Armorines: Project S.W.A.R.M. (1999 Video Game) User Reviews

Enjoyable for a while

[kerrim35 · 7/10 · 14 May 2006]

Armorines: Project SWARM is one of those games that you enjoy at first yet you unfortunately lose interest in soon after its purchase. I'm not saying that Armorines is a bad game, but if you play games such as Goldeneye and Turok 2 beforehand (That capture the shoot-'em-up essence excellently) you expect just a little bit more than a simple "Doom" clone.

Armorines collects all the best elements of a classic shoot-'em-up game - an alien invasion, high-tech weapons, awesomely powerful baddies and obscure levels - yet it simply doesn't have enough originality. All the levels feel like they were cut from the final edition of Turok 2 and pasted together to make another game (On an unrelated note, Acclaim created both Armorines AND Turok 2 - Could I be right?). The frame rate feels a little jerky at times as well, making you feel as if you're running through the game with 3 tonne shoes on.

Criticism aside, the game does contain some nice visuals and the aliens look surprisingly realistic as you pump seven shades of Hell into them (Well, it was 1999 at the time...). Multiplayer, as usual, offers a few laughs if you have some friends around. Stabbing your own teammate in the back after wasting millions of aliens is always going to be fun...

Overall, Armorines: Project SWARM is a fun game to play. That's it. If don't expect anything truly breathtaking, you'll have a good time.

A mediocre mix of Turok and Starship Troopers

[MrPaull0324 · 6/10 · 9 May 2024]

Being a big fan of Turok and Starship Troopers, I thought this game would be awesome, so I tried it as a kid. I can't say it was particularly fun or impressive though.

The plot is simple: humankind is at war with an alien race of giant, vicious insects who seek to conquer Earth. A group of power-armored super soldiers called the Armorines is tasked with infiltrating multiple alien nests and killing the queens within in order to stop the bugs from eradicating mankind.

You have the option of choosing between two playable characters: Tony Lewis and Myra Lane. Both characters have different weaponry and equipment built into their armored suits, though Myra was the better choice.

You'll battle your way across twenty different levels that tend to be fairly well designed, but also large, bland, and empty. Poor lighting in many areas makes navigation and combat difficult. Making matters worse, there's no map feature or any checklists for the nests you destroy, requiring a lot of backtracking.

Combat is flawed due to the loose aiming system, but the auto-aim setting can mitigate this. Your armory is limited to only five other weapons besides your standard one, but given the fact your basic weapon has unlimited ammo, you'll probably spend limited time using them anyway.

There's only a small variety of alien enemies you'll encounter, and their AI isn't very good, but their designs are legitimately creepy and well animated. There's a certain horror aspect coming from the bugs as they crawl across walls and ceilings or fly toward you in swarms, especially in darker areas.

The sound effects are pretty cool, from the futuristic pulse of your weapons to the ferocious screeches and roars of the bugs. You'll also hear horrified screams from human victims being carried off to their doom if you don't rescue them. The graphics and animations are good as well, both from the player character and the enemies.

However, the music tends to be suppressed and boring, doing little to contribute to the experience.

Finally, the enjoyable multiplayer mode made the game worth at least a rent.

But overall, this was a solidly average FPS that was easily overshadowed by the vastly superior Turok series, but still worth playing if you were bored.