The film Reign of Fire was, in my not so humble opinion, among the best action movies of the year. On top of holding the distinction of being the only good dragon movie to be seen in, well, ever; it had Matthew McConaughey's battle axe, which has got to be the coolest piece of brutality proppage since The Evil Dead's chainsaw. Sadly, the game version of ROF has neither the killer axe from hell, nor any of the excitement that made the film such a fun experience.
Reign of Fire puts you in the driver's seat of one of many dragon-busting machines, including a tank, and a jeep that controls similarly to Halo's warthog. This is the basis of the control scheme, and anyone who is familiar with Halo's controls should be able to pick this scheme up rather quickly, since they are so similar. Your left stick is the gas and brake, and the right stick aims. Where you aim, the vehicle moves. Simple enough.
Unfortunately, the scheme is rather clunky, and downright unusable when firing anything but lock-on missiles. The crosshair seems to swerve while attempting to drive in one direction and fire in another, which is a very essential maneuver when under attack from swarms of dragons.
Perhaps this wouldn't be so annoying if the developers hadn't apparently been in on the secret: the game hardly ever penalizes you for not hauling ass, thus negating any form of tension that being under attack from fire-breathing beasts should rightfully bring. In one level, I was charged with protecting some farm trucks. I didn't get to the objective for about 5 minutes, and the game still gave me full credit for said objective after I shot down two or three of the tens of dragons flying in the air. I'm not saying that I wanted a miserably strict time limit in the vein of Stuntman, but I do think that a group of colonists would be fried in the span of 5 minutes, especially when translated into game time.
To further complaints of sloppy design, the stat tracking system for the end of the level is severely flawed and inaccurate. It would seem that each kill gives you credit for 5 or 6, as one level, I couldn't have shot down more than 40-50 dragons, yet the game gave me credit for 166. What makes this even more ridiculous is the inclusion of a medal system: I made gold medals oftentimes when I was not even trying. The game attempts to make up for its inadequacies by handing everything to the player on a silver platter, which doesn't bode well for it in my mind.
Ultimately, though the game looks decent, and the premise is a great one that lends itself nicely to a game, the gameplay (or lack thereof,) effectively ruined any fun I hoped to have with Reign of Fire. Apparently the dragon missions are more fun, but these are only unlocked after you trudge through the human campaign. Only die hard fans of the movie need apply, and even they may want to rent first.
-George
Company Line Humans Battle Dragons In A Captivating Fight For Survival In This Story-Driven Action Game
Bath, England (October 10th, 2001) – BAM! Entertainment has announced that it will publish Reign of Fire for the Nintendo GameCube. The game is based on Spyglass Entertainment's multi-million dollar action film, Reign of Fire, set for release in summer 2002. Reign of Fire for the PlayStation 2 will follow the movie's story, which pairs a dragon-slayer and a hardened survivor who join forces to battle fire-breathing dragons. The game is currently in production at UK-based development studio Kuju Entertainment Ltd. and is due to release shortly after the movie in early fall 2002.
The film stars Matthew McConaughey as an American ex-marine and Christian Bale as a British castle dweller who team up to fight off a brood of fire-breathing dragons. Rob Bowman, best known for his work as director of numerous episodes of the X-Files and X-FILES, the movie, directs the action/sci-fi story based in post-apocalyptic future England. As the story goes, twenty years ago, a group of workmen unwittingly awakened the last of the great dragons from its slumber deep below the Jubilee Line extension to the London Underground. As the film begins, the dragons have emerged from below the city seeking to return to dominance over man after a centuries-long rest. Groups of humans survive and live in whatever buildings and structures have survived, trying to scratch a living and farm from the scarred earth, while avoiding the attacks of roving dragons. Bale's character, whose mother was killed by a dragon many years earlier, is now leading a clan of survivors. Together with McConaughey's character, he hopes to hunt down the original dragon.
Reign of Fire will follow the movie's story with gamers playing as either a human fighting for survival, or as a fire-breathing dragon out to extinguish the humans. In the game, the player will view the action from a third-person perspective as they start off as a member of a resistance group, the Kentucky Irregulars. The group, which is led by the rough and tumble Denton Van Zan (MATTHEW MCCONAUGHEY), hails from the United States. The group has arrived in England based on information concerning the origin of the dragon threat.
They meet up with another group of survivors, whose leader, Quinn Abercromby (CHRISTIAN BALE), was present as a young boy at the location that the original dragon first arose and whose mother was killed by the beast. Together these groups must defend themselves from the dragon threat and eventually make their way to London and a dramatic final conflict with the ultimate dragon.
Reign of Fire will offer the player spectacularly scorched and devastated landscapes that are a result of the fierce battles between these two species competing for survival. The game will capture the atmosphere and tension of the movie's dramatic feel in a pyrotechnic maelstrom as players view wrecked forts, burned landscapes, destroyed vehicles and more. Reign of Fire will offer reactive music, which will give the game a film-like atmosphere, in addition to showcasing spectacular and realistic fire effects, which are an important and integral part of the game.
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