Post by Bytor on Jul 3, 2009 12:35:06 GMT -5
-Visuals- 9.1/10
The graphics may the high point of the game. It is simply wonderful to look at. The backgrounds and areas you explore are all excellent. The characters themselves are also very well developed with definite visual expressions based upon the actions actually happening in the game. Even up close the resolution and textures are really, especially for the PS2 very, very well rendered.
-Sound- 8.8/10
Combine superb graphics with very good voice overs and you have a game in which you care about the characters and what is going on in the game. The soundtrack itself suits the game wonderfully. It definitely sets the mood and created an over all effect that adds to the ambiance of the game.
-Gameplay- 7/10
I'd give SCE Studios Cambridge an A+ for effort, but a C+ at best for accomplishment. The battle system itself is best described as a button masher, and while some very good games use the same technique at least there the buttons mashed may, or may not have great effect. Here, if you succeed in your action your action succeeds, now, I realize that is the basic core of the system, but, it is simply way too simple here. As you wander around the world you will also be presented with various puzzles, and I use the term loosely, the vast majority of which will take you approximately two minutes to solve, once again simply to simple. The strong point of the game is also it weakest. You can play as the lead character, Jen or her companion gargoyle Scree, each as their strong points and weaknesses, but, you will spend the majority of the game trying to reunite them, typically Jen does the fighting, Scree scouts ahead and solves the "puzzles", once again, simply too easy and at times a tad boring to be honest.
-Story- 6/10
You play as Jen, a heavy metal chic who's boyfriend, the lead singer in a band, is abducted by demons, you awake in a hospital where a gargoyle named Scree convinces you to follow him in order to rescue your boyfriend. You are lead to an alternate world filled with places to explore and enemies to defeat, pretty basic, I actually feel the story was strictly secondary (and maybe tertiary, lol) to the graphics and attempted innovative battle system
-Overall- 8.1/10
SCE Studios Cambridg made one heck of an effort putting together a great game, unfortunately they didn't succeed, the strong points, the graphics and ambiance, are truly wonderful, but the weak points simply bring the game down way too much. A game must be fun and challenging, and while at times the game can be entertaining over all it simply gets a little boring, it's like watching a great looking movie which has little or no story.