awoolcott's Full Review: Blue Stinger for Dreamcast
One of the first games released on Sega Dreamcast, Blue Stinger falls right into the category of "mediocre." It's not great, it's not terrible. It is still an enjoyable game though, despite the quirky (and cheesy) flaws. Just don't expect too much and you will be on your way.
Blue Stinger is on the same level as Resident Evil, combining action-adventure with horror (survival horror). Only this time it involves mutations instead of zombies (though I guess you can call turning into a zombie mutation). Really if you know how Resident Evil works then you will get the crux of this game. Really, BS is almost considerable to a Resident Evil holdover, until the release of Code Veronica (speaking in September 1999 terms).
Story - The story revolves around a guy named Eliot, who gets lost on Dinosaur Island, home of Kimra, a shady biotech company. A meteor hits the island placing a barrier around the headquarters of the Kimra company. Eliot meets up with a pirate-type guy named Dogs, and they both go investigating the surroundings. But there is an odd presence from something named Nephilim, some sort of spirit angel thingy. It's an odd presence because at the beginning you don't know its intentions. Soon Dogs and Eliot meet up with Janine King, your basic computer and technology genius. She remains in the control center giving Eliot and Dogs advice. I won't go into the story much because like a movie, giving away the plot can be a bad idea.
GamePlay - Now as I said this is very similar to Resident Evil. Like RE you need to accomplish certain tasks before being allowed to continue. For instance in order to reach a bar in the town area, you need to accomplish many tasks, like a stamp rally at the Hello Market (don't ask), to getting the store manager his drugs so he can live (with a time limit), to darn near becoming a popsicle in the freezer (you have to figure the way to bring the temperature down in order to access doors that are frozen shut). Of course a lot of these tasks require keycards and switch pressing, a la Resident Evil (this truly was their motivation, can't you tell?).
Enemies are somewhat sparse (not the numbers that RE can give you, but not as rare as Tomb Raider). What is worse is a lot of the enemies are repetitive, seeing the same four-armed guy over and over. Talk about getting tired of seeing the same enemies (sure RE has repetitive enemies but they mix it up with some of the other creatures of the night)! Killing your enemies gives you coins (why mutants carry coins is beyond me, must have been playing Super Mario Bros. earlier on). The coins can be used to purchase health items (like drinks and hamburgers, or hot dogs and sandwiches. You want fries with that?), weapons, and ammo. You buy these items in vending machines like you would in the real world (except buy guns. Interesting, gun vending machines...). Saving also takes place in the same area as the vending machines. You can save as often as you'd like, but only in designated areas (as usual).
The weapons are, again similar to Resident Evil. You get your basic handgun, shotgun, napalm gun, and the like. What is different is Eliot can use two different items, in a combination. You can use your fists for one attack and a shotgun for another. Or you can buy an axe and use that. So you can have two different weapons to use at different intervals. Dogs, however cannot use multiple weapons, but his weapon is a lot more powerful.
Graphics - Graphically, Blue Stinger is really nice. It won't wow you on the same level Code Veronica does, but it's really well done. Identifying items for pickup is easy, for they let off a shiny light to let you know it's there. There is not much draw-in and no invisible walls (where you can see through the wall).
But its the other parts of the graphics that make it not so hot all the time. The animations are very lame, at least Eliot and Dogs. Watching them walk and run is hilarious because it's so lame looking. They almost look as if they are skating on ice or dragging their feet. Plus they run mighty slow. Even funnier, when the voices come on, their lips talk long after the words are spoken. Nothing weirder than watching someone talk without moving their mouth, then watching them talk without saying anything!
Then there is the camera. Because this is a fully 3D game, a camera is very important. Well Blue Stinger's camera is anger inducing. Many times, after going through a door, they will place the camera in such an odd position that you won't be able to see what is going on. Not fun when there is an enemy an inch away from you, and they start attacking before you know it's there! And what is interesting is they claim for the American version that the camera was fixed up. I can only imagine how bad it was before. This camera can definitely get you into some big trouble, and big frustration.
Sound - Musically, the sound is excellent. The dramatic music of Blue Stinger is very fitting in the situation. My personal favorite is the music that plays in the town (it's Christmastime there). It's really cheesy and upbeat, and it's fun to wax enemies to happy music!
Sound effects are average at best. All the enemies sound the same practically, and some of the weapon sounds are off as well. The shotgun sounds more like a sub-machine gun than anything. It's more than tolerable though.
The voices are a joke. They must have pulled these voice actors out of a Resident Evil game tryout (ahh..more similarities!). Eliot tries to come off as a Chris Redfield (from RE), Dogs is a Solid Snake (Metal Gear) wannabe, and Janine is just awful. It's terribly hacked and contrived, kinda like watching 25 people with stage fright perform MacBeth. Too bad you really can't mute it, because you are given critical information consistently.
Control - Control as well can be a chore if you don't practice. Due to the bad camera, the movements of your character can be thrown off. And also because of the terrible animation of the characters, not being able to predict the movements can walk you right into trouble. And sometimes it's difficult to align your character to a card reader in order to access locked doors. But it's something you CAN get used to if you play this game enough. Firing the main weapon is just a click of the top R button, though there is no manual reload like another favorite of mine, Syphon Filter. So a lot of times you are left holding the bag while you take that split second to reload.
Replay - This is probably not a game that you will play multiple times. This is not an easy game to get into, due to a lot of odd quirks (as mentioned). You need a good couple hours to get a feel for how the game works. Once you beat it though, it will probably be shelved (and you should be able to plow through this game in a week or less).
Overall - I do cautiously recommend Blue Stinger. If you are a fan of Resident Evil you will more than likely enjoy this game. But if you aren't, you probably won't care much for Stinger, because it's on the same level. And if you are the type who wants a game you can play for a long time, this isn't your game. But if you want a game that takes some time to learn, and fight through the quirks, give Blue Stinger a run. You can do worse on Dreamcast.
Stranded by a bizarre meteor impact and surrounded by monstrous mutations, rescue agent Eliot Ballade must unravel the mysteries of Dinosaur Island or...More at eBay
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