Aliens in the White House?
 The storyline of Flashback, along with the numerous cinema sequences, really make the game. Aliens from another planet come to earth and disguise theselves in a fiendish plot to take over the universe. Only you can stop them. There is one problem though, the aliens caught you and erased your memory. They sort of do it 'MIB' style, except they use a giant contraption instead of a pen. At first the story line doesn't seem like it can go anywhere, you sitting around without your memory and all, but quite soon things pick up. It seems as though you were one step ahead of the aliens, as you have recorded a message for yourself to go see your friend Ian since he can restore your memory, because they can do things like this in the future. Once you have your memory your journey begins, and it eventually leads you to other worlds and planets. It seems as though your character is supposed to be a futuristic James Bond. Whats really odd though is that in the future, people dress like Arnie from the movie 'Christine.' The tight blue jeans, the sneakers, the colorful pleather jackets... its no wonder there isn't a hot girl in the game. I don't think this James Bond could score with a college freshman.
| | Flashback | Graphics: 7
The graphics in this game were quite stunning at the time of its release. Unfortunately, such sharpe and colorful background images probably attribute to the less than detailed characters, who stand only a few inches tall. The movement of your character is quite fluid though, and despite its 2D side-scrolling format, controlling your character is indepth enough to not make you think 'Mario Bros.' A major drawback is that the game doesn't actually scroll. Say you walk off the right side of the screen. Everything goes black for a brief moment, the background changes to the next screen on the right and you find yourself magically appearing on the left side of the screen. This can get annoying because there could be an enemy waiting for you just to the right of your screen and you won't know until you are shot. |
Playability: 5
This game can almost be qualified as a puzzle game. Mainly you are trying to figure out what your next plan of action will be to overcome a situation that has arisen. When an action sequence arrives in the game, it becomes slightly frusterating as it takes a good second for your character to fire once the button is pressed. First he takes the gun out of his jacket, caaaarefully uses both hands, aaaaims nice and easy, and then sloooowly pulls the trigger to minimize the kick-back...its like the dude is a model NRA member or something. He wouldn't last 2 seconds in a Jackie Chan flick. |
Fun Factor: 6.5
This game is very very long. By the time you finish it, its been so long since you have played the beginning sections that when you go back to play it again it almost seems new. The story line keeps you interested as you go along too, and each task that you need to achieve directly relates to the story line as there are definite reasons to your actions. In other words, this is not just a mindless shoot-em up game. The difficulty settings in this game help its replay value, as the game is incredibly challenging on the hardest setting. |
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