It is a dark time for the people of Hillys. Morale is low as day after day people vanish or are killed by the mysterious creatures known as the Domz. It is only through the help of the Alpha Section warriors that the people survive at all. Or so it would seem....
This game brought to you from Ubisoft marks the first major action/adventure style game to hit the Xbox in quite some time. The question becomes, can a story heavy action adventure game similar to those Nintendo is famous for actually make it on the Xbox?
As is often the case with Action/Adventure Hybrids these days, this game seems very familiar to those who played Legend of Zelda Ocarina of time. From the use of the trigger controls to lock onto a bad guy, to the handful of mini-games which Final Fantasy seems to have made huge. The action itself is really just your standard button mashing with a few possible combinations. You will find that there is so little combat in the game that you never do more than button mash when the bad guys appear. The game does change a bit when you get the disc launcher, which you use in a FPS type control accessed through the same view that your camera is used. The camera aspect of this game seems to mimic the Metroid Prime mode where you can get some information about enemies that are in the areas you travel through. The controls of the hovercraft are fairly tight, however you should never really fin yourself too challenged when the races begin. One last note needs to be made regarding gameplay, that of the inclusion of stealth missions. A large percentage of this game involves you crouching in shadows or moving in a crouch behind enemies. This can be both exciting and frustrating as its always just a matter of time until you figure out he pattern the enemy soldiers move in.
Graphically this game on the XBOX is displayed in 480p greatness and it certainly adds to this game. You can tell the developers of the game love the color green, but aside from that you will see fully fleshed out beautiful areas that you travel though. The enemies are fairly well done and the water effects are also quite nice. The true beauty of the game is seen when you move around during sunset/sunrise and see the game through the different lighting levels. The way the cut scenes are delivered also lends a very cinematic feel to this game and its obvious that much care was given to the look of this game.
The sounds in this game, like the graphics show that some attention and care were placed when incorporating them into this game. From the aptly titles songs like Propaganda, to the expected change of music during enemy or boss encounters this game shows a lot of polish. The voice acting was also very well-done and the acting wasn't bad at all.
This game contains no multiplayer and these features are therefore not rated.
The extras in this game are very sparse including little past being able to seen the credits whenever you wish. There is also a decent marble game which you can use on your mdisc should you manage to collect all 88 pearls, a task which in the end is not really worth all of the trouble.
I completed this game in just around 10 hours and that was taking my time and trying to collect all the pearls in the game. While this was a very fun game, its length is somewhat of a concern for me. Had they added another 2 or 3 levels maybe an additional 5 or 6 hours and I would have been truly happy. The game seems to take a while to develop and open up, and before you know it, you are facing the slightly difficult/frustrating end boss. The look of this game was stunning and the story itself was very well-developed. More length would have made this easily one of the best games of the year. Still as the game is now budget priced, it is certainly worth a buy or an extended rental.
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