ПРЕССА о ВАНГЕРАХ: Power Play (german magazine) Spaetestens seit Tetris wissen wir, dass russische Programmierer immer fuer eine Ueberraschung gut sind. PC Games Earlier this year, some of my colleagues were launching literary confetti bombs after getting a glimpse of Vangers:"It's a new kind of game, indescribable, revolutionary." Let me state right off that Vangers is a very attractive but hardly remarkable combination of the racing-sim and action/adventure genres - a creative platform game. What sets it apart from the rest isn't originality so much as the thorough implementation of a futuristic storyline bristling with bizarre objects and nomenclature. That aside, I enjoyed Vangers greatly. It's a nice change of pace from the standard C&C clone or first-person shooter. Cleverly designed, filled with puzzles, and implemented with painstaking detail, it's a good play. Summary: Oddly engaging action/racing mix. Game Over A few final words about this one. A thing that is quite intriguing about the developer: they are from Russia. It is not surprising when an existing, known developer spews out a great game (Origin, Activision, Bullfrog, etc.); it is not surprising when an existing, good developer spews out complete insane garbage (Sim* [i.e. anything past SimCity 2000, such as Copter, Golf, Streets of, etc]), but it IS surprising, in a good and warm way, when a company that not many people heard of brings a great game to the market (Imperium Galactica, or right here, Vangers ;)). I absolutely admit that many reviewers will completely diss this game, given that it's not your average Mortal Kombat game... but I will stand by my review, as I liked it a lot. IT Reviews (independent reviews by professional journalists) According to the blurb that comes with this game, "By the end of the 20th century, people finally united scientific and esoteric knowledge, which had long been separate and antagonistic. It was the achievement of some Spirits who got in a transcendental contact with some powers resembling Infinite Mind". Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat? This is obviously not going to be a 'jump in and play' type game. This requires some thought. (Several days later) Wow. Vangers is a game that truly defies classification. But I'll try anyway. It's something of a cross between a strategy game like Total Annihilation, a driving game like Micro Machines and a trading/adventure game like Wing Commander Privateer. All rolled into one. Tony Hart? Absolute genius. Not only did he always have a glamorous female 'assistant' on his Take Hart TV programme, but he was also a far better artist than Mr Know-what-it-is-yet? And he was a master of plasticene. The connection between Tony Hart and Vangers is... tenuous, but the game's developers also seem to have a firm grasp of the plasticene art, which makes for some very weird and unique scenery elements within the game. That, along with the strange sound effects and music, contributes to the atmosphere this fascinating game. Verdict: The Russian developers of Vangers have created a totally unique game. There really is nothing like it. Anybody with an attention span of less than a week would be advised to walk away, but if you persevere, Vangers will provide a gaming experience that's unlike any other. Next Generation If there was ever a game that was a challenge to describe, it would be Vangers. The developers must have had a field-day with the game's surrounding story line, scripting something so complex that its impossible to condense into a few words - so, we won't try. Vangers is a unique auto-combat game, but it's text-intensive back story sometimes suffocates the fun. AVault Vangers is just so weird in every respect that I feel you need to be strange yourself to appreciate it fully. I guess I'm just not quite strange enough. CD Mag Weird, weird, weird. And unfortunately infuriating. Vangers is too much work and aspirin. E3 News The bottom line here is that Vangers is completely unlike anything you've ever seen before, and in an industry driven by repetition, that alone may be worth the ticket price. Electric Games ...and the award for the most surreal game of the year goes to... Vangers: One for the Road! Believe me, it wasn't even a contest, and you have to go a long way to beat "Of Light and Darkness". Vangers is an interesting game. Interesting, and much different than anything else you're likely to see. I respect that, it takes a lot of guts to try something as offbeat and unusual as this game. The environment and landscape of Vangers is extremely surreal and beautiful. The graphics have a fluid, claymation look to them. It's much different than anything else I've seen, and looks fantastic without even requiring the use any hardware acceleration. The learning curve in Vangers is higher than most. You can play for quite a few hours and still not quite understand the big picture. I'm still not sure I understand it all. Game Revolution Where do I begin!? This game is really weird. This is not a good thing. Reviewing this game has been a chore. Vangers really, really bogs you down in stupid, irrelevant details that make you lose your interest. What is the overall verdict on this game? Don't buy it! Stay away! Go out and do something simple, like study how to translate Summerian hieroglyphics. Go out and find a girlfriend or boyfriend. Adopt an animal. Better yet, go and play Death Race 2000 with your '74 Pontiac. Game Center Here's one of the strangest little products I've seen in many years. [...] After playing it for a couple of weeks, I can safely say that it's one of the more original games I've ever played -- one of those rare games that does not remind me of any other game that's ever crossed my hard drive. In look, feel, and mechanics, it's unique. Unfortunately, as it stands, learning to play was about as much fun as a root canal. Every tiny detail was made more difficult than it had to be. I can see in Vangers the elements of an amusing game -- but they seem to have been lost in the translation. GamerzEdge Bump 'N' Jump meets The Neverhood. That's the best way to describe Vangers… Vangers is a different type of game and tough to recommend or even rate. You may like it, you may hate it, but the bottom line is it's a fun game, and in the end, that's what counts. Games Domain The game uses a voxel engine and generates some terrific deformable terrain. In fact, cruising through one of Vangers' worlds can be quite a treat at first. Each patch of land is unique and you'll be hard pressed to find any noticeable "tiling". The landscape is richly designed and everything is infused with an organic appearance that brings even the conventionally inanimate to life. This strange, surreal atmosphere has been carefully crafted and serves its purpose well. I commend the developers for a good effort and some innovative ideas… GamesMania THE VERDICT: Vangers is either a mysteriously addictive game original game that you will get hooked on like heroin, or inaccessible, frustrating, and boring. Your call. Awesome 3D terrain, and certainly something different. GameSpot Confusing. Off-putting. Indecipherable. Mystifying. Player Review: Vangers is probably one of those "sleeper hits." Most websites I have seen who reviewed it have slammed it, but I genuinely enjoy it. It is smart, entertaining, and downright weird. I thoroughly enjoy Vangers, but I would only recommend it to someone who is willing to dig real deep to learn the way everything in its worlds runs. CGW The game's designers have managed to create the most technically realistic environment ever seen in a game like this. The detailed environment "remembers" what you do to it: bridges collapse under you and stay collapsed; mounds of dirt wear the scars of your tire treads; everything you see on the screen is a fully functional element with which you can interact, rather than just graphics put there to catch your eye. Don't get me wrong: I have my cult film (and game) favorites like anyone else. Just be warned that it is mainly such cultists who will enjoy Vangers, and the shame is that the game's wonderfully rich environment shows you how much more it really could have been. Happy Puppy The Good Press: I can exchange this game at the St. Marks video game shop for about $7 store credit. The Bad Press: Another 20 or so hours of my life sadly, inexplicably lost. Stay in a galaxy far, far away from Vangers. Jumbo!'s Games 2.0 There's much to like about this game. Loving it is another matter entirely. This may be due to the fact that this game is a composite of several and usually mutually exclusive genres. It requires too much of an effort to become comfortable with the game. That effort may be too much to ask of many players. But once your there, you can't help but get sucked in. For those of your looking for an entirely new experience and the persistence to see it through, then by all means, go for it. Cheat Elite Killer PC Game Reviews This unusual blending of strategy and action works! You splash, turn, roll, jump and even submerge your mean machine in a wild and largely unstructured exploration through alien realms, all the while working to gain advantage over the confrontations each world throws at you. There is a rhythm between these two aspects of the game that can catch you up and keep you playing long into the night - always the earmark of a good game. Although Vangers may remind you some of other games you have played, it was created by a group in Russia and is in most respects, very different from what your used to. The environments are immersive, the music is original, the storyline as rich and creative a fiction as I've seen on any game and the replayability is enhanced by the wide open feel to the worlds you explore - I already have a warm spot in my heart for this game and I hope it sees some real success on the shelf. OGR ...the biggest problem with this game - the excessive use of alien words that don't mean anything. Basically it comes down to the fact that Vangers is superficially different from anything else out there on the shelves, but when it comes down to the crunch, it's still a lot of work for an arcade driving game crossed with a "Go-there, fetch-that" Role Playing Game. It's nice to see designers, especially from outside North America, try and bring something original to the table... Car Wars crossed with Bump n' Jump crossed with a really bad acid trip. PC Gameworld There's a decent game buried here somewhere, but only a few will want to find it. WarGamer Unlike another science fiction game I recently reviewed, Vangers contains an element I've come to believe is essential: a well-developed story fully integrated into the game. Imagine Games Network There isn't just one way to describe this off-the-wall adventure game. Prepare to be confused. There's a deep storyline, but the way its presented could make even Stanley Kubrick stratch his head. ZDNet Complife It would be hard to pick a more challenging game to go out describing than Vangers. Developed by K-D Lab in Russia and distributed by Interactive Magic, Vangers is perhaps the oddest game released this decade. At its simplest level, it's a top-down-view car racing and combat game. But that's sort of like saying Stranger in a Strange Land is a coming-of-age story. The game goes much deeper than driving and fighting. It also has adventure and role-playing elements, which come in as you set off on various quests to build your character's capabilities. And with its organic voxel environment and deformable landscape, it even has elements of an artificial-life simulation. The Vangers world is one of the most amazing -- and one of the strangest -- ever created for a computer game. PC Format Vangers has all the makings of a popular classic. The Games Machine (Italy) Vangers is a really complex game which gives the player an incredible freedom... one of the most original concepts ever. PC eXtreme (Denmark) Simply superb! GamePen ...very cool. One of the those games you love or hate. ..takes the overhead-racing game type to an extreme with a very creative design and a game world that challenges the most vivid imagination. ...Vangers may offer enough diversity to re-energize your gaming batteries.     вернуться