Ever since William Shatner came out with the first TekWar novel, the Tek universe has taken off like gangbusters. Numerous novels, television movies and a television series have all been based on the Tek universe, and now you can experience this phenomenon in first person with William Shatner's TekWar: The Game. Just when I thought that there wasn't anything new or innovative that could be done with the first-person action gaming genre, Capstone (of all companies) comes out with a product that has some really neat features in it. While not being a perfect game, TekWar is surprisingly able to make first-person action shooters interesting again.
If you aren't familiar with the TekWar universe, here's the lowdown. The year is 2045, the setting is the Greater Los Angeles Metropolitan Area (GLAMA), and the new drug of choice is something called Tek. Tek is a mind-altering drug that uses virtual reality technology instead of chemicals to alter the user's perception of reality. You just put a Tek device on your head, insert the Tek disc and it's fantasy time. The only trouble is that Tek is extremely addictive and potentially deadly. In this vision of the future, huge crime organizations headed by ruthless bosses called Teklords control the distribution of Tek, and they haven't been idle. A couple of brilliant scientists have been reported missing, and it's feared that the Teklords are using them to come up with a way of distributing Tek over the Matrix, the dominant communication network of the time. This way, anyone using the Matrix would become addicted. Then, the free supply of Tek would then be turned off, forcing everyone to buy from the Teklords.
This is where you, the player, become involved. You're an ex-cop who was framed for dealing Tek, and you've spent the last five years in cryogenic suspension. Walter Bascom, played by Shatner, is the head of the Cosmos Detective Agency and has gotten you out of "the freezer" on a special parole in order to stop the bad guys. If you succeed you'll save the entire civilized world from the enslavement of Tek, and if you fail you'll go back to being an ice cube.
The game begins with you getting out of the freezer and being greeted and briefed by Bascom, all in decent looking full-screen digitized video. You then get to pick which of the seven Teklords you wish to take on first. The object is to find and defeat each Teklord. Each victory gains you a key that will grant access to the Matrix. Once in the Matrix you have to find the corresponding piece of the password that, when put together, will grant you access to the Teklord's stronghold. The game plays like all the other Doom clones, where the same keys are used to move, fire, strafe, run, look up and down, and jump. It's a fairly involved game, but it is a lot different than just trying to shoot anything that moves.
Where TekWar really distinguishes itself is in its look. Using SVGA graphics, TekWar is the best looking first-person shooter since Magic Carpet 2. The Los Angeles landscape is very convincing with the streets, walkways, gardens, shops, and other buildings looking very realistic. It's a fun and interactive environment to be in, with nice innovations like busting through windows and riding the subway. There's also touches of humor, like the donut boxes laying around wherever the cops are. Ironically, TekWar's biggest problem is a graphic shortcoming. Blowing things up is remarkably anti-climactic with explosions that look like a paint pellet hitting a wall. It's so frustrating to be in such an outstanding graphic environment and have a major event like an explosion be so lackluster.
Going into the Matrix is something that has to be seen to be believed. The Matrix is an environment where you navigate the pathways of a major communication network through virtual reality instead of a computer monitor. The TekWar designers have done a top-notch job on simulating their idea of what the Matrix would be like. In some ways the world of the Matrix is even more impressive than the incredible-looking Los Angeles area, since the Matrix universe is basically anything goes. Like I said before, it has to be seen to be believed, but it's a borderline psychedelic experience with multicolored corridors, three-dimensional mazes to navigate, defense systems that try to shoot and eat you, and viruses that are deadly to the touch. The controls are more sluggish in the Matrix, which makes traveling around a tedious task at times, but the world is so visually stunning, you won't notice.
Although TekWar is networkable for up to 16 players, don't go through the trouble of playing a multiplayer game. There are seven different multiplayer levels available on the CD, but if you're just playing two player, the levels are way too big for a fun game, and even if you have lots of people playing, it still isn't all that fun. Most people get a lot of enjoyment out of blowing their friends to pieces but with the ugly explosions in this game, it really takes the fun out of it. And when you see another player, what you see is a guy with sunglasses on with his hands in his pockets. Even if the other player's gun is drawn, you still only see the guy with his hands in his pockets. If he jumps, you just see the player go straight up in the air, hands still in the pockets, and if he crouches you just see the guy go halfway INTO the floor. As if the explosion graphics weren't bad enough, multiplayer is even worse.
But overall, TekWar, for me at least, was a huge surprise. First, the virtual environment is knockout, and the gameplay contains a nice bit of depth to it. I really enjoyed the two radically different universes to play in, and fortunately the designers have given a good bit of attention to both the Los Angeles world and the Matrix universe, which makes the lousy explosions and horrible multiplayer mode even more disappointing. But if you need a new first person shooter fix, and if you don't mind only using the single-player mode, TekWar isn't bad.
