G-Nome

The Good
The most interesting feature that G-Nome presents is the ability to eject out of your HAWC (Heavy Armor Weapon Chassis, a mech-like robot) and hijack other vehicles. This opens up huge potentials gameplay options, as you can escape your HAWC when it is heavily damaged and commandeer an enemy's -- this is very exciting when it happens.

The 20 campaign missions are varied and often with fun. In some missions, the objectives actually stipulate that you exit your HAWC and infiltrate an enemy building or guard tower.

Vehicles, from tanks to HAWCs, are rendered intricately and show detailed articulation. Cockpits are also well-designed.

The Bad
But what really matters is gameplay, and G-Nome does not play well. The controls are sluggish, and its most innovative feature -- hijacking other vehicles -- hardly ever works in the midst of combat. Once you eject your HAWC, you are either stomped or shot up into a bloody pulp.

With the exception of vehicles, the graphics are drab. There is virtually no terrain, and the levels feel like cheap Doom maps, where you are just running around in corridors. The missions all seemingly take place in outside environments, but it is completely flat except for mountains (that cannot be climbed) which create the hallway/roomlike feeling by separating the different areas in a level.

The Bottom Line
This is definitely one game that needs to be forgotten. The missions were too frustratingly difficult, and the story was not exceptional enough to warrant any extra effort. Except for the hijacking feature, which was poorly implemented anyhow, G-Nome had few redeeming qualities.

Mechwarrior 2, released years before this one, delivered a much more enriching mech experience.