History Videogame / ShogoMobileArmorDivision

** The [=MCAs=] all have a baton as a melee weapon, which is basically useless: There's no shortage of ammunition for your various artillery pieces, and you take damage from enemy vehicles and [=MCAs=] if you're too close when they explode.

''Shogo: Mobile Armor Division'' is a FirstPersonShooter developed and published by Creator/MonolithProductions in 1998. It was notable for being the first game to use the Lithtech UsefulNotes/GameEngine, which (through various upgrades and tinkering naturally) would later be used to develop other noted Monolith titles such as ''No One Lives Forever'', ''F.E.A.R.'', and even the recent ''Mordor'' titles. While the game was American-made, its main influence was the HumongousMecha genre of anime and manga, especially RealRobot series such as ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'', ''Franchise/{{Patlabor}}'', and ''Manga/{{Appleseed}}''.

''Shogo: Mobile Armor Division'' is a FirstPersonShooter developed and published by Creator/MonolithProductions in 1998. It was notable for being the first game to use the Lithtech UsefulNotes/GameEngine, which (through various upgrades and tinkering naturally) would later be used to develop other noted Monolith titles such as ''No One Lives Forever'', ''F.E.A.R.'', and even the recent ''Mordor'' titles. While the game was American-made, its main influence was the HumongousMecha genre of anime and manga, especially RealRobot series such as ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'', ''Anime/{{Patlabor}}'', and ''Manga/{{Appleseed}}''.

*** Officers with quarters near Sanjuro's include: [[Anime/{{Robotech}} R. Hunter]], [[Manga/GhostInTheShell M. Kusanagi]], [[Anime/MacrossPlus I. Dyson]], [[Anime/{{Patlabor}} N. Izumi and A. Shinohara]].

* {{Animesque}}

* ObviousBeta: Bits of story are missing and made up for with large exposition blocks between levels, various assets are particularly unpolished (especially with Uziel[[spoiler:/Baku]], who wields a scaled-up Juggernaut, blurry textures and all), bugs persist throughout the entire game, the balance is ''extremely'' broken and filled with FakeDifficulty, and other numerous problems. As a result, Shogo feels more like you're playing an unfinished product than it probably should. Considering this game predated ''[[{{VideoGame/Blood}} Blood II]]'' by only a month during a rather tight time for Monolith and even shared the same engine, it's not hard to see why.
** The opening video for the game itself consists of early gameplay footage and 2D artwork. While the video portions seem to be at a uniform level of polish, some sequences don't appear in the game: one video shows a school-aged boy (young Sanjuro) running towards a basketball hoop; there is no sequence like this in the finished product. The 2D artwork varies in quality, including lovingly-rendered pencil drawings, profiles that are obviously character design sheets, and hastily inked and colored portraits of characters who didn't seem to make the cut (it can be inferred that one of them is Ivan Isarevich, but the others are a mystery).

* ShoutOut: A few to its anime roots.
** A poster at the start of the game featuring an obvious {{Expy}} of [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion Rei Ayanami with a logo reading "CURV"]].
** The doll you have to find to attract the gate lady's cat is a [[VideoGame/{{Claw}} Captain Claw]] doll. You can even squeeze it to make it say "Magic Claw!".
** Officers with quarters near Sanjuro's include: [[Anime/{{Robotech}} R. Hunter]], [[Manga/GhostInTheShell M. Kusanagi]], [[Anime/MacrossPlus I. Dyson]], [[Anime/{{Patlabor}} N. Izumi and A. Shinohara]].
** [[Anime/BubblegumCrisis Silky Doll Lingerie]] billboard ads.
** Another billboard for a "Kawasuki" motorbike that looks like the ones in ''Manga/{{Akira}}''.
** There are also a couple of references to Monolith's earlier ''VideoGame/{{Blood}}'': comic books with Caleb on them and the caption "Who is Caleb?" can be found in some levels, and sometimes the enemy soldiers will speak a few lines in the weird Cultist language.

* SciFiWritersHaveNoSenseOfScale: Mostly averted, although there is one level early on where, while in MCU, you explore an underground wind-tunnel/powerstation type place. Given that the MCUs are at least 30 feet tall or so, the place must be extremely huge. There are even a few drops that function as bottomless pits. Given the scale involved, they would have to be something like 1000 feet deep.

-->--'''Sanjuro Makabe''', ''the game's OpeningMonologue''

* ArmorIsUseless: The enemies come in many varieties; some sporting basic uniforms, others use power armor, and still others pilot ten foot tall mini-mecha. While the better armored opponents have more health, the weapons do enough damage that a shotgun blast or a short burst of automatic fire kills them all equally fast. [[OhCrap The same applies to you, though.]]

* UnknownRival: Samantha. Sanjuro considers her as a weird annoyance, though he does eventually start to wonder how the hell she keeps coming back over and over again.

* MegaCorp: Shogo Industries as well Armacham Technology Corporation. Strongly implied to be the same Armacham that appears in [[VideoGame/FirstEncounterAssaultRecon F.E.A.R.]]. There is also Andra Biomechanics (the third founding corporation for the UCA, and apparently a backer for the Cronian Mining Consortium), though they don't play as large a part in the storyline as Shogo (and unlike Armacham doesn't show up in another franchise).

* TheyCallMeMisterTibbs: Invoked on another

* NiceMeanAndInbetween: Of the three main characters, Sanjuro is the mean (somewhat unusually, given he's the PlayerCharacter) being both [[AllMenArePerverts perverted]] and pretty rude most of the time (although he's not [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold really a bad guy]]) Kathryn is the nice (a long with being the [[OnlySaneWoman most reasonable person in general]]. and [[spoiler: Kura]] is the in-between, she's a good person, but is kind of a [[GoodBadGirl pervert]] as well, and doesn't hesitate from making suggestive comments to Sanjuro despite knowing that [[spoiler: her sister Kathryn (who was dating him before he realized Kura was still alive) can hear everything she says.]]

* RealRobot: In many ways, closest thing to a Gundam FPS for years. Radically different from ''VideoGame/MechWarrior'' in gameplay, firmly rooted in the style of mecha anime, with a healthy amount of StuffBlowingUp.

* SciFiWritersHaveNoSenseOfScale: Mostly averted, although there is one level early on where, while in MCU, you explore an underground wind-tunnel/powerstation type place. Given that the MCUs are at least 30 feet tall or so, the place must be extremely huge (there are even a few drops that function as bottomless pits. Given the scale involved, they would have to be something like 1000 feet deep.)

* OffModel: Between the box art and opening artwork that seems to have an external artist, the official artwork for every character being rather all over the place, the in-game dialogue portraits that are way more detailed and yet look like they have a different art style per character, and the actual character models being pretty damn fugly, ''no one'' looks very consistent beyond their base design idea. The best example is Sanjuro himself, as none of his designs seem to match up whatsoever between all three, and his various artwork can't even decide if he's got black or blue hair.

-->'''[[OverprotectiveDad Admiral Akkaraju]]''': You mean Lieutenant ''Commander'' Akkaraju. Yes, she is.

* OverprotectiveDad: Again, Admiral Akkaraju.

** The opening video for the game itself consists of early gameplay footage and 2D artwork. While the video portions seem to be at a uniform level of polish, some sequences don't appear in the game: one video shows a school-aged boy (young Sanjuro) running towards a basketball hoop; there is no sequence like this in the finished product. The 2D artwork varies in quality, including lovingly-rendered pencil drawings, profiles that are obviously character design sheets, and hastily inked and colored portraits of characters who didn't seem to make the cut (it can be inferred that one of them is Ivan, but the others are a mystery).

** The opening video for the game itself consists of early gameplay footage and 2D artwork. While the video portions seem to be at a uniform level of polish, some sequences don't appear in the game: one video shows a school-aged boy running towards a basketball hoop; there is no sequence like this in the finished product. The 2D artwork varies in quality, including lovingly-rendered pencil drawings, profiles that are obviously character design sheets, and hastily inked and colored portraits of characters who don't actually seem to be in the game.

* KarmaHoudini: Subverted with [[spoiler: Admiral Akkaraju in the ending where you side with the fallen.]] Assuming you manage to [[spoiler: shut down the Kato cannon before it fires]] he just yells some insults and runs away, seemingly escaping. Once you get to the ending, however, it reveals he was caught and tried for war crimes.

* OffModel: Between the box art and opening artwork that seems to have an external artist, the official artwork for every character being rather all over the place, the in-game dialogue portraits that are way more detailed and yet look like they have a different art style per character, and the actual character models being pretty damn fugly, ''no one'' looks very consistent beyond their base design idea. The best example is Sanjuro himself, as none of his designs seem to match up whatsoever between all three, and his various artwork can't even decide if he's got black or [[YouGottaHaveBlueHair blue]] hair.

* AbsurdlyShortLevel: The level [[spoiler: "Baku"]] is just a short elevator ride where, after a few seconds, a really easy boss shows up, and, as soon as you kill him, the level just ends (the cutscene at the start is probably longer than the level itself!.)

* AnimeThemeSong: [[http://youtu.be/AoK0SzNsR2I "Negai" ("Wish")]], by Miho Nemoto.

* VideoGameCrueltyPotential: Occasionally you can come across civilians in the world who either just go about their daily routine or cower from nearby gunfire. There's basically nothing stopping you from murdering them all, and in one case you can avert InfantImmortality personally. This can even be used to skip a SideQuest by just murdering the quest giver and her husband. No one ever mentions this afterwards, and the same violence can even be applied towards allied soldiers when on a mission (though they might try to fight back).

* CoolStarship: The Leviathan. It’s so large that the last four levels of one route take place in it, and there’s a tram that the crew uses to get around.

* CriticalHit: Inflicting one restores your health and kills the enemy almost instantly. If you receive one, you’re most likely dead.

* KnightTemplarParent: When [[spoiler:Kura’s abducted while waiting to meet with Sanjuro]], Admiral Akkaraju threatens to kill Sanjuro with his own hands if she comes to harm.

* OutsideContextProblem: The whole reason the Fallen exist to fend off the UCA and Ryo's Shogo Industries? [[spoiler: Cothineal, a StarfishAlien that happens to apparently be the source of the highly valuable Kato energy both factions seek, as it made Toshiro and Baku into the BrainwashedAndCrazy Gabriel and Uziel respectively to protect the planet. No one really seems to be too concerned about a sentient alien at large, though, and focus more on Gabriel and Ryo.]]