Urban Reign: the realm of blows

That Namco is serious in the development of fighting games we certainly do not find out today. The Japanese company has created historical series such as Tekken e Soul Calibur, to then merge in 1998 with the toy company Bandai and broaden its horizons in the world of beat 'em up. In 2006, exclusively on Playstation 2, goes out Urban Reign, one of the fighting games - let's not forget about The Warriors e God hand - to have monopolized our after-school afternoons. Non-stop beating, rival gangs, unscrupulous criminals, lots of fighting styles in one unforgettable title.

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Urban Reign: Fists fly in the city

Urban Reign featured a story mode and a classic arcade mode that featured 1vs1 or multiplayer battles for up to four players (using multitap). The beating heart of Urban Reign was obviously the story mode, made up of 100 missions. The protagonist of the story is Brad Hawk, a professional thug who is hired by Shun Ying Lee, chieftain of a powerful organization that controls Chinatown.

The events unfold around the internal struggles that take place between the various gangs in the city. Things get complicated when a member of the Zap gang is kidnapped and the blame is placed on Shun Ying Lee. If that's not enough, the mayor, Steve Bordin, to counter the increase in violence, issues a decree that puts the city in quarantine into practice, by closing the neighborhoods with iron grates.

Our mighty Brad Hawk will have to push his way through the city's criminal gangs to clear Shun of kidnapping charges.

Get under it!

Urban Reign was a running fighting game set in totally three-dimensional and highly destructible levels. The locations offered a very high variety and possibility of approach: disreputable neighborhoods where only the law of the strongest is in force, narrow alleys, gyms, dojos, abandoned factories, old warehouses, restaurants, every place is suitable for leading hands.

The gameplay, on the whole, was not so multifaceted and diversified, but everything was fun and never monotonous thanks to missions that were never too long, to locations, as we have said, always different and to a large number of rival gangs who could boast their own uniforms, distinctive signs and unique fighting styles. It is this last component that has made Urban Reign a real toy land for lovers of the fighting game genre.

On the other hand, in a title like this we want to see the blows fly and if they can boast different animations and shapes it is even better. In Urban Reign, Brad Hawk, and we along with him, were constantly challenged by the number of opponents on screen and having to adapt to ever-changing combat styles from one mission to another. Thinking of carrying out a mission head down as in any hack 'n' slash led to premature game over.

In some cases, we were dealing with thugs who didn't know how to go beyond the canonical punks, but after a few missions we understood that this city was really the realm of the blows. Karate, Judo e Taekwondo they weren't even listed, but a bit of mess tin and a few tumbled to the ground were enough to take countermeasures. Against skilled contenders in the Muay Thai the problems were already beginning, not to mention the Capoeira that already in the time of Tekken was claiming victims - true, Eddie Gordo?

The most powerful and organized gangs had a very specific hierarchy that culminated in the level boss. For example, the Outlaws, a group made up of ex-convicts, were led by Napalm99 who, as the name suggests, had explosive arms; or we can remember Miguel, chief of the outsiders, very dangerous Latin American clan. Not only our limbs could rage on the unfortunate on duty. It was also possible to use weapons obtainable from the scenario or from the stunned bodies of our opponents.

In addition to the buttons to attack, there was also the button for grabbing and the one for dodging. The latter is fundamental against very fast enemies, masters of the most technical martial arts. The goodies of the combat system were basically two: the first was represented from the attack in pairs. In some missions, in fact, we were accompanied by an ally with whom we could create spectacular and dynamic combos. Basically one could hold the enemy, while the other went down hard, but the possible combinations were varied.

The second peculiarity of the combat system allowed us (but it was also valid for the AI) to choose a very specific part of the body to hit. The game hud was enriched with a human silhouette divided into three areas: head, torso, legs. If you hit one of these areas repeatedly, it turned red until the opponent was stunned or unable to use his legs or arms because they were now broken or stunned.

We conclude this amarcord of Urban Reign by recalling a surprise inserted by Namco within the game. The roster, in fact, also featured two guests of honor: directly from Tekken, Paul Phoenix e Marshall Law. A tribute to themselves that at the time made us very happy. Urban Reign had a strong personality and, although at first glance it might seem not very intense, after a few hours of training it revealed the undeniable qualities of him, especially played in the company of friends. Even in single player, however, he made a bad impression thanks to a gameplay with a level of challenge that was not frustrating but that asked us to improve ourselves from mission to mission.