Game:

Wild Metal (1999)

Duration: 11:21

3,237 views

38

Also known as "Wild Metal Country", the Dreamcast port was published by Gremlin Interactive in Europe and Infogrames in the United States. The game was developed by the great DMA Design who has a history with games such as "Lemmings", "Body Harvest" and of course, "Grand Theft Auto"...these days, DMA Design still makes games, including fine works like Grand Theft Auto V...but you wouldn't exactly know this without a bit of digging, as DMA Design has been renamed/reformed/rebranded. DMA Design was renamed Rockstar North...and while many of DMA's games are liked/loved, this particular game...well, it's one of DMA's less liked games.

On one hand, the original PC game scored fair enough, the Dreamcast port was received less favorably. Generally speaking, Wild Metal is an okay game if you can get past the controls/camera issues (to properly see the enemies on the funky terrain) and some irritating AI...it doesn't look so bad (it really resembles a smoother, clearer, cleaned up looking N64 tank game)...but it doesn't look great. The music and sounds, while not terrific, do suffice. One thing to note about the sound though is that there really isn't any background music; some don't mind that, but make of it what you will. What that means is that much of your action, no matter how tedious or drawn out things get, will be to the sounds of helicopters or explosions or tank engines and such. Even so, provided you can get past the aforementioned things, the game itself is still pretty simple in premise. You collect cores for each level and return to the starting point.

You use 5 tanks...and deal with a bit over a dozen mechanical foes (honestly, that isn't all that much, so prepare for some moderate repetition from terrain and foes alike) and the game does not have much to aid you with effective enemy targeting; given the game physics, you can get decent at pegging where lobbed bombs will land, but if you have trouble getting the attacks down in different circumstances (height, hills, etc.), you may soon be tempted to avoid fighting altogether and only fight when you have to. The weapons are pretty standard fare too...so really, the game doesn't do anything revolutionary.

Honestly, I felt like other games like Body Harvest, Space Station Silicon Valley, and other DMA Design games were a lot better than this, so color me a bit disappointed. Some may find things to like about this game, but I suppose there is a reason this game came out to little fanfare. Every game can't be a hit! DMA is still doing great things and this may or may not have been a learning experience. This was our first video utilizing the powers of our Hanzo VGA box and Orei VGA to HDMI upscaler to fantastic results (downscaled from 1080p), but it's tricky for games that are naturally dark (Carrier, Evil Dead, etc.).

- ADDITION -

Like Us On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thegamingsanctuary/

Follow Us On Twitter: https://twitter.com/GS_Vyse_and_Bel

Visit Us At: http://www.gamingsanctuary.com