There's nothing quite like stomping on tiny armored guards with your metal suit. And you'll get to stomp all kinds of things in full, gory detail thanks to Monolith's impressive 3D engine. Monolith's proprietary LithTech engine pushes polygons fast and lights them well. On top of its unique special effects, Shogo contains all kinds of different indoor and outdoor scenery, and all of it looks convincing. Outdoor areas are expansive and desolate, with clouds casting foreboding shadows across the land.
Indoor areas are realistically lit, and the architecture is plausible.
All together, the assorted level designs are varied and recall the best of the recent batch of great 3D shooters, including Quake II, Jedi Knight, and Unreal. The levels are often short and sweet, with plenty of variety and storyline within and in between to keep you going. Shogo never feels pointless and, with its careful attention to narrative as well as action, is clearly of the new breed of shooters. A first-person shooter without a variety of interesting and deadly weapons isn't much fun no matter how fancy its engine. Fortunately, Shogo delivers the goods with an arsenal of sadistically satisfying guns, including a number of classic archetypes along with a few unique additions.