I have been a fan of Heavy Metal, the adult comic magazine, for almost as long as I can remember. Continually including work by great artists such as Jean Giraud (Moebius), Milo Minara (author of the classic Druuna series) and Dan O'Bannon, author/artist of the seminal Soft Landing (as featured in the original Heavy Metal movie), Heavy Metal was a great source of inspiration and imagination. Being a Sci-Fi fan also helped :) So it was with some excitement coI anticipated the arrival of Heavy Metal FAKK2, deliberately avoiding all extraneous mention of both the game and the movie. With the game now on the shelves, let's have a closer look.

The object of Heavy Metal FAKK2 is to save your home world Eden from destruction by an unknown assailant (you find out who later in the game) who has managed to bypass the F.A.K.K. 2 device protecting your world. You play Julie, the star of the recent Heavy Metal 2000 movie, based on a long running graphic novel series whose main character is based on adult actress Julie Strain. The computer game continues the story begun in the novel and continued in Heavy Metal 2000, although you need not have seen the movie before playing the game as you are given ample information during your playing through the medium of cut scenes, which also help to drive the story forward.

You start at Julie's home, and after an initial period of wandering around the area and figuring out the basic movement controls (along with a couple of cut scene's for good measure and a couple of out of the way places for you to get to) you move off into the training area where the game introduces you to each of the weapon categories and how to use them, as well as the combination moves, and then introduces you to the various additional movements available to you.

Ritual have taken the time to rewrite some of the character movement code, with a skeletal animation system in place, and support for a couple of custom movement types. Julie can dangle from pipes and ledges or lift up both legs (when hanging from a pipe) and move along at a fairly brisk clip, as well as fitting through narrow gaps. She can also flatten herself against walls allowing you to work your way along very narrow ledges. Also included is the ability to climb up and down ropes and some vertical wall surfaces, allowing for a huge amount of freedom in level design and interaction. Control is through a third person control system, with the mouse controlling the camera as well as turning your avatar, and the normal FPS keys controlling movement. This leads to a very short period of learning how to control Julie, as except for the viewpoint, control is that same as most other FPS. if you're unhappy with a third person view, you can adjust the camera distance and camera height to simulate a first person view, but you rapidly find it a hindrance in this game, as it was in Heretic 2.

The thing that sets Heavy Metal apart from most of FPS games currently available is the combining of dual weapons available to you. Almost every weapon can be used in either hand, except for the swords (right hand only) and shields (left hand only) and dual-handed weapons. You can combine weapons to your hearts content, and which combination you currently have crossed with the attack decisions you make will lead to some pretty nifty moves. You can combine moves as well, similar to games like Tekken to give more powerful attacks, and you can also combine weapon and shield moves for some interesting results. Some of the heavier weapons can't be combined, though when this is the case it's always fairly obvious and logical as to why, such as with the two-handed axe. If you find yourself in a situation where you can't quite see what you need to, there's also an option that allows you to rotate the camera around your character to see more of the surrounding area.

The close attacks with weapons such as the sword do take a little while to get used to, and the combination moves can be a little tricky, but once you've mastered them you'll have no problems at all, and may even find yourself favouring the swords or axes over distance weapons - although twin Uzi's is a huge amount of fun. You will also find as you progress that some weapons work better than others, and some combinations work better than others, depending on your adversary. That said, the giant axe works on just about anything, and is a huge amount of fun to use, especially against some of the larger opponents. A lucky combination move at just the right time can helpfully remove body parts. The Fire Sword also has a side effect, assuming you have sufficient water supplies, of being able to set your opponents on fire. Very handy if you're low on health as you can set them alight and then retreat to a safe distance.

The designers have also taken the time to build a learning curve into the game, over and above the required training level. The initial area you can explore contains an environment very similar to that which makes up most of the game, allowing you to play around in a relatively safe area before moving on to bigger and better things. The first boss monster you come across - which seems pretty difficult to kill - turns up later in the game as a normal enemy, although by this stage you are much better equipped and can dispatch this enemy with ease. A number of monsters make their first appearance as end-of-level challenges, and the way you work your way up to defeating them adds a nice touch.

The level design is simply amazing. An enormous amount of time and effort has been spent ensuring that the levels are many and varied, whilst conforming to the overall design of the game. The town levels have been populated with incidental characters as well as characters that drive the story forwards, and in some instances, small side quests can be undertaken to gain an extra power up or health vial. Levels range from the town where you start to vast canyons (showing off the capability of the Quake 3 engine to display wide open spaces, even though in reality they're still just big rooms with roofs on them) to mist-shrouded swamps where one misstep can lead to death and enemies appear out of the fog. the inclusion of cut-scenes in the game engine adds a lot to the atmosphere, as does the inclusion of a lot of unnecessary character interaction. Whilst not on a par with Deus Ex in terms of incidental dialogue, most characters have a word or two to say to you if you approach them.

Power ups come in many forms, but perhaps the most interesting use of a power up is water. Julie's character utilises not only health, but a special substance known as Eden Water. Standing in running water will build up your water supplies to a certain extent, and water vials will add more. Eden Water is used to supplement the attacks of various weapons, and if you gather enough water, you will run faster, and jump higher and further. The first time you become aware of the fire sword is an interesting case in point. You can choose not to pursue this sub quest and you won't be penalised later in the game, but in itself it is fun just trying to solve the puzzles necessary. You first find out about a hidden sword through incidental chatter with NPC's. A little exploring will show up a puzzle that needs to be solved. Portions of he environment (levers and the like) that can be interacted with have a tendency to glow, drawing your attention to them. Operation is simple - walk up to the item and 'use' it. The associated actions are automatic.

After figuring out how to get up on to a high ledge, you find the Fire Sword - but it's a little too far to jump (I know, I tried for hours) unless you have almost full water supplies - allowing higher and further jumping. Once powered up in this manner, getting to the hidden sword is a doddle. On another occasion, you have to climb your way up into a building and knock some pipes off to destroy a number of monsters. This one is interesting as while the pipe sequence is automatic, there is still an element of timing involved to make sure the pipes fall at the right time. That said, if you're feeling plucky, why bother with the pipes? Just take on the monsters in hand-to-hand combat.

The game as a whole is fairly linear, with very little variation on the path you take or the story you follow. You are guided through the story stage by stage, each section detailing a little more not only the story you are playing, but the history as well, along with allusions to possible endings (though there is only one). It is still exciting throughout the game when you find the correct path to follow, even though you are encouraged in one direction constantly. There is no multiplayer at all out of the box, making Heavy Metal almost a defiantly single player game, although both a multiplayer CTF patch and a multiplayer death match patch are in the works. On the whole, Heavy Metal FAKK2 is a thoroughly enjoyable single player romp.