If Mace Griffin: Bounty Hunter, were a sci-fi film, it would be one of those "buffer" flicks that the studios release in the months between blockbusters. It would be the kind of thing that former stars like George Clooney and old Star Trek alumni that now make a living selling various wares at conventions star in, simply because there is a paycheck in it for them. In essence, it is shameless hodgepodge of every science fiction cliché to rear its ugly head in the long history of science fiction clichés, and the game trots them out like this was a fashion show, complete with runway. You'll hear words like "Jaldari" and terms like "Order of Virtual Light" thrown around, in an attempt to make the game sound as futuristic as possible.
Needless to say, rather than come off as an unofficial sequel to Halo, Mace gives off more of a "poor man's Star Wars" vibe. There is a pretty good variety of futuristic weapons to be found in the game, including more kinds of lasers than you can shake a raygun at, but the action is kind of so-so at times, with some absolutely unbelievable sequences interspersed. If there were more "snipe radical cult members with TVs for faces from afar" sequences, and less "shoddy FPS level pretending to be a spacefighting subgame" sequences, Mace could be a top-notch contender.
If nothing else, you can't really fault Mace too much in the presentation arena. The graphics are consistently smooth, crisp, and well-textured; all at a very playable framerate. If the story was even making an attempt to take itself seriously, the cheese acting of the characters would be a problem, but as this is not the case, lines such as "Watch it, punk" are right at home.
Mace isn't a bad game, but like the intentionally-bad sci-fi movies it seems to be based upon, it's much better as a weekend rental than as a purchase.
-George
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