Phantom Crash Preview

By Gestalt Published 2 July, 2002

Mecha combat, oriental style

The Japanese seem to have a strange obsession with big stompy robots [Don't we all - Ed], taking in videogames, comic books, movies and any number of bizarre anime cartoon series, from Sunday morning kids' fare to the excellent Bubblegum Crisis. And while western mechs tend to be slow and clumsy, the oriental mecha is a fast moving and agile mechanised armour suit, while still having enough armaments at hand to level an entire city.

Witness Phantom Crash, developed in Japan by Genki and due for release in the west through Korea's Phantagram later in the year.

Rumble In The (Urban) Jungle

'Phantom Crash' Screenshot e316b

A game of cat and mouse? [You're fired - Pun Editor]

Phantom Crash is set in a derelict Tokyo a couple of decades from now, the entire city abandoned due to pollution and overheating and everyone moved, in true anime tradition, to the artificial island of Neo Tokyo.

But while the government was happy to leave the old city to collapse in its own time, a new sport called Rumbling is hurrying things along. Put simply, it involves dropping several heavily armed mechas into Old Tokyo and leaving them to blow each other (and their surroundings) to smithereens. The result is fast-paced and anarchic, with the vehicles charging around the streets of the Shinjuku district blazing away with heavy machineguns and pounding each other with rapid-firing missile launchers.

The first thing to catch your eye is the gorgeous graphics on offer, with nicely detailed urban arenas and a variety of curvaceous mechas. Missiles leave smoke trails across the sky, spent shell casings spray out of your weapons and explosions rip through the city. Your vehicle, known as a Scoobee, also sports an optical camouflage system, which is similar to the Predator's cloaking device. Although you can still see camouflaged enemies, they can only be spotted by watching for the slight distortion they cause to the backdrop as they run past, and the visual effect used in the game is impressive.

Scoobee Snacks

'Phantom Crash' Screenshot e311b

Lassie's evil twin moves in for the kill. Look, it's Japanese - just don't ask, ok?

Phantom Crash has more in common with a first person shooter than the likes of Mechwarrior, and the basic controls are apparently similar to those used by Halo. More complex options are available for experienced players though, which should allow you to carry out additional moves.

Players can also customise their Scoobees, picking from a wide range of basic designs and body parts with varying numbers of legs and wheels, and then adding your own optional extras. As your rank in the Rumbling community rises, sponsors can be attracted to help fund the purchase of new parts for your vehicle, while defeating special boss mechas within the game brings you rarer components. And, on a purely cosmetic level, you can give your Scoobee a custom respray or add different logos and camouflage colour schemes.

Phantom Crash has already been released in its native Japan, and made it into the all-formats console top 30 - perhaps a reflection on improving sales of Microsoft's black box in the Far East since its recent price cut. From the information and fast moving in-game footage we've seen so far it looks like western gamers should be in for a treat when it reaches our shores, hopefully some time in October. With frantic deathmatch style gameplay, glorious graphics and the lure of a four player splitscreen mode for those essential post-pub gaming sessions, it's shaping up to be a fun addition to the Xbox's ever-growing portfolio.

Picture of Gestalt.

About Gestalt

Read more articles from Gestalt by visiting the Gestalt archive page.

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Comments (33) Latest comment 10 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • jaa #1 10 years ago

    With the incredible number of mech warrior games coming to Xbox in the next few months, EG should do a feature like it did with the football and F1 games.

  • Gestalt #2 10 years ago

    Big Stompy Robot Week? I like it...

  • binky #3 10 years ago

    LOL.

    altogether now.... "WE WANT VIRTUA ON.....WE WANT VIRTUA ON!!"

  • Killerbee #4 10 years ago

    Shame this isn't out on PC. It'd be great to see some mods that pitch an AT-ST against ED-209... Just as long as there are no stairs or fallen trees in the way. :-)

  • Gestalt #5 10 years ago

    "Shame this isn't out on PC"

    A PC version is being planned as well.

  • skalmanxl #6 10 years ago

    With the incredible number of mech warrior games coming to Xbox in the next few months, EG should do a feature like it did with the football and F1 games.

    I second that, mechs are culture!

  • jaa #7 10 years ago

    No, really... I think eventually I might be somewhat interested in the possibility of getting to play one of these games (and I'm positive about it). But which one?

    Not Tekki (my apartment isn't big enough for the controller; I had a hard enough time recently squeezing the Xbox in :)). But should it be this one? GunMetal? (Weak reviews so far) Robotech? Mech Assault? Or one of the three or four I don't remember the name right now? Decisions, decisions...

  • skalmanxl #8 10 years ago

    There is always Murakumo (or whatever it's called) which looks like a nice Xbox equal to ZOE (cool game).

  • Killerbee #9 10 years ago

    A PC version is being planned as well.

    That's nice to hear! PC = platform of choice.

    So, any news on that long-awaited PC version of Halo yet? *joke* :-)


  • skalmanxl #10 10 years ago

    Believe me, you're better off without it.

  • skalmanxl #11 10 years ago

    Well that goes without saying.

  • #12 10 years ago

    of all the xbox mech games, i'd say i'm most interested in Mechassault, simply for the Xbox Live compatability. And Murakumo, as said before, does look like a cool ZOE equal... although it'll likely be very different from Konami's game.

  • Gestalt #13 10 years ago

    Not a very topical thread to ask about that on. :)

  • Concrete #14 10 years ago

    Get the latest detonators from nvidia.com - that should sort your problems out. Oh and check that your bios is booting from AGP not PCI because that can sometimes cause problems with Twinview that comes shiped with Geforce 4s.

  • Koedellan #15 10 years ago

    Big Stompy Robot week? Fantastic. Much, much better than a sports themed week :)

  • Koedellan #16 10 years ago

    Well, nice to know I'm at least fitting in with the community in that respect. :)

    With my flagrant Xbox owning and non-Englishness, I was feeling out of place :)

  • lordofdeadside #17 10 years ago

    why is there a cat talking to the invisible mech? check it out. cats talking to huge kick ass robots, thats convinced me to buy it!!!

  • lordofdeadside #18 10 years ago

    FIRE says the dog. ok then.

  • Super Stu #19 10 years ago

    This forum tends to get a lot of one-liner prick sissy englishmen comments

    Thank god I'm a Welshman then, living in Scotland to boot.

  • Nemesis #20 10 years ago

    More Sheep?

    (now don't go upsetting the natives Nem)

    Mech!!! Good stuff! The more the merrier, can't wait to see what MS do with Mech Assault. It may be the reason for getting the 'box online.....

  • Gestalt #21 10 years ago

    "Ya know, instead of making some snide comment, you could've just answered my questions"

    Well I would've done, but as anyone who knows me will tell you I'm hardware-phobic. :) The last time I tried to build a new system the whole thing went tits up and I had to pay my local computer store to put it back together for me in a new case. Hardware and me just don't mix.

  • Super Stu #22 10 years ago

    More Sheep?

    Hundreds of the buggers up here, lining the roads. Makes for interesting driving.

  • Startled Pancake #23 10 years ago

    Im getting sick of all this unrealistic mechwarrior and fantasy genre rubbish. Why cant someone make a game where you smash turds up with sticks?

    At least it would have nice short manual and be a game everyone can relate too. When was the last time you saw a 15 metre high walking tank down on the council estate?

  • Super Stu #24 10 years ago

    Never been to Merthyr Tydfil, have you?

  • skalmanxl #25 10 years ago

    At least it would have nice short manual and be a game everyone can relate too. When was the last time you saw a 15 metre high walking tank down on the council estate?

    Well, Sega has made a "walk the doggie-sim" where you get to...errr, walk your dog. And there's always Bistro Cupid.

  • Startled Pancake #26 10 years ago

    What kind of lunatic asks for hardware support here? Go to www.arstechnica.com you silly lad, horses for courses fella.

  • ssuellid #27 10 years ago

    "Never been to Merthyr Tydfil, have you?"

    I used to live in the next valley, the Cynon. Merthyr Tydfil claims to fame were that it supposedly has the largest council estate in Europe and Rolf Harris's grandad or dad were supposed to be from Merthyr.

    Last time I went there the police were going around in at least groups of four. Just a tad rough.


  • Super Stu #28 10 years ago

    Indeed. My other half's dad used to work for BT, repairing the phone boxes on the Gernos (sp?) Estate. I don't know why he bothered, given how often he had to do it :)

  • jaa #29 10 years ago

    I feel slightly ashamed (OK, I feel a lot of shame) to post this link but it's good for a laugh and covers seven Xbox Mech games, so...

    (I particularly like "you're not all mindless drones like the competitions fans";)

  • Startled Pancake #30 10 years ago

    I thought the largest council estate in Europe was Dagenham? Truly god awful place, turd smashing is too good for ém.

  • ssuellid #31 10 years ago

    "I thought the largest council estate in Europe was Dagenham? "

    There are a lot of "Europes biggest council estates" including another one just outside Portsmouth and another in Abbey Wood. Also there are supposed to be a lot in what was East Germany.

    I also used to live on what was supposed to be "the largest estate of single mothers" in the world which is in St Mellons, Cardiff. Its the place they always do the news reports from when they discuss housing benefit.

  • Super Stu #32 10 years ago

    Plenty of nice welsh bints to be found in St Melons.

  • Gestalt #33 10 years ago

    Oh dear...

  • Super Stu #34 10 years ago

    Hey, I was on-topic... St Melons is pretty similar to how I would imagine a derelict Tokyo.