Developer: Sega
Type: Arcade game
Genre: Shooter
Released: 1999
Players: 2
Controls: Optical guns (2)
Description: Second greatest arcade game in
existence, quite on the heels of
Crisis Zone. While Crisis Zone is only a
single-player game, LA Machine Guns is best played with a
friend. You and your buddy stand on a
platform that houses the
sub and both of you take hold of one of the rather
large, almost
bulky (yet very
cool) light guns that are side-by-side. Now, these guns are not
ordinary arcade light guns. They're positional, which mean they stay put, but you can point the gun in whichever
direction you want (as long as it's forward)--they're best
utilized when you use both of your hands. The thing that makes them extraordinary is their
force feedback. These things kick like
rabid mules (20x per second), and if you get too
excited and grab the gun too firmly, you'll feel the
vibrations throughout your body. Not only that, but you can really feel the
explosions thanks to the subs under your feet. All of these
hardware features combined create a very involved and pleasurable experience.
About the game itself. You're a
Los Angeles cop who rides a hover bike with a Big Fucking (Machine) Gun. It's the year 2025, and a group of
android terrorists have taken over LA. Naturally, your job is to
destroy them using your cat-like reflexes with the help of that sw33t machine gun.
Unlimited ammo, no
reloading, just good ol' fashion ass-kickin'. Well, almost. Since you're in a
city (a rather large one at that), you're going to have to avoid firing on the
civilians that are running around. Negative points are rewarded to those who decide the civilians aren't
worthy. The
robots running around toss
missiles (which you can shoot down) and exchange fire with you (not often hitting you--unless you're
careless enough). They're not easy to take out since they have a couple layers of
armor...
head shots are needed to dispose of them quickly enough to avoid
retaliation. Pretty much all of the enemies are well-designed and even down right
cool, especially the
bosses (the variety of them is
excellent). Graphics are beautiful, considering how much the computer has to
render, including the awesome
3D explosions. If your local
arcade has this game, definitely try it out.
Sources:
http://www.gamers.com/game/40262