" Slip it under your trenchcoat, sneak into the store, and see if you can get away with leaving it on their shelf. Ten bucks says they make you take it back home with you. "

      Title: Endgame by Empire Interactive

      Format: PS2 Light Gun Game

      Reviewing Monkey: Chimpan-A

      The Hype: "Immersive Light Gun action loaded with special effects." This is the rallying cry of the Endgame box. Supporting the Guncon & Guncon 2, this rail shooter thinks it deserves a place in your collection. Should you give it one? Read on…

      What This Monkey Thought...

      Graphics: Lordy but this game is ugly, at least by today's standards. Everybody looks like they've been made out of plastic, like a bad wax museum or something. The environments are dull and uninteresting, as you ride by them on your shooter rail. Everything has a very early 90's CG feel to it. I actually have more respect for the graphics of the mini-game, Mighty Joe Jupiter (a little game within the game), which actually look like somebody was trying to make decent graphics. The main graphics just look…well, they look like a bad video game. 1 out of 5

      Playability: Essentially this game is Time Crises. Shoot bad guys, duck away from shots and reload, etc, etc. The game's mechanics are such a rip off, you'll be looking for "Namco" on the box. The only changes are in the minor details that the story is different. Here you play… umm… some chick. She's got to run from bad guys…because. And she has a gun! Did I mention the gun? In case you couldn't tell the plot, motives, and drives for this game are both utterly forgettable and completely unimportant. All you need to know for playing this game is how to pull a trigger in the general direction of a bad guy. The actual playing of the game is fine, so long as you have a light gun. If you don't have something to shoot with, then you have absolutely no excuse for owning this game. This game is, approximately, 3,000% less fun without a big gun in your hand. The game is actually four times as fun when you have a real gun in your hand, and just take pot shots at the DVD… 2.5 out of 5

      Multiplayer and Replayability: First you have to play it on your own. That way you'll know which parts you can use to trick your friends into playing the "Two Gun" mode. Note that this is not necessarily a two player game; just that you can use two guns. Beating the game multiple times unlocks different gun types, from shotguns to machine guns. The main challenge is keeping yourself interested enough in the game to play through it the multiple times it takes to beat everything. The more likely outcome is that you'll play it through (it takes all of two hours) once or twice, and then forget you bought it. 2 out of 5

      The Verdict:

This is an ugly, boring, Time Crisis knockoff. If you're looking for a gun game and you already have Time Crisis, spend the money on Time Crisis 2. It will be vastly more satisfying for you.

      The Good: You shoot stuff, plenty of unlockables

      The Bad: Games haven't looked this bad in ten years. Utterly boring

      The Overall Ugly: That pretty much says it. This game is, overall, ugly.

      What it's Worth: Slip it under your trenchcoat, sneak into the store, and see if you can get away with leaving it on their shelf. Ten bucks says they make you take it back home with you.