Fade to Black
PlayStation * Electronic Arts

Review by Jonathan Ratcliffe
6.5

I had heard several good things about Fade to Black, but after playing it for myself I can tell you that I don't think it's a very good game at all.

You control Conrad, the character in Flashback, a game I rather enjoyed. Fade to Black is the game's sequel, but the designers have taken the game to a 3-D design, rather than sticking with the retroscope graphics, which I grew fond of in Flashback. Apparently, Conrad has remained in a state of sleep in a sealed pod for several years. Drifting through space into a sector that is controlled by an evil alien race, he is awaken by the Morphs, and thrown in a prison cell. From this point, the goal is to destroy the Morph empire.

The play mechanics of Fade to Black are somewhat similar to Resident Evil. The execution is great; the story is excellent, and the video preceding the game play successfully presents it in a way that gets you very interested in getting to the actual game. Up to this point, the game is pure graphic splendor, but when you get to the actual game play, you'll notice a huge drop in quality. Most importantly, the play control is very unresponsive, and the scrolling lacks the number of animation frames necessary to make Fade to Black playable. In addition, all of the surfaces lack detail. You'll find your character exploring in "smaller" rooms and hallways, and being in small rooms like this, you're often near walls. The result, of course, is major pixelization, and this causes Fade to Black's graphics to be poor most of the time.

During the game, you explore, firing your handgun at creatures and gadgets that you can hardly aim at, due to the lackluster play control. You may gain new weapons and find machines that refill your life meter along the way, and you'll have several puzzles presented to you. It's difficult to live long enough to figure out what to do and where to go. I'm not sure if this difficulty is due to the play control, or the fact that your character is too weak. Perhaps it's both, but I can guarantee that you'll go through the first level several times, only to find out that your frustration is increasing. If you can manage to reach the further levels of the game, you'll find that they're somewhat intense. Fortunately, you can save at any time, and you're given passwords, which can be seen by pausing the game. If only new passwords were given more often. Simply put, it's much too easy to die.

I found Fade to Black mostly a waste of time. The concept is initially good, and the game is full of suspense, but the play control makes it near impossible to tolerate, much less get very far into the game. Steer clear of this one.


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