Armorines: Project S.W.A.R.M.

Plot

Armorines: Project S.W.A.R.M. is based on the Armorines comic book, where armored marines fight aliens in the name of the United States government. You do much of the same in the game, but the enemies strike little resemblance to those in the comic. The Spider Aliens of the comic book are slightly humanoid, while those found in the game resemble over-sized bugs. You must save Earth from invading enemies, much like in the movie Starship Troopers released a couple of years earlier.

Gameplay

It's a first-person shooter where each mission is objective-based. There are five environments, both on Earth and in space. Several game segments are on-rails. Player are ranked in a points system and promoted when due. There are two Armorines available for play, one slow and strong and one fast and adequate in strength. Two-player co-op and standard four-player Deathmatch are supported.

The game uses Acclaim's Turok 2 engine. By using a Nintendo 64 Expansion Pak, the Nintendo 64 version can output in hi-res (640 x 480). The game had no analog support on the PlayStation version, making the control schemes difficult to use.

On the GameBoy Color version, you play as a single marine with five weapons to choose from. There are six levels and seven kinds of enemies.

Characters

Gunnery Sergent Harold "Gunny" Lewis

Lieutenant Myra Lane

Reception

Although sharing the same engine as the successful Turok 2: Seeds of Evil, the game did not fare well among videogame critics. IGN wrote that "Armorines is a Starship Troopers add-on to the Turok 2 engine. Nothing more." The GameBoy Color version generally received higher scores than the console versions. The Nintendo 64 version generally received higher scores than the PlayStation version; GameSpot wrote that discussing all the bad things about the PlayStation version "would be like flogging a dead horse" and that "elements that were bland and boring in the Nintendo 64 version are downright offensive here."

A sequel for the game was planned, but then cancelled after the game's poor reception.

Prequel Comic

A four issue mini-series was released by Acclaim Comics prior to the games release. Due to low sales, these issues are hard to find, particualarly the final issue (featuring the X-O Manowar).