Giants: Citizen Kabuto

by Interplay

Product Features

• Windows 95, 98, Me only (not XP compatible)
• Choose one of three races to battle across twenty-five island rendered in full 3D, all beautifully detailed unlike any game environment you've ever experienced
• Hours and hours of pulse-pounding, story-driven single-player campaign, complete with outrageous cut-scenes
• Battle up to 10 players over LAN or the Internet via TCP/IP (monthly subsciption fee may be required, please see software documentation)
• Battle from 1st or 3rd person perspective in addition to the revolutionary Kabuto Mouth-Cam and Foot Stomp/Crunch view

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00002SV0E
• Item Weight: 1 pounds
• Media: CD-ROM
• Release Date: December 9, 2000
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (53 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #18,971 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Amazon.com Review

Giants: Citizen Kabuto is an odd little game. It takes place on a small island populated by short, big-headed people who speak with Scottish accents. They are called Smarties. Out to sea the evil Sea Reapers plot to retake the island for themselves, and they've created a 30-foot-tall monster named Kabuto to help them with their task. To this world come the Meccarins, a trio of humanlike spacemen who wear powered armor and have jetpacks. They arrive and befriend the Smarties against the Sea Reapers, and Kabuto breaks free from Sea Reaper control. All heck breaks loose.

Giants was developed by Planet Moon Studios, an offshoot of the wacky Shiny Entertainment studio that brought us Earthworm Jim and Sacrifice. It shows. The between-mission movies are hilarious and filmed inventively (using the game's graphics) throughout. You begin by portraying the Meccs as they puzzle out the new world and help people. Next you portray Delphi, a sexy sorceress Sea Reaper, and finally you get to walk in the massive footsteps of Kabuto himself. The game plays with arcade style; before you're done you'll have flown around and fired weapons, conjured spells, participated in a jet-ski race or two, and eaten just about everything that moves as the giant himself. It's dizzying, it's fun, and you'll never forget you played it. (Note: not for kids--strong language, nudity, violence, and adult humor throughout). --Bob Andrews

Pros:

• 3 different sides
• Brilliant use of style and humor
• You get to be a giant!

Cons:

• Multiplayer isn't satisfying
• A few crash bugs exist

Product Description

Fast action strategic thinking twisted humor andincredible 3D graphics!Product Information Before man climbed down from the trees to shop in megastores and drink cappuccino before Earth wadded itself into a cool blue ball before Planet Moon even existed there was the Island. The Island a massive fragment of a long-lost planet hurtling blindly through space. The description evokes the term "asteroid" but the Island is no dead piece of scorched rock. Even from a distance of light years the Island's radiant colors distinguish it as an anomaly within the void of the cosmos. True asteroids decaying and splintered pieces of rock floating quietly around the island like watchful ghosts radiate jealousy from their black pores desperate for the beauty they will never have.  Anyway the Island...whether these small continents are made of rock or ice they boast some curious life forms. Plants ranging from a few inches in height to thousands of feet. Small humanoid creatures occupying quaint stone huts. A variety of monstrosities all created by the Island's natural forces...all but one. Upon the surface of this paradise wanders the giant Kabuto. He knows that this is his home but he does not feel that he belongs. From whence he came he does not know only the serial number "001" imprinted on his stomach offers any clue. The only one of his kind Kabuto sits alone and longs for company. Every creature he has encountered was...different. Whether they came from the skies or from the seas they tried to destroy him. Now Kabuto trusts no one and guards the one thing he loves - the Island his home.  Little does Kabuto know that the Island was home to others before him.  In the oceans there dwells a race of females called the Sea Reapers. These women along with their many minions once ruled the Island with strong will and harsh law. In their pride they created Kabuto as a defense against intruders.  Then there are the Meccaryns (Meccs) - faced w

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 3 modes of play on beautiful islands, but no in-game save?, January 26, 2001

By 

Gregory L Dyas - See all my reviews

This review is from: Giants: Citizen Kabuto (CD-ROM)

The Good:

Interplay's really made a beautiful game here. Giants is based on a completely new engine and takes advantage of newer graphics cards' T&L engines to great effect. The course of the single-player game is played on a seried of islands, some tropical, some ice, etc. In the single player game you play first as Meccs, human-like characters with machine weapons, then as Delphi, a magic/sword/bow & arrow using nymph, and finally as Kabuto, a brutish monster.

Each character you play has a completely different method of gameplay for you to use. It's fantastic because it makes the game highly variable. Once I'd just about gotten the mecc's weapons & strategies down, the storyline progressed to Delphi and I had to learn to use spells and such. Not only that, but there are resource-collecting strategy elements involved. One has to collect little guys named Smarties and food/souls to feed them with so they can build a base for you to provide you with more powerful spells or weapons.

Your enemies' AI, while simple, isn't so easy as to make it boring. They'll sometimes hide behind trees and structures to fire at you. All in all, a great game.

The Not as Good:

There needs to be an in-game save instead of a per-scenario save. Some of the missions are just too long to have to repeat. In base-building missions it will restart you with the buildings you've already built, but even so it's a chore to repeat things over & over again. Having an in-game save should be rule #1 in the game developer's handbook.

In addition, the AI can be pretty dumb at times, either standing there while I shoot at it or running straight away as I slug it's back with rounds.

Lastly, the game as released in the box needs to be patched badly. The patch is available online from Interplay, but the game should have at least worked out of the box.

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great creative effort hurt by corporate meddling., December 19, 2000

By 

"zaruthustran" (Fernley, NV) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Giants: Citizen Kabuto (CD-ROM)

Brilliant, funny, creative, stylish--as the other reviewers say, Giants is a terrific game. But it could have been better, if Interplay hadn't panicked.

Interplay Groupthink Screwup #1: publishing this game in December.

Why this is a screwup: The game isn't finished! Along with the play-balancing issues mentioned by other reviewers, Giants sports numerous bugs. These range from minor graphics glitches to fatal system crashes. Of course, of course, a patch will be out, and those of us smart enough to use (and buy from) the Internet will be able to fix the game. But what about the poor schmucks who don't have Inet access? They're screwed, and are stuck with a buggy, unfinished game, all thanks to Interplay's rush to get this thing out by Christmas.

Interplay Groupthink Screwup #2: Changing the blood from red to green.

Why this is a screwup: Insults gamers. This is cowardice, pure and simple. The marketing geniuses thought that red blood was too much for us to handle. Us. Gen X. C'mon, we were buying Robocop action figures when we were 8 years old! Red blood in a computer GAME is not going to traumatize us. Note that this wouldn't be an insult (or a screwup) if the blood had been green from the start. Heck, Kabuto and his pals are aliens; we wouldn't have batted an eye at green blood. But the fact that they changed the color to comply with some lame "decency standard" makes the change an insult.

By the way, the patch to change the blood from green to red is widely available on the 'Net.

Interplay Groupthink Screwup #3: Putting clothes on the Sea Reaper, Delphi.

Why this is a screwup: Again, this insults gamers. The marketing geniuses thought that we'd be shocked by a topless Delphi, EVEN THOUGH THEY'D BEEN FEEDING US SCREENSHOTS OF HER FOR OVER A YEAR. So, they clothed her. Look, everyone knows the vast majority of computer gamers are over 18. We've seen topless women before. Heck, you can see much worse on prime time network television, or a PG-13 movie. It's a *game*, not a big deal. What is a big deal: doing a switcheroo, promoting one thing and delivering another, messing with the developer's vision. Again, this wouldn't be an insult if the character was clothed from the get-go. The developer decided to take the next step (the previous step was taken by Lara Croft), the publisher okayed it, the fans smiled and laughed, and then -BAM- the company caves in and corrupts the original artistic vision. LAME.

By the way, to go back to the original version, just go to the Giants\Bin directory and remove the file "arpfix.gzp".

But even these major screwups don't cripple Giants. The game is visually impressive, genuinelly funny, original, smart, witty, and FUN. Kind of like No One Lives Forever and Sacrifice. Hopefully these games are but an introduction to a new era of games: sophisticated, smart games designed for adults. Not "adult" as in "adult film", but "adult" as in mature, witty, and fun.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Breathtaking, January 6, 2002

By 

Marcus Aurelius - See all my reviews

This review is from: Giants: Citizen Kabuto (CD-ROM)

I can't contain the experience alone. Every one must know, they MUST you see?
I'm typically the type: the more gore, head kracking, and the darker and more evil a game the better. Well, here's Giants, possibly the funnest gaming experience I've ever had and it's Light hearted, but it's the funniest game ever. It's so masterly put together with all the perfect elements of twisted humor, Beautiful graphics and environments, different styles of gameplay within the game, staring at delphi's nude body...just delete or move the arpfix file in the bin folder to experience the sea reapers as they were meant to be. Quite possibly my favourite game ever. A winner in the Industry.

MyStats

.Beutiful Graphics, Amazing modeling work, Sharp textures.

.The Story. Oh god, I love it! The Plot is so perfect. Funny and I mean REALLY Funny, heroic, great combination of elements. Very original Scie Fi. I was completely emersed in these worlds.

.Environments are one of the most striking features here. Wow, 30 islands, each beautifully rendered and detailed. Fully emmersive and atmospheric.

.Sound. The music is outstanding, by Mark Snow, (X files, La Femme Nikita) and I mean it...It's THAT good. The sound effects and ambience is riveting.

.Gameplay. Fun. Very Fun. Pure energetic Fun.

One of the few titles I give 100 on a 1-5 scale