Since the
PC inception of the grandaddy of all first person shooters known as Wolfenstein 3D, there
were many games that followed in its footsteps, some even gaining just as much popularity,
such as Doom and Quake.
The influence of such games allowed the run-and-gun first person shooter genre to take root in
the lexicon of gamers worldwide, but there are some that have slipped through the cracks
and onto systems that are not known for FPSes.
One of these games is set to the tune of, oh, Terminator meets Alien.
Well, pretty much any action movie you see on one of those Spike TV marathons.
It's Zero Tolerance for the Sega Genesis, developed by Technopop and published by Accolade.
Humanity has decided to take its imperialistic ways to the next level and is now colonizing
the solar system, and a hostile alien race is making trouble for them by destroying equipment,
killing and transforming the crew of the flagship Europa-1.
A barrage of gunfire has also damaged the nuclear cooling system, which means you are
on the clock the whole game before the whole ship goes kablooie.
Thus, the Planet Defense Corps get on the horn and dial Zero Tolerance, five space commandos
each with different abilities.
They are made up of Captain Scott "Psycho" Haile, Captain Satoe "Soba" Ishii, Major JJ
Wolf, Major Tony "Weasel" Ramos, and the Great Dane himself, Major Thomas "Basse" Gjoerup.
Don't worry, you'll be reminded of their names often, since the HUD is mostly map, weapon
loadout, and ID card.
This is probably my least favorite aspect about Zero Tolerance, which is certainly an
entertaining first person shooter in the style of Doom or Quake, but in a lower definition
from what a PC could handle in 1994.
It's like peering through a cardboard box, allowing for less peripheral vision and more
surprise attacks from your enemies.
But if you're the type that can take lemons and make them into lemonade, you will use
the map in order to improve your aim, since the blip in the center of your map also shows
your line of sight, which you can use to line up with the red dots that are, in fact, your
enemies.
Zero Tolerance is actually more difficult in the beginning than towards the end, where
you will come into control of more powerful weapons than a handgun and shotgun, such as
a repeating laser rifle, a rocket launcher, and a laser pointed handgun, all useful against
mutant dogs that remind me of the big pink goblins in Doom.
Make no mistake, Zero Tolerance is fun to play, but only if you have the patience and
perseverance to get used to the sensitive movement controls and the small aperture you
are given to keep an eye on your enemies.