While I have only done Xbox games to this point, I am making it a point to play through some more games in my Dreamcast collection and the newly acquired GameCube. The first game to go under my microscope is Headhunter, a game that was touted as the Dreamcast's version of Metal Gear Solid that ended up only coming out in Europe. With the release of Headhunter: Redemption and my want to start playing that some on my Xbox, I knew it was time to finish the original on my Dreamcast.

Before I go on, Headhunter was also released on the PS2 and, as far as I know, it is almost an identical game.

So I'll get right to it immediately -- is Headhunter a Metal Gear Solid killer? No. I always hate the term of a [game X]-killer, because realistically even if the game equals or surpasses it in gameplay, it doesn't make the original suck. Metal Gear Solid is an excellent game. Headhunter does not make MGS look bad by comparison.

So how does Headhunter stand all by itself?

Headhunter is a cross between an action game and a stealth game. It is extremely cinematic in presentation, and therefore it must rely on a deep and involving storyline to continue to drive the plot forward. Headhunter has this down pat. The storyline is gripping and has a lot of twists and turns, and the main character Jack Wade is well defined.

I'd like to take a second to note that a lot of professional reviews of this game stated that the storyline was a lot like other storylines and that Jack Wade wasn't an interesting character because others had been done just like him in the past. I sure didn't and don't find this to be a problem at all. When a person goes to the movies, you don't usually try to strip the layers off the story to examine just the characters unless the storyline doesn't fit them. The storyline fits Jack Wade. If Amuze and Sega had taken Sonic and put him in the same storyline, it would have been laughable at best. The characters work and the story is really well done, even if it is more or less a story that we have all seen in some form before.

The game is constantly driven through various parts as you regain your memory and unravel a story that will eventually lead to you needing to save the world. The story is presented through CG animations of the characters and FMV cut-scenes of the "news." These both work amazingly well, and move the story along at a great pace.

Perhaps the best part of this game is the music. The musical score was the first that was ever recorded using a full symphony orchestra, and was performed live in 2003 as the first game score to be performed live outside of Japan. If you want to hear a clip, check out some of the music from the soundtrack here:

http://www.lalalandrecords.com/Headhunter.html

Personally, I'd strongly suggest checking out Jack's Theme from Disc Two.

All of that having been said, if the game stinks it doesn't matter how good the music or story is... you won't be playing for long.

Headhunter manages to play exceptionally well too. The game consists of two parts. The first is the stealth / action parts where you control Jack (and perhaps others) as you go to do things on the mission. The second part is when you get onto your motorbike and take to the roads to get places, doing missions like disarming five bombs spread across town in a certain time limit and so on.

The stealth / action parts are really well done. The enemy AI isn't quite as good as the AI for the Metal Gear Solid series, and it will once in a while have you wondering what is going on. Kill a guard that was patrolling silently, and drop his body... none of the other guards will notice that he is gone. That having been said, the AI in confrontations is really good once they've spotted you. Battle is intense, and characters react realistically -- diving behind walls, getting on their knees and so on.

The major difference between MGS and Headhunter is that Headhunter doesn't penalize you if you decide you don't want to be stealthy too much. Sure, some parts are better with stealth but if you just want to run around and shoot everyone you can.

The motorcycle parts are okay, but suffer from an overabundance of reality it seems. Drive really fast and you start popping a wheelie and you can't turn. Drive slowly and you won't get anywhere. Some people found this to be the worst part of the game, and I will admit I found it frustrating -- but I still found it relatively fun.

I'd like to point out here that I hate games where I feel that I need a strategy guide to beat. If I don't know what is going on, I want something in the game to give me a hint. I don't want to have to go online or buy the guide. If I love the game, I'll probably search out the guide to find out what I was missing.

Headhunter has one point that, at least for me, really left me guessing about what I was going to do next. Suddenly, I had no idea where to go. I spent about an hour just running around in the game trying to figure it out. I finally caved and went to an online FAQ. To me, one strategy guide look-up in a game is more than acceptable, but I wish I hadn't felt so lost. It takes down the value of the game a bit for me.

The graphics are supurb for a Dreamcast game. The world is extremely detailed. Every environment that you are in looks different and awesome. There are little details in lots of places to find that. The CG scenes and the FMV parts are great, and don't detract from the game at all.

The control is great. With all the stuff that you can do, I don't think it could've been made any better.

The last battle ends in a very odd way. I won't spoil it, but it seems that Amuze got sick of trying to finish the programming and cut out what should have been the final sequence altogether. I was really expecting a challenging and fun last few seconds with the game, and then it was all over. The rest of the game was great, but the very end just seemed to leave a little lacking. And the last part of the boss battle before that suffers from the same problem.

One thing that I really also dug was the fact that the game was very open to allowing you to try different things to advance. After beating it, I was reading through the FAQ a little bit, and at least two of the boss battles I used completely different strategies than the FAQ said you should use.

So is Headhunter a MGS killer? No. MGS is still a great game. But so is Headhunter, and Headhunter shouldn't be overlooked just because MGS was also good. It was one of my favorite games for the Dreamcast, and I'm more than a little worried to try out Headhunter: Redemption, which by all reports is a step backwards from the original.

Overall Ratings:
Graphics - 10 (on Dreamcast), 8 by "modern" standards.
Sound - 10
Control - 10
Gameplay - 9.5
Overall - 10

Headhunter has a few problems, but they are greatly overshadowed by the really well done storyline, incredible soundtrack and deep gameplay. I don't find many games to be this good, but I think Headhunter really is. If you haven't played it yet, you can get the PS2 version for really, really cheap.

On an aside, according to my Dreamcast I only spent 10 hours and 53 minutes playing through the game. That having been said, I don't feel that this was short by any means... and it doesn't involve deaths.

On another aside, why the hell was it that Acclaim published this to the PS2 in the United States and not Sega? Anyone know that story?

And if you want a trailer, there is a good one at GameSpot:

http://www.gamespot.com/ps2/adventur...l?q=Headhunter