![\"No,](\"http:\/\/mechafatnick.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Drivin.gif\")
<\/a>No, I don’t know how this fits in with the rest of the game either<\/p><\/div>\n
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It’s completely baffling – as if the person producing the backgrounds wasn’t told what kind of game they were creating art for. Worse still, the background featured above is the only one used throughout the driving sections, leading to a repetitive experience that immediately crushes any sense of immersion.<\/p>\n
Things could have been salvaged, perhaps, if the vehicular controls had been up to scratch, but there are major issues here too. Unfortunately, Technocop inherits a flaw here that was common in the home computer era: the driving controls seem to have been set up exclusively for Joysticks.<\/p>\n
Due to the (presumable) clumsiness of having to keep the stick pointing upwards while steering, a common solution was to have the acceleration and brakes act more like cruise control settings than pedals: You don’t hold up to accelerate, you hold up to set the speed you want the car to accelerate to on its own. If that sounds weird, well it’s because it is. It doesn’t really feel like driving a car at all.<\/p>\n
Once you’ve got your speed set up though, driving really isn’t much of a challenge. You don’t have to worry about on road obstacles (such as Roadblasters’ mines,) and the dastardly automotive criminal fraternity who occupy the roads don’t really put much effort into trying to stop you. Especially after you’ve blown them to pieces with your remarkably inconsistent roof-mounted cannon.<\/p>\n
You might be driving against the clock, but all of the driving segments feel too short for the amount of time given. You’re never really in danger of either running out of time or wrecking you vehicle. Crumbs.<\/p>\n
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<\/a>The Car DOES look good though<\/p><\/div>\n
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Inevitably then, you’ll reach your destination and pull over (not that there’s a physical destination to arrive at, mind you, your car just randomly pulls over randomly into green space,) and this is when the fun really begins.<\/p>\n
Finally arriving into some run-down distopian surroundings, it’s your job to bust into the building in front of you and either kill or arrest the target – neutralizing anyone who gets in your way (though this doesn’t include score-deducting children and grannies, sadly.)<\/p>\n
Visually, things are a tad disappointing here. for a start, half of the screen is dedicated to a view of the Technocop’s arm computer. Though as a HUD this does provide you with some useful info (such as your health, stamina, and semi-useful radar that tells you where the target is,) it’s hard to see it for anything other than it is: a cheap hangover from the 8-bit era which allowed Speccy\/C64 developers to cram the action into a much smaller number of pixels.<\/p>\n
On top of this, the Technocop himself looks a little odd (if you’ve ever imagined what David Hasslehoff would have looked like had he stood in for Michael Jackson in the video for Thriller, this might well be the game for you,) and \u00a0the interior artwork is only ever so slightly less repetitive than the driving locations. This isn’t looking good, is it?<\/p>\n
<\/a>NO ONE IS INNOCENT. Well, except for him. Oops.<\/p><\/div>\n
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Sadly, the gameplay doesn’t always help matters either. In fact, the on-foot sections are as difficult as the driving sections are easy: Perps spawn both too close to the player and ready to pounce, making it very difficult to rattle enough shots into them before they’ve already had a chance to send some your way. This is especially true of the bosses, some of whom can kill you in one hit.<\/p>\n
Time limits in these sections are also punishing. Sure, the level designs start off relatively simple, but by a couple of stages in a single wrong turn up one of the red-herring lift shafts will rob you of the time you need to catch your mark before they make their getaway.<\/p>\n
This could possibly be forgivable if the Technocop controlled convincingly, but here too there are problems. From the canned, unwieldy leaping animations to the difficulty of executing a simple crouch, fire and reload manoeuvre, the game feels like it largely under-delivers here too. Especially since the Techno cop has such a weak arsenal. Though the kill shot\/net shot dynamic is interesting, the game desperately cries out for the opportunity to upgrade to something either as powerful as Robocop’s Auto-9, or something that provides the variety of Dredd’s Lawgiver.<\/p>\n
Oh dear, that’s quite a list of complaints isn’t it?<\/p>\n
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If you were to tell me that Technocop was objectively a terrible game then, I definitely wouldn’t argue. After all, I’ve cataloged the game’s various faults above (in fact I forgot to mention some! There’s also no high score table AND the frame rate is marginally worse than the Zx Spectrum version. Oh, and the whip-wielding baddies are just weird.)<\/p>\n
There is an important BUT however: on a subjective level, I actually quite like it.<\/p>\n
You see, for all its faults, there are a couple of interesting things about Technocop. On an aesthetic level, it’s hard not to respect the level of extreme violence present in the game. As we’ve seen already, the enemies explode in a shower of blood and guts, but the fun doesn’t end there: You’re also able to blow (slightly less graphic) chunks out of both the vulnerable grannies and innocent kids that populate the games run-down tenements.<\/p>\n
This was highly controversial and dangerous stuff. It’s worth remembering that in Road Rash, released a year later, the player wasn’t even allowed to lay meaningful blows on that titles’ antagonistic motorcycle cops. Yes, Technocop may be incredibly trashy, but it was also incredibly courageous on the part of porters Razorsoft.<\/p>\n
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<\/a>KABLAM<\/p><\/div>\n
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Perhaps the most fascinating thing about Technocop, however, is its rather interesting structure. For a start, the bad guys you’re stalking aren’t bosses in any traditional sense. Though they look substantially different to, and generally have more powerful weapons than their underlings, One or two good hits is enough to put them down for the count (especially if you hit ’em with a good net shot.)<\/p>\n
Though this robs Technocop of the sense of drama that can only come from a good ol’ fashioned boss fight, it does go a long way to reinforcing the relentlessly gritty atmosphere that (most of) the game seems to be aiming for.<\/p>\n
Alongside this, Technocop does one thing that’s rather unusual: It allows the player to fail. While most games tend to treat both physical death and missed deadlines as one and the same, Technocop views them differently. In TC, you’re allowed to simply play on and \u00a0try to bag the next bad guy if one happens to get away.<\/p>\n
This doesn’t make things too easy, mind you. Catching wanted criminals is the only means you have for replenish the lives you’ve lost. This means that, while you can potentially refuse to play some levels by simply running down the timer, you can’t rest on your laurels forever. It’s a pretty good risk\/reward mechanism all things considered.<\/p>\n
<\/a>One Down!<\/p><\/div>\n
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Dodgy controls and mono-thematic backdrops aside, the driving sections are also actually quite good fun. Unlike the Technocop himself, the car receives some decent upgrades, so if you don’t like the standard armament you at least get some mushroom cloud-generating smart bombs and James Bondesque hydraulic rams to play with. Hurrah.<\/p>\n
Though way too easy when looked at in isolation,\u00a0the driving sections also\u00a0act as quite a clever counter weight\u00a0to the unrelentingly difficulty of the on foot sections. Like bacon and maple syrup, the individual elements work a lot better in action together than they do on paper.<\/p>\n
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<\/a>Hydraulic Rams. Oh Yeah.<\/p><\/div>\n
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As with the other games we’ve examined on past Review A Bad Game Days then, Technocop manages to be an unquestionably bad game that still manages to find a way to work in spite of this fact. Although it definitely won’t be for everyone, whether you play it as an important \u00a0artefact in the history of ultraviolent video games or merely as an bit of an odd ball title in a forgotten genre, I reckon it’s worth a moment of your time.<\/p>\n
I still prefer Vendetta<\/a>\u00a0though.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"