Hoverforce. (computer game) (evaluation)
by Jonathan Bell

Lord Darkenill, the slime who controls the streets of Meta-City, is making another run, selling Aftershock, a hideous bioserum. But this time the mayor is determined to terminate the flow of drugs and reclaim his city. He's commissioned you to pilot technology's perfect crime prevention weapon--the HoverKill 1000.

In this sleek craft, you'll sweep through the city at breakneck speed and realize why Accolade calls Hover-Force the fastest game you'll ever play. It'll have you zipping around corners and making 180-degree turns, and you perform all these brilliant maneuvers with a mouse. Mastering wrist gymnastics may seem impossible at first, but soon you'll wonder why games ever used keyboards.

The HoverKill comes with several weapons, shields, and various detection devices that keep you informed of what your drug-running opponents are up to. But cleaning the streets of MetaCity is no easy task, even with the help of topnotch gadgetry. Four mutant criminals, or Alterants, control different sections of the city. You take them on one by one, interfering with their drug runs whenever possible.

These masterminds have help; henchmen lurk in the shadows ready to attack in what scientists call neosteroidal rage, a result of the Aftershock that turned them into mindless automatons. Fighting these street thugs makes up most of the action in HoverForce.

At night the Alterants move on to the next drop. Waste no time going after them, or it's back to face your boss, gruff Sheriff Stone, empty-handled. Watching the drug runner's large vessel go up in smoke only once is not enough. As Alterants, your foes have taken enough Aftershock to survive three lethal assaults. If you manage to beat them three times, though, you simply move on to the next quadrant of the city until finally you meet Lord Darkenill himself.

The designers graced HoverForce with clean, swift graphics, and fair, but serviceable sound effects. Fast-paced, full of bad guys, and insidiously playable, HoverForce deserves a place on the hard drives of action fans everywhere. You need only take the controls of the HoverKill, and you'll be hooked. Hunting down Alternats is a hard habit to break.