Ecks vs. Sever Review

In 2001, Ecks vs. Sever was the best FPS that we had ever seen on the GBA. It was released not long after launch, and despite three years passing, big names such as James Bond, Duke Nukem, and Serious Sam have all fallen short of this game’s graphical prowess and fun factor.

Some of the most impressive parts of Ecks vs. Sever are in the graphics department. Shoot a chair with your gun and it will rotate. That’s not found on any other GBA FPS, and its small things such as this that make Ecks vs. Sever exceptional in the genre. For the GBA, there’s an immense amount of detail in level design, a decent amount of different characters (blue cops, brown FBI agents, SWAT, etc.), and an assortment of life-like weapons to choose from.

Evidently this is based off of the movie Ecks vs. Sever, which I have not seen. From what I can tell, you’re being investigated by a counsel for the slaying of FBI agents and police officers. Throughout the game, you’ll tell your story, in your pursuit for Sever, a rogue agent for the NSA. You’ll relive the missions that you describe to the counsel. Rest assured that Ecks will get in quite a few sticky situations, in which you’ll have to use your skill and brain.

The L and R buttons are used for strafing. The control pad is used to control movement of your character. The A and B buttons are used to fire and open doors. Pressing L and R at the same time will help you go through windows, crawl under crates with openings on the bottom, etc. Easy to remember controls, that’s the way I like it.

The enemy AI is a bit dumb, but that’s made up with the amount of damage that it will take to knock down a SWAT member. They’re loaded with armor and intense firepower. Meanwhile, the lonely little police officers remind me of security guards, going down in about two shots with a regular pistol, whereas a SWAT member takes a few rounds from a machine gun.

While the difficulty stems from enemy armor, not intelligence, this game is more fun than the average FPS, especially on GBA. It does require that you remember passwords, in replacement of a save feature, and there are no checkpoints in levels, meaning if you die, you’ll start all over. Nonetheless, Ecks vs. Sever is probably the strongest titles out of the 2001 batch of GBA titles.