Moho Review

Alpha Prime, a maximum-security prison planet for artificial life forms. Convicts are sent here to participate in gladiator-style games for the amusement of law-abiding citizens. But, only the strongest are picked. As only the strongest stand any chance of surviving! Firstly, they have to survive the initiation process - the amputation of their legs (while fully awake) from the waist down followed by their replacement with what can be best described as an electro-magnetic ball, in which their up torsos hover above. Those who survive the induction process have only one possible means of freedom - to be the last man standing, er... rolling! :)

MoHo consists of over 80 compact levels grouped together within 10 imprisonment facilities in which you can choose to play as one of five characters. Angel - a top of the range assassination droid, Apostle - a bringer of chaos who's shrouded in mystery, Benny - a mining droid born to drill, Lockdown - a law breaking menace to society, So-ph-1e - a military Robo-Marine. Each has their own unique attributes, areas of expertise and attack combos.

Initially, you get to choose from five different gladiators; each with their own balanced

characteristics - strength, speed, agility and stamina. When your choice is made, it's on to the arena. Each of the ten prisons must be completed in turn, however the individual events inside each building can be tackled in whatever order takes your fancy. As well as having the main games to choose from, you also have bonus games - like for example, Golf. If you win whatever event you're participating in at the time, you'll win a 1st place Medal - Bronze in colour. But then if you manage to complete an arena under a certain "Gold Star" time limit mentioned on the Arena Selection screen, you'll earn a Gold Medal. The Gold Medals are used to reveal the Leisure Mountain bonus prison and the arenas within.

Here's a basic rundown of the arenas...

You need to bear in mind; the levels are not going to be as straightforward as they might sound below. As expected, the usual selection of spikes, guns, flame-throwers, lasers and pits, etc. are present. All this to ensure that the audience gets to see exactly what they want - total carnage! You also need to watch out for the other prisoners in some of the arenas. After all, they are criminals, so they'll want to win by fair means or foul!

Run The Gauntlet

The aim here is to simply reach the exit point before the time limit runs out.

Pursuit

Similar to Gauntlet arenas but with the added feature of the Pursuit wave. The aim remains the same; reach the exit point.

Last Man Rolling

As the name suggests, Last Man Rolling requires there to be but one survivor by the end of the time limit.

King Of The Hill

A central raised area or 'hill' must be defended at all costs in this free-for-all arena.

Race

Race arena rules are simple with the winner being the person who completes a set number of laps first.

Powerball

Collect the balls from the dispensers and try to get them to the goalpost.

Tag

Scattered around the level are a number of tokens that must all be collected within the time limit.

The different characters behind MoHo have quite an original control system. The system designed by Lost Toys allows the characters to roll, jump and carve their

way around levels as realistically as can be predicted for characters with a ball instead of legs! It does take a little getting used to at first! As expected, if you're in a race and you're going flat out, and you turn sharply into a left turn. Naturally your character isn't going to automatically go left is it? Because of the characters having a ball instead of legs - when you turn sharply at high speed, for a few seconds the character keeps going in the previous direction while it alters it's course. It's like driving a car at 70 mph on ice and turning suddenly. I doubt very much the car's going to turn straight away. It'll most probably carry on going straight for a while.

One thing that's noticeable about MoHo from the word go, is the bright psychedelic colours and the way that the very earth underneath you moves as you play the game. The landscape isn't your average terrain; it seems to be in a kind of semi-solid liquid state in which explosions cause waves to ripple through the surrounding environment in quite an impressive way! Of course, if you're good enough, you can surf the waves created by the explosions to avoid any possible obstacles as well as building up some speed.

MoHo features a unique method of landscape modelling which enabled the Lost Toys designers to add texture to levels as if they were using an airbrush. Basically, this means that they were able to use extremely high-resolution artwork, and create an enormous variety of smoothly blended environments for the arenas.

Personally, I think that the graphics are quite impressive, and if any of the other future Playstation titles by Lost Toys looks anything like MoHo does. We're definitely going to have something interesting to look forward to. They should be quite a treat! :)

Original, colourful... in-your-face!! This game is compelling and will most definitely have you wanting more. I have to admit, my first impression was a little apprehensive. I thought the game was a little strange. But, after sitting down for a few hours and playing it, I realised first impressions aren't always the right ones! If you're after something a little bit different, this could be exactly what you're looking for. Definitely worth the money!