There are many inspirations for FPS games. Shooting zombies or aliens, and winning World War II are some of the most common. But mutant killing, assassination and modern combat still hold sway the hearts of many-a-gamer. Policing FPS, championed by the S.W.A.T. series amongst others, seem to take a back seat in comparison to the more popular themes. Policing is the premise of Urban Chaos: Riot Response. Although it bears little resemblance to the tactical non-lethal approach of most police games.
Rocksteady Response
Development studio Rocksteady has become much more famous in recent years. Urban Chaos: Riot Response was the studio’s debut title back in 2006, and is in fact the only title the studio has ever developed without the DC Comics license attached. It was 2009’s Batman: Arkham Asylum that brought the studio fame. But Urban Chaos: Riot Response isn’t without its fans.
It was due to the reception to Urban Chaos: Riot Response that publisher Eidos approached Rocksteady to develop a title with the Batman license after acquiring the rights in 2007. The game may have been forgotten by many, but it ultimately lead to a title that changed video games forever.
Running Riot
The plot of Urban Chaos: Riot Response is nothing to write home about. Gangs have taken of the city and you play as the tough, no-nonsense cop determined to stop them. You’re Nick Mason, a member of the newly formed “T-Zero” riot control squad. And you’re tasked with taking out the gang members with to protect the city, capture gang leaders and rescue injured civilians throughout the game. And you’re not looking at a non-violent tactical approach here.
Showcasing Urban Chaos: Riot Response‘s in a microcosm is a level that takes place in a subway, at first on a train and secondly at the crash site of the aforementioned train. Your first priority is to protect various innocents through killing every criminal that comes your way. Armed with a mini-gun, no less.
The game does feature some nice set-pieces, namely the shooting of enemies on a train running parallel to the players whilst taking out boarding foes. This keeps the action interesting despite it’s reasonably aggressive difficultly.
Urban Chaos: Riot Response is Competent in its Unoriginality
The game never really seems to attempt any revolutionary changes to the genre, but has some nice ideas. The most prominent of these was the logging of headshots etc. with the goal of getting 20 for some sort of bonus. Of course this has been replicated many times since, most notably in Bulletstorm and The Club. However, back in 2006 it was fairly unique.
Graphically Urban Chaos: Riot Response is on par with what we’ve come to expect from the PlayStation 2. There are a lot of enemies and action on-screen without slow-down, and the graphics are clear enough to allow the player to have a good idea what was going on. It may be simplistic by today’s standards, but was commendable in its day.
The game wasn’t a transformation of the FPS genre in any respects. But then, it was never intended to be. Arriving at the dawn of the Xbox 360 era of single-player FPS games, Rocksteady delivered exactly what it was asked: a fun and respectable game. Revisit Urban Chaos: Riot Response with that expectation and you won’t be disappointed.
Have you played Rocksteady’s debut title? How do you feel about its high-octane police warfare gameplay? Let us know in the comments below!
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