In the film, "The Matrix," Neo (Keanu Reeves) watches Morpheus leap across a huge gap between two skyscrapers. Keanu then shows off his stunning acting ability with a slack-mouthed "Whoa!" That is exactly what we said when we first played Expendable, slack jawed yokel gaze and all.

The opening sequence for Rage's new top down shooter, Expendable, says it all. You're born fully grown, your brain is zapped with the ancient art of war, then you're dropped onto a hostile planet to kick some alien ass. Through the miracles of modern science, this entire process only takes about twenty seconds. Like so many video games today, Rage's designers have struck off the oppressive chains of plot, dialogue, and character in order to bring you an amazingly violent, beautifully done, and thrilling third person shooter.

It's Ikari Warriors on crack. It's Alien Syndrome on mescaline. It's Heavy Gear on speed. It's Smash TV on a Pentium III 500 with 128MB of RAM and a Voodoo3 3500 in gloriously bloody 3D. And through it all, Expendable cuts into the military with a silly satiric edge like that found in Harry Harrison's "Bill, the Galactic Hero" series. Like you, Bill was expendable, but at least he had a name. You don't even get that luxury.

The pace in Expendable is fast, furious, fun, fantastic, and can be described with a whole lot of other F-words we haven't even listed (and won't). There is no rest for the weary. From start to stop you're running and shooting, mowing down alien slime. Intense is the best word to describe it. In no time you'll be leaning forward, your heart pumping, on your toes, with sweat in your eyes and cramps in your shooting finger. After a few hours of Expendable, when you run out of continues, you'll have to go lie down till the shaking stops. Rage needs a warning on the package, "Do not use if you have a history of heart trouble."