• Publisher: Metro3D
  • Release Date: May 6, 2003
Metascore
26 out of 100

Generally unfavorable - based on 8 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 0 out of 8
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 8
  3. Negative: 8 out of 8
  1. In many respects, Stake is the antithesis of "Super Smash Bros. Melee" and that game's best features.
  2. Though a decent idea on paper, Stake has poor controls, pathetic graphics, a terrible camera, and sound that even makes your custom soundtracks seem lame. The entire package just seems like it needs a lot more work.
  3. It is never a good sign when most of your fun comes from laughing at the game, and you derive enjoyment in continuing to play so you can find what else is wrong with it. Skip this one. It represents a low water mark in my library of arena fighting games.
  4. I’m not sure if there was a deadline for the game and the developers just slept through the development process or something, and threw something together at the last minute, but this can’t be what Metro3D was hoping for.
  5. 23
    Yeah, it's bad. Yup, it's boring. And you got it -- It's not worth a purchase or a rental.
  6. Metro3D should invest in one more stake, but it should be one of the wooden variety and plunged directly into the heart of this monstrosity. [Aug 2003, p.89]
  7. 20
    Awful plot, abysmal gameplay, crappy graphics, and spartan sound bytes: these features do not a winner make.
  8. Akin to a dirty secret, such as catching your best mate's mother in bed with the dog, Stake is a something that is best forgotten for fear of some sort of mental trauma a few years down the line.
User Score

Generally unfavorable- based on 5 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 5
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 5
  3. Negative: 4 out of 5
  1. AriS.
    1
    AI: Awful. The enemies dogpiled my character and pummeled her to death once or twice. They also ran away and used magic at a distance, something I had no idea how to do, if my character was able to use magic at all, which I didn’t stick around long enough to find out. Music: Awful. The sound effects were cheap, and the music was annoying and repetitious, sounding like some pseudo-Oriental technocrap. Not even remotely exciting. Gameplay: Awful. I found that I executed a massive 12 hit combo by hitting the same attack button 12 times in a row. Thrilling. And the game only has 2 attack buttons. And although there is a jump feature (which got me killed more times than it helped, since there was never a bottomless pit too far away), it was impossible to jump and attack at the same time. I found my character running around a level picking up such incomprehensible items as a giant boot, a giant winged boot, and a giant jalapeño, none of which made any appreciable difference in my character’s power level, so I guess they weren’t power-ups. I still can’t figure out what they were. Setup – rules: Awful. Well, passable, really. It took me a while to figure out how to change my character or the screen options, but I guess it could have been a lot worse. After having seen how awful everything else is about this game, I wouldn’t be surprised. Sprite use: Awful. The magic effects looked cheesy and uninteresting. Dynamics: Awful. The camera was constantly in my face, and the only options it gave me were to zoom out, zoom in (allowing me a close-up shot of my female character’s cleavage, which was about the only thing well done in this whole game), or place the camera from in front of my character to over her head. However, I was unable to rotate the camera, so the only time I could see important things like the two other CPU characters out to kill me, or massive swinging boulders that knocked me backwards into a bottomless pit (just after having respawned, mind you), was when they were right in my face, i.e. when it was too late. Full Review »
  2. BigDave
    0
    I found this game being wolworths but i played it once then gave it to my 3 year old next door neighbor,even he snaped th disc!this game is so rubish! stay away from stake.im.....BIG DAVEEEEE! Full Review »
  3. KyoK.
    1
    Stupid game!