Predator

The Good
Predator: Soon The Hunt Will Begin is a 2D platform game in which you play Major Dutch Schaefer, a commando who is searching for the creature responsible for killing his fellow teammates. The game is a lot different to the Predator games on other platforms, mainly because the game is divided into thirty stages, all of which you must complete before you actually destroy the Predator. You exit a stage by entering one of the caves. There are often two caves in a stage, and going to either one may take you to a much later stage.

Furthermore, the game is story-based, with cut-scenes, which explores further into the story. What I like about this game is the fact that you can actually use weapons to shoot guerrillas and creatures that obstruct your path. Rather than just punching (which is not good with creatures), you can use the machine gun, laser rifle, or just throw grenades at them. I found that the most effective one is the laser rifle, since not only you can destroy guerrillas with it, but rocks with it. The screen scrolls left as well as right, which I like because you are not restricted to the one direction all the time. Scrolling both ways is useful if you need a better weapon which can only be found in the one direction.

The game is divided into two mode: “jungle mode” and “big mode”. The “jungle” mode is what I described above. There are about six “big modes”, where you destroy blue and purple spheres that come toward you, some of them have weapons that will help you defeat the Predator if you manage to get a long distance. You have to defeat this Predator six times, but with each encounter, he uses a different attack. It is also this mode that Dutch looks bigger than he is in the jungle stages.

The graphics depict what environment you are in. In the first few stages, the game has you fighting in the jungle, and from then on, it's hot and icy areas. The hot areas mainly consist of crushed skulls everywhere you look. It makes the stage look gruesome.

The Bad
The clothes that Dutch wears is inconsistent with the movie. Sure, he wears the same green uniform in the movie and in the game's “big mode”. However, in “jungle mode”, his uniform is not green, but bright red. The stages are out of order. Instead of completing the stages sequentially (1, 2, 3, 4, etc.), they are random no matter which of the caves that you enter.

The Bottom Line
Predator for the NES is very different to its other counterparts, as it consists of two modes, one in which you basically have to find a cave while you shoot enemies down using up to three weapons. Every couple or so stages, you have to find and destroy the Predator. You also destroy different colored spheres in an attempt to find any weapons that will help you destroy him quickly. Destroy the Predator six times to complete the game. The only difference is with the Predator encounters, the Predator uses a different attack pattern to the one that he uses previously. There are cut-scenes in the NES version, a feature not available for the game for different platforms.

The Good
Predator is the movie I was somewhat raised on, so I share decent respect for the things connected with the movie. When I brought this home I was hoping for a real thrill of gameplay, however, in the ending it was rather opposite. The last enjoyable element of this is the music, tough it has no real connection with the movie, which is puzzling, because I doubt after playing Journey to Silius that NES isn't capable of creating a similar military music, like we could hear in the movie. Still the music is decent and builds up a somewhat freaky, alien like atmosphere. From the gameplay perhaps the "big mode" which is called that way of the characters being much larger in that mode than in other levels-it's a semi-relaxing portion of classic shooting, something a game inspired by the movie Predator should be, but it's only a part of the bland platformer which this game really is.

The Bad
The first thing is the whole idea. The game starts after Major Dutch's team gets slaughtered by the alien. From then we remember, that there will be the spectacular fight with the Predator and his death, only basically. Than I ask, where did does guerilla's come from allover the jungle? And what are those little critters? Let's move on deeper into the sewer-the gameplay. It consists mostly of jumping, running, and shooting from time to time, with the laser pistol (I don't recall a laser pistol in the movie). Jumping from platform to platform and not sliding down to the pit is indeed a task. It appears that Major's legs are covered with lard, oil or a similar slick substance, as he slides on the ground like it was thick ice. This is especially brilliant when jumping on a small, short platform and sliding down to the endless chasm. It does require practice if You call it that way, but aren't we suppose to go for realism in this type of game? I find this a frustrating bug, not a gameplay element. Let's move on to visuals-the most important character of the game-the hero. I'm asking-why is he dressed so gay? I understand that the authors are limited to several colours when creating a character, but just look at other games to realize how characters can be done, and realize that our individual which we control in this game is dressed in pink pajamas, apparently to attract the attention of the local critters and thugs, perhaps even the predator. In "Big Mode" (the most simplistic of all names) Arnie looks more natural, yes we can recognize him. The character's animations are also truly awful and look very un-natural. Again, if You think they are normal, play a game like Contra or Castlevania to see how robotic and strangely Arnie here moves. The enemies are completely out of place. As I recall Major's team slaughtered the sth american grunts (with the exception of cute Anna) and blew their camp, so I will leave the puzzle of the jungle thugs to You, dear reader. Let's focus on other enemies-they mostly remind of plants, moving rocks (?), birds, in the jungle, plus a plethora of single-cell like organisms in the alien area. The appearance of semi-like bacterias, and polips shooting projectiles leaves me confused-where did that come from, more, what is it? Did Predator bring any alien life forms with him on Earth? I don't think so. But the lack of connection with the movie doesn't end-even the scenario is messed up-believe it or not, in the game Major Dutch finds the hang bodies after his team is slaughtered. Heh. I'll leave that with no comments. The only connection with the movie seems to be Major Dutch, Predator, the messy scenario and the jungle area. I do believe that after getting a license to make a game based on a movie the idea could have been much better executed, plus, if we buy a movie license, let's stick as close as possible to the movie gentlemen. Otherwise, it has no sense.

The Bottom Line
It appears that the authors of this game got the license to use it as a bait for unexpected NES players to attract attention to a lousy game using Schwarzenegger's name and the movie's title. That leaves disappointed not only us-Predator lovers, but also those who played this game. I advised to play different games in the review and I still advise that-play something else to satisfy Your gaming need, but not this. If hungry for some aliens I recommend satisfying Your Predator instinct with another 3 hours of Predator watching-the true one, with some cola and chicken wings. Poor Arnie should be red-faced from shame to the end of his life.

The Good
What, you expect me to like this garbage just because you play as Arnold Schwarzenegger. No way. I mean, in some cases this thing is kind of challenging, but that's not good enough. I am expecting a lot more from a game based off Predator.

The Bad
First of all, Major Schaefer (the guy who is played by Arnold Schwarzenegger) is PINK. Pink is probably one of the least compatible colours when you think of Arnold. Also, you start of with absolutely no weapons at all. The only weapon that is available from the tart is a machine gun that is up a tree.

Trust me, that gun will help you a LOT. Why? Because there are a whole load of aliens which you've never seen from the movie. Who are these aliens? In the movie, Arnold fought only the predator and the other enemy guerrillas.

And these enemies aren't the "friendly" type. Also you have to fight off other enemy soldiers (wait, didn't all the other enemy soldiers DIE in the movie?). I could spend all day talking about the bad parts of this game, but I won't.

The Bottom Line
I almost forgot to mention one more flaw: in this game, there are 30 different Predators in this game but in the the movie, there was only ONE predator. Did the developers of this game even see the movie? Obviously not.

Predator is nothing more than a waste of time and money and it should never be bought. I spent two hours trying to like this game but I never did.