As many will remember, the original Chrome was released back in 2003 to the general consensus that although it was an entertaining blast, it was both rough around the edges and distinctly uninspired. Fred Fun and Mike Mediocrity battled fiercely for dominance throughout the entire game, but you never really reached a conclusion about which one won the fight. Chrome: Specforce seems to willingly utilise that same formula.

Chrome: Specforce is set before the events of the original game, following the exploits of Bolt Logan, elite Specforce Military grunt. After an early mishap, he and his pal Pointer are stranded on the desolate planet of Estrella, which is under the rule of a power crazed terrorist faction that are planning impolite deaths for everyone else. Tsk, naughty terrorists.

So off you bundle around the vast planet of Estrella, allying yourself with friendly rebels and bashing the bad guys in the brains with your bullets. To aid your progress, you get a selection of special abilities. These include the ability to slow down time (how original! What on earth will they come up with next?), use invisibility, initiate a special shield and use a gigantic inflatable hippopotamus in a tutu as a decoy. Or am I confusing this with Erotica Zoo VII…?

Supposedly, the game engine and mechanics are superior in every way to that of the original Chrome. While that may technically be true, it is only just true. In general, the in-game graphics are quite bland and plain, even though they do use their graphical limitations excellently to create some truly compelling environments and striking scenery. There is a palpable atmosphere permeating the entire game, which gives a true sense of character to Estrella.

A nice touch is that you can use the various vehicles you find throughout your travels, such as giant stompy robots that stream rockets and nippy little speeder bikes ripped straight out of Star Wars. The downside is that you are only allowed to enter vehicles when it suits the purpose of a mission, so their usage always feels a little contrived. More freedom to make our own minds up would have been greatly welcomed.

The gameplay is pretty much standard FPS fare; just like its daddy, Specforce offers a reasonably satisfying experience but never pulls your enjoyment any higher. There are no occurrences of sheer gaming elation, or moments where your jaw drops and your brain squirms in pleasure over the digital magnificence. The missions are just so clichéd and unadventurous in outlook that you can pretty much second-guess what is going to happen next. So we manage to assault the enemy anti-aircraft gun and, my goodness, would you believe it!! The enemy have just started an air assault, so you're going to have to climb into that gun and fend them off. Whoopee do!

Various bugs clamber out of the cracks and wallop you in the face on regular occasions. There are several graphical clipping problems, with soldiers even occasionally managing to make their way into solid walls and staying there, shooting you invisibly. On one occasion a poor grunt was swallowed up by the ground and never resurfaced. Also, the collision detection on vehicles, most noticeably the speed bikes, is appalling, as you can smash into a rock or building that is actually over a metre away to the side.

You have an allotted amount of space to carry weapons, ammo and other items in your backpack, although sadly you are restricted to carrying two standard size guns at any time, owing to the placement of the allocation slots. The weapons are all reasonably satisfying to use, although after a bit of experimentation, I just found myself using the default rifle almost all of the time.

The problem is, when you do build yourself a perfectly supplied backpack full of meaty weapons, ammo, grenades and health packs, you will usually lose all of this when the mission changes. At one point I had an absolutely stonking supply of the best equipment and had managed to sneak out a giant mech, which I was driving. But the mission changed, leaving me in the same scenario, with same people, on the same map, but my entire backpack was replaced with rubbish default kit and my mech was whisked away into thin air. Twas heart-breaking. And stupid!!

I don't usually like to drop hints about the plot, or spoilers of any kind, but the end battle just has to be mentioned. The climax of the game is quite disappointing, as although the boss is one of the toughest I have ever taken on, he has less brainpower than a common garden pea. I eventually defeated him by simply taking advantage of his crass stupidity, shooting at him from a place in which he could clearly see me, but couldn't shoot at me. And wouldn't even come towards me, since he is bound to strict movement patterns between a few defined waypoints. Thus he died miserably without me taking a single ounce of damage.

That pretty much speaks for the entire AI throughout the game. They duck behind cover but always reappear in exactly the same spot as they disappeared, so you know exactly where they are going to pop up. There are four multiplayer modes included, so you can battle against some intelligent (well…possibly) enemies, and these include the traditional fare of: Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Team Domination and Capture the Flag. At the time of writing there are just five servers currently online, although I only found one other player besides myself and the server lag was abysmal.

Chrome: Specforce is uninspired and unoriginal, but not entirely without merit. Its straightforward shootery provides mild entertainment while it lasts and excellently the release price is a mere £20. Don't be afraid to give it a try, but don't expect anything special either.

Reviewed by Adam Shirley for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).