2019-05-01+Official+PlayStation+Magazine+-+UK+Edition

096

REVIEW

INFO

FORMATPS4

ETAOUTNOW

PUBRISINGSTAR

GAMES

DEVGROUND

SHATTER

RICO

Routine, Insipid, Clumsy, and Ordinary

H

ere in this crime-ridden city, you’re

the kind of cop who resolves cases

“with a certain expedience”, selected

for off-the-book operations. This is

your excuse to avoid due process and secure

evidence of criminal activities by any means

necessary – in other words, shooting everyone.

But like its loose-cannon officers, Ground

Shatter’s rough-edged FPS asks you to turn a

blind eye to one too many misdeeds.

RICO’s tongue-in-cheek intro suggests it’s aware

of its limitations: the equivalent of a straight-

to-Netflix action film with a knowing sense of

humour. Your job is to rid procedurally-generated

buildings of generic henchmen, breaching and

clearing room by room before getting out. These

rooms must have exceptional soundproofing,

since even a barrage of noisy SMG fire and the

boom of a carelessly-placed exploding barrel

isn’t enough to alert anyone beyond those four

walls. Still, it’s a contrivance you learn to accept

• likewise that you inexplicably can’t pick up
  weapons dropped by dead enemies.
  The game’s other quirks are harder to forgive.
  Enteringa roomwitha kick–ora lowslideif

you’re showing off – triggers a

slow-motion effect, though that

seems to do your opponents

more favours. Excessive muzzle

flash leaves you firing blind,

while your aiming is more

sluggish, making it likely you’ll

take a hit while you adjust. By

contrast, if you boot the door

and back off, you can wait for

enemies to politely file through

it one by one. Sometimes they

even let you know they’re on

their way by clipping through

the wall as they approach.

RICO WORRIER

Meanwhile, the procedural

elements often make no sense.

You’ll find six guards piled

into a tiny room with nothing

in it, before stumbling across

two in a sprawling space with

evidence, several piles of cash,

and a large health kit. Side-

objectivescanscrewyouover

• a smallpickup(automatically
  collected)hiddenbehinda
  wallmightspoila ‘noammo
  packs’run.Anothermightgive
  youfivebombstodefuseona
  singlefloorwithina stricttime
  limit,atwhichpointit’spot

luck whether you find the right

rooms in time. And while guns

feel good and environments

are impressively destructible,

enemy hitboxes are all over the

place. A shot or two in the leg

is enough for some; others will

shrug off a half-dozen slugs to

the chest.

Invariably, RICO fares better

in co-op, not least with the

added tension of friendly

fire and the opportunity to

breach some rooms from

different angles to disorientate

opponents (which also goes to

show it’s been poorly balanced

for solo players). But despite the

occasional old-school pleasure

• a point-blank shotgun blast
  sending a bat-wielding thug
  flying through a window, for
  example – this would-be
  thriller is more likely to raise
  yourhacklesthan your pulse.

OFFICER DOWN @schillingc

VERDICT

There’s basic fun to be

had from shooting bad

guys, but the poor AI

nulls the experience.

RICO fancies itself as the

sterotypical hard-bitten police

officer who gets results but

refuses to play by the rules. In

reality, it’s more like Paul Blart:

Mall Cop. Chris Schilling

“BOOT A DOOR AND YOU CAN

WAIT FOR ENEMIES TO FILE

POLITELY THROUGH IT.”