing for IGN , praised the design and production values. [9] Joe Fielder of GameSpot was more critical, citing repetitive and slow gameplay. [8] However, Jeffrey Adam Young of NextGen said, "It seems G-Police: Weapons of Justice was designed to be a very complex and full game, but in the process, the designers forgot to make the game playable as well." [10]
Four-Eyed Dragon of GamePro said of the game in one review, "Fans of the original G-Police might want to rent the game for a night; otherwise, Weapons of Justice isn't even worth a badge of commendation." [13] [lower-alpha 2] However, iBot said in another review, "This G-Police brings nothing new to the action genre, and with almost no dramatic storyline or character interaction, there is nothing really compelling enough to make you pick up the Weapons of Justice." [14] [lower-alpha 3]
Starsiege is a mecha-style vehicle simulation game developed by Dynamix and released in 1999. Starsiege is set in the Metaltech/Earthsiege universe, which contains its predecessors Earthsiege (1994), Battledrome (1994), and Earthsiege 2 (1996). This universe also includes action game Hunter Hunted (1996), strategy games Mission Force: Cyberstorm (1996) and Cyberstorm 2: Corporate Wars (1998). It also includes the sequels Starsiege: Tribes and all subsequent Tribes titles. In 2015, this game and the rest of the Metaltech/Tribes series were released as freeware by Hi-Rez Studios, but Battledrome and the Cyberstorm series were not.
Red Dog: Superior Firepower, also known as simply Red Dog, is a shooter game released in 2000 for the Sega Dreamcast; it was developed by Argonaut Games.
Incoming is a 3D shooter video game developed by Rage Software and published by Interplay. The game was first released for Microsoft Windows in mid-1998, and was followed by a Sega Dreamcast version, which was released in Japan on December 17, 1998, in Europe on October 14, 1999, and in North America on September 15, 1999. Set in the near-future of 2009, the game primarily revolves around controlling vehicles and turrets to fight alien invaders of Earth in one of the campaign modes, the arcade mode, and with or against another player. Some levels include brief real-time strategy segments.
Hidden & Dangerous is a 1999 tactical shooter video game developed by Illusion Softworks and published by Take-Two Interactive and TalonSoft for Windows, Dreamcast and PlayStation. The PlayStation port of the game was developed by Tarantula Studios. It is regarded as a pioneering tactical shooter. A sequel, Hidden & Dangerous 2, was released in 2003.
Armored Core is a 1997 third-person shooter mech video game developed by FromSoftware and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation. It was originally released in Japan by FromSoftware in July 1997 and in North America in October 1997 and Europe in 1998 by Sony Computer Entertainment. The game is the first entry in the Armored Core series. A digital port was released in 2007 in Japan and 2015 in North America on the PlayStation Network as a part of the PSone Classics line of games.
Armored Core 2 is a 2000 third-person shooter mecha video game developed by FromSoftware for the PlayStation 2. It is the fourth entry in the Armored Core series and an indirect sequel to Armored Core: Master of Arena. In North America, Armored Core 2 was a launch title for the PlayStation 2. A direct sequel, Armored Core 2: Another Age, was released in 2001 for the PlayStation 2.
Future Cop: LAPD is a third-person shooter developed by EA Redwood Shores and published by Electronic Arts and released first for the PlayStation, then Mac OS and Microsoft Windows. Future Cop was originally developed as an installment of the Strike series.
Saints Row is a 2006 action-adventure game developed by Volition and published by THQ for the Xbox 360. It was released in North America on August 29, 2006, followed by an Australian release two days later and a European release on September 1, 2006. Set within the fictional city of Stilwater, the single-player story follows a player-created character who joins the 3rd Street Saints gang after they save his life, and helps them rise to prominence by undermining enemy criminal syndicates, while slowly building up his own reputation within the gang. The storyline is non-linear, and divided into three separate story arcs for each rival gang that the player must defeat.
Toy Commander is an action game for the Dreamcast developed by No Cliché and published by Sega.
Rogue Trip: Vacation 2012, also known as Rogue Trip, is a vehicular combat video game developed by SingleTrac and published by GT Interactive for the PlayStation in 1998. The game is set in an apocalyptic fiction alternative history version of the year 2012 where mercenaries fight against each other using vehicles, and various weapons as they pick up tourists, hitchhikers, and passengers paying them fares for bringing them to vacation destinations around the remnants of the destroyed United States, and these mercenaries call themselves "auto mercenaries".
Gun Metal is a 3D shooting video game for the Xbox and Microsoft Windows where you take control of the fully transformable prototype combat vehicle. It was developed by the now defunct Rage Software Limited.
AeroWings, known in Japan as Aero Dancing featuring Blue Impulse, is a flight simulator for Sega's Dreamcast video game console. The player can train with squads, learn the ropes of handling the aircraft, and doing tricks after mastering the different stunts.
AeroGauge is a futuristic, sci-fi hovercraft racing game designed for the Nintendo 64 game console and released in 1998. ASCII's AeroGauge is conceptually similar to Psygnosis' Wipeout or Acclaim's Extreme G. The main difference is that the vehicles in the game fly instead of hovering, so it's possible to maneuver them in the air. AeroGauge garnered mediocre reviews, with criticism directed at its routine concept, excessive pop up, lack of weapons and power-ups, and overly high difficulty.
G-Police is a 1997 combat flight simulation video game developed and published by Psygnosis for PlayStation and Microsoft Windows.
Colony Wars is a space combat simulator video game for the PlayStation developed and released by Psygnosis in 1997. Players complete space combat missions using preselected starfighters equipped with various weapons. The game features multiple paths of missions and outcomes, depending on the player's performance. It was followed by Colony Wars: Vengeance in 1998, and Colony Wars: Red Sun in 2000.
X-Perts is a side-scrolling beat-'em-up video game produced by Sega of America and released only in North America for the Sega Genesis in 1996. It is a spin-off of Eternal Champions starring the assassin Shadow Yamoto, who is depicted in her design from Eternal Champions: Challenge from the Dark Side. One of the most high profile of the last wave of Genesis games, it was heavily panned by critics as having dull gameplay and poor control.
Tiny Tank is a third-person shooter platform game developed by AndNow and Appaloosa Interactive. Initially meant to be published by MGM Interactive in late 1998, they dropped the title and gave it to Sony Computer Entertainment America. It was released in 1999 for the PlayStation.
Army Men: Sarge's Heroes is a third-person shooter video game developed and published by The 3DO Company for Nintendo 64, PlayStation, Dreamcast and Microsoft Windows. The player normally controls Sarge, a Sergeant in the Green Army and fights evil General Plastro and the members of the Tan Army. Both armies are named after the usual colours of toy army men.
NBA 2K is a 1999 sports video game developed by Visual Concepts and published by Sega. It was initially released for Dreamcast in 1999. Allen Iverson of the Philadelphia 76ers is featured as the cover athlete. The game is based on the National Basketball Association and, as such, allows the player to compete in basketball games with the current NBA season's players and teams. Several game modes are present, including one in which the player can create customizable players. NBA 2K was well-received by critics, who praised it for setting the standard for basketball video games.
Shadow Master is a video game developed by HammerHead and published by Psygnosis for the PlayStation and Microsoft Windows. It is a first-person shooter in which the player character rides in an armed vehicle. It met with predominantly negative reviews which praised its visuals but criticized it for clunky controls and poorly designed, frustrating gameplay.