Religious Warfare

The first shoot-em-up made in India is...disappointing.

Originally launched as India's first 3D first-person shooter, "Yoddha The Warrior" was popularized by the hit song on MTV, "Mere Desh Mein", by Vedic Chant. However, the game is really just an adapted Doom clone, and derives its "originality" by instilling patriotism and support for the armed forces. This time, the programmers' kid gloves are off and they're hitting the gaming world with every cliched twist they can think of!

Yoddha, a solitary warrior (of unknown origin) is left to fend for himself and save the country from the horror of a mad terrorist named Gaddar Singh, who is threatening to use an arsenal of nuclear warheads from a well-hidden location. As always, your job is to eliminate him and his equally-insane henchmen, and neutralize the threat of a nuclear holocaust by defusing the bombs in his lair. Gaddar's personal vendetta against the nation drives him to the brink of madness, and unlike other civilians, he intends to settle his scores with Nafrat-I-Hind, a terrorist organisation well stocked with Sipahees and Atankvaadis wielding machine guns and rocket launchers.

In this ever-stagnant world of forsaken UN values, you really couldn't be expected to take any prisoners...you just have to shoot your way to the top with the help of your limited weaponry. The shotgun is the weapon of choice here, and since its effectiveness is debatable at long range, you can also pick up the automatic rifle and the devastating rocket launcher. All three weapons have their own problems, and none of them can really help you if you ever find yourself cornered by the merciless Atankvaadis. As you trudge along the sinister hallways of the Nafrat-I-Hind, you find that your only hope lies in the discovery of occasional health and ammunition kits that help you live a few minutes longer...

The game begins with a patriotic speech of cinematic proportions and an introduction to the mission at hand. Its interface is simple and concise, and includes a variety of options that include saving or loading a game from different points or starting a new one from the begining. The gameplay and settings are simple enough to anyone who's ever played this genre before, and the controls are intuitive enough to allow the average gamer to inflict a certain amount of damage.

If you're a 3D-shooter fan, and feel the need to cause huge amounts of damage while simultaneously killing a few hundred people, then this is definitely the game for you. If, on the other hand, you've seen it all, "Yoddha The Warrior" does not offer much to write home about, and has a way to go before it achieves Quake-style proportions.

This article was first published on26 Mar 2001.