Review: Codename: Gatling 2003 v1.0

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Jesco

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[ Transcript of review for Codename: Gatling 2003 v1.0 | Posted by Shuri on 2003-04-25 | Score: 8.2 ]
This is a weapons mutator that alters nearly all of the weapons in the game - only the super weapons, shield-gun and lightning gun are left untouched. The weapons all remain the same visually, with no new skins. This lowers the enjoyment, as it doesn't feel different enough to a normal game - that is, until the fights start.

All the new weapons are just modifications of the base weapon - nothing acts too surprisingly, and yet it feels better than the default weapons do. I think it benefits the mutator to not stray too far from the weapons we all know and love - after all, the weapons we have are in there for a reason. All weapons are given the same priority (and so spawn in the same place) as the weapon they were based on, with the exception of the shock rifle assault rifle, of which the modified versions are switched.

You spawn with the Shadows rifle. This is a highlight of the mutator, as it involves the most strategy. It fires a thin red beam, similar to the shock rifle (but red and thin :) ). Instead of simply having normal ammo, it has ammo that is constantly replenishing itself. It starts at 100 ammo, and you could get around 8 shots off with that before you would hit zero, then you would need to wait a short time before using it again. However, the real twist is that the larger the amount of ammo you have, the more damage it does. A fully charged shot deals 25 damage, so it is pretty powerful if you use it right - it works best in short bursts with a wait in between to replenish ammo. It is semi-automatic - it fires as fast as you click the button. In the readme Dade has stated that secondary does the same so you can alternate buttons, but for me secondary did nothing.

The bio-rifle replacement is called the BioAgent Sprayer, and is in my opinion much better than the bio-rifle. Primary sprays goop with a misty green trail behind each small bit, and it sizzles on the floor like acid. Secondary fires a large grenade, which is apparently a canister of goop - it actually looks quite convincing. It explodes into smaller goop, kind of like the bio-rifle secondary.

The EMHeG rifle is a more powerful variant of the assault rifle, and spawns where a shock rifle would. Primary remains similar, but secondary launches grenades that blow up in a shock-combo blast.

The Link gun gets replaced by a PlasArc rifle. Primary shoots smaller, faster versions of the old link gun projectiles. Secondary is similar to the old secondary, but with a thinner 'electric' beam with a much longer reach and it deals more damage.

Miniguns are replaced with a beefed up version called a Phalanx gun. Primary is faster and less powerful than before, secondary is insanely fast, with an increased spread. It uses up a lot of ammo, let me put it that way :).

The HE Flak Cannon is the successor to the Flak Cannon. Primary has become basically hitscan - when you fire, there is a small explosion where you aim and shrapnel gets launched from that point. This uses more tactics than the old version, but is just as spammy. Secondary also lives up to the flak's spammy name. It launches a mini cluster bomb, similar to the old flak grenades but with smaller explosions too.

Rocket Launchers get replaced by the Harasser Missile System. It is nearly instant kill and very hard to avoid, but the downside is you need a lock to fire it. To help time the lock, there are three or four handy beeps so you know exactly when you can fire. I'm not too sure it works the same for bots though - whenever a bot attacked me with it, I seemed to be able to dodge it easily.

Botplay is a downside. The main weapon they use is the Shadows rifle, the default weapon. They do use the other weapons, but nowhere near as often as they should.

I noticed one bug in my testing. When playing this with the mutant gametype, the mutant doesn't get all these weapons, only the Shadows rifle and what he made the kill with. I don't know if this is the mutators fault or the gametypes, but it is definately something to look into.

One very good thing about this, and yet something many weapon mutators overlook, is that it adds the weapons into the game for use with mutators such as WoRM and Switch Arsenal. The new weapons fit in very well with the old, but maybe slightly more powerful. All in all though, it's nice to fight with the normal weapons, but maybe one (or more) of these weapons replacing the old version if you prefer it.

This mutator is great fun to play; it is a highly recommended download as it stands, but with some of the bugs ironed out, replacements for the remaining weapons and new skins, it could be so much more.


-Shuriken