Ok, as plots go, the best we can say is, "There is one." Requiem's plot is about as complicated as those of Quake and Doom. Basically, you pick up the shotgun and start killing. What the creators of Requiem did beyond this, is attempt to weave that simple and unimaginative plot into the very fabric of the game. Missions have specific goals that are attempts to further the plot. There is also interaction with various characters throughout the game. Unfortunately, you're still dealing with the same old crappy plot. The thread Cyclone Studios weaves happens to be a bit frayed and knotty.

This attempt to weave the plot into game play leads to the problem at the very core of Requiem. It is so damn linear! Your path is pretty much exactly set from start to finish. Your exploring is highly limited. You get to do what the game designers intended you to do, and nothing more. Remember the very first level of Quake? Remember how you could sneak into the side entrance of the last room? Remember how you could go into the stream and loop around back to the start of the level? That kind of wide-open level design is completely missing from Requiem. The lack of openness gives you the feeling that you're being taken on a guided tour of death and destruction, as opposed to being the creator of it.

On the subject of death and destruction, we should comment on the weapon choices of Requiem: Avenging Angel. They pretty much bore us to heck and back. Pistol, assault rifle, shotgun, grenade launcher, sniper rifle, rail gun, and rocket launcher. The models of the weapons are equally uninspired. No effort was put into the weaponry, and it shows.

The way that Requiem attempts to set itself apart from the pack, and partially succeeds, is in it's use of angelic powers to expand game play. You have a host of powers that fall into four categories: Offensive, Defensive, Maneuver, and Special. Offensive powers are more weapons to add spice to the recipe. There are only two offensive powers worth mentioning. "Blood boil," which, wonder of wonders, causes your opponent to bulge and contort in odd ways as their blood boils. And "to salt" which turns your opponent into a pillar of salt which then crumbles to the floor. The defensive powers and maneuver powers are not even worth mentioning individually. There are a few special powers of note. One lets you possess enemies for a short amount of time; the other lets you plant the suggestion in an enemy's mind that they want to kill all their friends and drink their blood.

The actual control of Malachi in combat is just fine. They did not mess up too badly here. But the method for selecting and using your various angelic powers is a damn pain. Because of this poor design, you'll find yourself rarely using more than one angelic power at a time in combat. It takes too long to switch between them.