Urban Reign

There's no sense of progression, only a sickening sense of tedium as you're dropped into the next box of a level and take on another too easy minion, too tough boss, and the too bewildering camera.

With its slick visual polish and ample bone-crunching sound-effects, Urban Reign could have come out on tip. But thanks to an endless series of increasingly maddening and increasingly boring stages, you'll find yourself saying "No thanks," and turning off your PS2 and bringing this game back to the store. Xbox owners, be thankful you were spared this agony.

The best urban brawler sine "Def Jam." [Nov 2005, p.86]

Rather than melding together the best aspects of the games which obviously influenced it, Urban Reign instead only manages a watered down stew of fighting elements that taste more like an appetizer than a main course.

The only thing Urban Reign will provide you with is a realistic foreshadowing of what would actually happen to you if you ever ran into a few angry dudes in a dark alley late one night. If that sounds like fun by all means go for it.

Unfortunately the game grows stale rather quickly and is hampered by a ridiculous difficulty level and repetitive gameplay.

Even the slightest mistake can lead to an instant beat down from a swarm of CPU-controlled gang members. The aggressive A.I. is relentless in its attacks and, especially later in the game, will easily frustrate even the most hardcore fighting fans.

If multiplayer is your game and you’ve got a multi-tap, Urban Reign is a great game to consider picking up and one I’m positive you’ll squeeze plenty of entertainment value out of it.

There's no doubt that with its flexible fighting engine and various game modes that it has a lot of 'weekend rental' potential for those willing to overlook its short missions and bad balancing, but it could have been so much more than that.

A textbook case of a good idea gone horribly wrong.

It wants to innovate so badly in its arena but it has a few shortcomings that stop it from parading like a champion.

Despite some attempts at variety, the missions grow repetitive quickly thanks to a limited move set. [Oct 2005, p.67]

The developers have come up with an admirable gameplay engine for this brawler, one that provides the fluidity of a fighter, but with a streamlined control scheme that allows rookies to get in and have some fun beating down chumps. [Oct 2005, p.134]

You may be a glutton for punishment, and for that you may have a need for a quick rental, but even with the Tekken characters as unlockables, this is not a fighter worthy of the Namco name.

But battling groups of bad guys gets dangerously dull after an hour or two, especially when the game's unfair A.I., just like our booze-addled fathers, has a tendency to make you pay dearly for even the slightest gaff.

Aside from its superior presentation, about the only really good thing that can be said for Urban Reign is that it is not available to offend on more than one console. That’s right PS2 owners, you can be proud you took the bullet for all gamerdom.

The barely tolerable story mode does little to cover up the fact that Urban Reign is little more than pummeling goons in the face for three hours, and then bam, you're done.

Urban Reign’s audio is purely average. You could play the entire game on mute and not miss a thing. The voice acting ranges from decent to poor, and the weak plot and script don’t help matters much.

Namco's brawler does thrill, but misses out on the crucial online play and a decent story.

Urban Reign succeeds because it does what it set out to do: it is a fun, engaging brawler. The fighting system is deep and intriguing, the voice-acting is thankfully on-spot, and the game has a lot to offer, particularly for anyone looking for a quick, aggressive free-for-all.

To be honest, if you were not sold in the first few words, classic beat’em up, then there is nothing here that will appeal to you as a gamer.

Forcing the player to endure 100 repetitive missions just to unlock the meat of the game is an insult, as is the imbalanced fighting engine.

Had it been given a little more depth pretty much everywhere, this may have been a sleeper hit. Instead, it’s just a sleeper.

Yet another game to add to the list of brawlers we will inevitably forget.

One of the worst games you could buy this year. Imagine someone took the Mission Mode out of "Soul Calibur II," and sold it as a separate game for $50. That's Urban Reign.

For all those who gun Reign down for toying with its own rules and essentially cheating on the player at times it feels are appropriate, there'll hopefully be as many who recognise that such times are appropriate and and that even the dirtiest of its tricks can be bested. [Dec 2005, p.104]

You have great graphics, huge move sets, lots of characters, lots of stages. But then it drops the ball on game difficulty, difficult controls, weak storyline, and no online game play.

It looks good, the combat is easy on the thumbs and if you're after some brainless combat or endless winner-stays-on retro fighting action, Urban Reign is a great choice. [PSW]

Full of wasted potential. A disappointing effort from a developer that knows better.

The inclusion of some unlockable Tekken characters and a slightly more balanced multiplayer mode might be enough to give you a fix if you do absolutely nothing else in life but play beat-'em-ups and you've actually run out, but otherwise there's no reason to take an interest.

Those looking for a no-nonsense beat-em-up could find some enjoyment with the fluid combat system and frantic nature of the game, however Urban Reign makes very little attempt to bring the genre back to life - everybody else should check out Rockstar Games superior adaptation of The Warriors.

A solid beat-'em-up. It's unbalanced and frustrating at times but, when the combat is flowing freely, Urban Reign is hard to beat. [PSM2]

Strangely addicting and fun for the first thirty minutes, that feeling soon wears off as the flaws in the gameplay slowly reveal themselves until you’re so frustrated that you will probably not be in the best frame of mind to complete game or play it for any length of time again.

There are some problems with the game, but a great combat system, great multiplayer and great presentation all make up enough for the game’s shortcomings.

Namco has created a capable fighter and dressed it in some especially uninspiring clothes. To put it plainly, Urban Reign appears to exist purely because it can. Despite its skill, no forward steps are taken or advancements made in the genre.

Be it frustration at the difficulty level or just boredom at the lack of variety, your Urban Reign is pretty much guaranteed to be a short-lived one.

Ferocious opponents and brutal unblockable attacks ensure the challenge is punishingly difficult, but there is little reward for investing the necessary time to master the fighting system's nuances.

This is simply an underground fighter that is more of a diversion and a guilty pleasure for those who like brutal street fighting with a bit of martial arts elegance.

If you’re after something to play with your mates after the pub, or are looking for a short burst of knuckle-cracking violence, Urban Reign might be worth looking at if found going cheap.

A competent group beat 'em-up. The fast and violent fighting system works nicely. Too bad the arenas are flat and quite dull. [Mar 2006]

Apparently, monks chant the same phrase hundreds of times to reach a meditative state. This is like that, but with puniching. [Feb 2006, p.102]

There isn't a plot to speak of, nor any gameplay elements beyond the fighting. But the fighting really is exceptionally fun for novices and experts, which makes this game extremely successful on its own terms.