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CyCo PL · 10-05-2005, 07:14 AM

The game was very unique, but I'm generally disappointed with it. The game feels very open-ended and free at first, but then you eventually realize that the game is extremely linear, more linear than lots of games out today. The coolest parts of the game are the parts where it's being played for you, you just tap the right directions on your analog sticks. It was cooler and newer when they were doing it on Sega CD over ten years ago, but it was pretty cool nonetheless.

My main problem is, the gameplay is really repetitive. There's the Resident Evil style "walking around" parts, then there's the "minigame" parts, then there's the "stealth" parts.

Lots of the time, the "walking around" parts have time limits. That combined with terrible controls and camera angles equals some extremely frustrating moments. I was about to punch a hole in my monitor at certain parts, because of the controls. How can I explain this? While you are walking around, the camera angles like to change. But when the camera angles change, if you are holding a certain direction from the LAST angle, your direction doesn't change. Let's say there's a part where you are walking towards a door near the top of the screen, so you are holding UP on the stick. Then, the camera angle changes abruptly so the door you're heading towards is on the right side of the screen instead of the top of the screen. If you're still holding UP, then you'll actually be walking RIGHT, towards the door on the right of the screen. This might seem convenient to some people, but when there's a time limit involved, it helps when the character goes the direction you are actually pressing. I hope that wasn't too confusing...

The "mini-game" parts seem to make up most of the game, or at least the interesting parts of the game. They're basically just eye candy-- long, scripted events where the only control you have is hitting whatever directions they tell you to hit on the analog sticks. Anybody that had a Sega CD has probably already played a few games that work like this... "Dragon's Lair" and "Revenge of the Ninja" are the only ones that come to mind right now. There's also the "alternate L and R" minigames, where you hit L and R really fast to make something happen. This isn't really a spoiler, but the final encounter at the end of the game... it's just a big minigame.

There are a couple "stealth" parts of the game, where you generally just try to sneak past soldiers. The path that you're supposed to take in these stealth areas are already plotted out for you on the minimap, you just have to figure out where to sneak. The camera angles frustrated me here, but not as much as before, because the stealth parts don't have time limits. There are lots of autosaves during these parts, and if you get caught, you usually don't have to go very far to get back to where you were.

None of that really matters though, the story of the game is really what matters in this type of game, and I would have to say that it's a pretty cool story. It starts off really awesome, and then kind of just turns weird. What most of the reviews say is right, the story seems really rushed near the last third of the game. I played the Euro version, and the love scene could have just as easily not been there. To tell the truth, it seems like it wasn't originally supposed to be there. There's no relationship between the two characters leading up the sex scene, it's just kind of like "Hey, I love you. *bang*". To me, it seemed kind of... tasteless. It's kind of a big plot hole... Actually, I wouldn't say a "big" plot hole, I think "cavernous" would be a better word, or "gargantuan", although that word is a bit overused nowadays.

The replay factor of this game, to me, seems very little to none. There are certain parts where you might think, "I wonder what would happen if I did this, instead of that?", and the game lets you go back to every chapter of the game and find out what would have happened, which is usually the same thing. The game also lets you go back and watch the minigame action sequences without having to play them, which is a good thing, because usually you're too busy trying to hit the right analog stick directions during these scenes to actually pay attention to what's going on. You can also unlock (with bonus points you find in the game or get from beating the game) other things like music from the soundtrack, random game artwork, or different mini-games that were in the game. Unlockable stuff in games is usually a trick to get people to keep playing the game after they beat it, and it's no different for this game.

In conclusion, this post was too long.

10-05-2005, 07:14 AM	#26 (permalink)
CyCo PL Addict Location: Tulsa, OK	The game was very unique, but I'm generally disappointed with it. The game feels very open-ended and free at first, but then you eventually realize that the game is extremely linear, more linear than lots of games out today. The coolest parts of the game are the parts where it's being played for you, you just tap the right directions on your analog sticks. It was cooler and newer when they were doing it on Sega CD over ten years ago, but it was pretty cool nonetheless. My main problem is, the gameplay is really repetitive. There's the Resident Evil style "walking around" parts, then there's the "minigame" parts, then there's the "stealth" parts. Lots of the time, the "walking around" parts have time limits. That combined with terrible controls and camera angles equals some extremely frustrating moments. I was about to punch a hole in my monitor at certain parts, because of the controls. How can I explain this? While you are walking around, the camera angles like to change. But when the camera angles change, if you are holding a certain direction from the LAST angle, your direction doesn't change. Let's say there's a part where you are walking towards a door near the top of the screen, so you are holding UP on the stick. Then, the camera angle changes abruptly so the door you're heading towards is on the right side of the screen instead of the top of the screen. If you're still holding UP, then you'll actually be walking RIGHT, towards the door on the right of the screen. This might seem convenient to some people, but when there's a time limit involved, it helps when the character goes the direction you are actually pressing. I hope that wasn't too confusing... The "mini-game" parts seem to make up most of the game, or at least the interesting parts of the game. They're basically just eye candy-- long, scripted events where the only control you have is hitting whatever directions they tell you to hit on the analog sticks. Anybody that had a Sega CD has probably already played a few games that work like this... "Dragon's Lair" and "Revenge of the Ninja" are the only ones that come to mind right now. There's also the "alternate L and R" minigames, where you hit L and R really fast to make something happen. This isn't really a spoiler, but the final encounter at the end of the game... it's just a big minigame. There are a couple "stealth" parts of the game, where you generally just try to sneak past soldiers. The path that you're supposed to take in these stealth areas are already plotted out for you on the minimap, you just have to figure out where to sneak. The camera angles frustrated me here, but not as much as before, because the stealth parts don't have time limits. There are lots of autosaves during these parts, and if you get caught, you usually don't have to go very far to get back to where you were. None of that really matters though, the story of the game is really what matters in this type of game, and I would have to say that it's a pretty cool story. It starts off really awesome, and then kind of just turns weird. What most of the reviews say is right, the story seems really rushed near the last third of the game. I played the Euro version, and the love scene could have just as easily not been there. To tell the truth, it seems like it wasn't originally supposed to be there. There's no relationship between the two characters leading up the sex scene, it's just kind of like "Hey, I love you. bang". To me, it seemed kind of... tasteless. It's kind of a big plot hole... Actually, I wouldn't say a "big" plot hole, I think "cavernous" would be a better word, or "gargantuan", although that word is a bit overused nowadays. The replay factor of this game, to me, seems very little to none. There are certain parts where you might think, "I wonder what would happen if I did this, instead of that?", and the game lets you go back to every chapter of the game and find out what would have happened, which is usually the same thing. The game also lets you go back and watch the minigame action sequences without having to play them, which is a good thing, because usually you're too busy trying to hit the right analog stick directions during these scenes to actually pay attention to what's going on. You can also unlock (with bonus points you find in the game or get from beating the game) other things like music from the soundtrack, random game artwork, or different mini-games that were in the game. Unlockable stuff in games is usually a trick to get people to keep playing the game after they beat it, and it's no different for this game. In conclusion, this post was too long.