AAG: Quiver (P) Review
Sean Puckett
Quiver P
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ESD Games
PCDOS - 3D Action Shooter
A marginally amusing DOOM clone with poor graphics, sound, and
level design. Its claims to fame are 1) no gore, and 2) even
runs on dirt-slow machines.
I like the idea of low-powered games that don't take up a lot
of disk space and can run on last year's model, but in this
case the distinction is silly. The games it tries to emulate
are favorite old DOS titles of the past such as Doom and
Cybermage and so on -- games which, if you recall, ran just
fine on 486 machines.
So with the bathwater gone all that we're left holding is the
baby -- that Quiver is "nonviolent". Unfortunately not true.
This is, have no doubt, a typical 3D shooter with aliens,
robots and other menaces firing weapons at you and you firing
back. The only "nonviolent" part of the game is the lack of
spatters and gibs. ESD bills Quiver as a "family game" but
when I think of my 7 year old and "family game" in the same
sentence, what comes to mind is "Putt-Putt Travels Through
Time" not yet another mindlessly violent shooter with no
educational value, bland graphics, and clumsy play mechanics.
I don't want to be cruel here, I appreciate what they've done
and the amount of effort that went into doing it -- but it
seems like misdirected effort, not a good idea at all. Let's
get these guys with their obvious potential to focus their
energy in some other area. Creating truly fun games that don't
require MIPS and megabytes to run is a terrific goal, but at
least as far as 3D shooters go... been there, done that, and
got the T-shirt.
Rating: FEH -- 0/4 stars. Available now.
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