| Phantom Dust review |
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So far Microsoft's plan to lure Japanese gamers to the Xbox with exclusive games has fallen flat on its face and has bloodied its own nose on numerous occasions. Nezmix, a cutesy rodent-based adventure game, was lucky to break into five-figure sales after scathing reviews and a poor reception from gamers. Then there was Magatama, a sword-swinging adventure game with some impressive visuals, which looked to be doing everything right but, unfortunately, it was up against stiff competition and all eyes were instead staring lovingly at Tecmo's Ninja Gaiden.
Next up (bracing itself for the fall) is Phantom Dust. This title is a little more anticipated than Microsoft's previous efforts because of the man behind it - Yukio Futatsugi. Once an employee of Sega he headed development on the much beloved Panzer Dragoon series during the Saturn era, his most notable work being on the 4-disc epic Panzer Dragoon Saga; a game widely regarded as classic.
If there's one area Futatsugi-san excels in, it is creating a deeply fantastical setting populated with rich characters. Borrowing cues from the classic manga Battle Angel Alita, you play the role of an amnesiac found by a band of underground dwellers who call themselves the Visions. Also having been afflicted with memory loss - caused by a strange layer of dust that blankets the planet's surface, otherwise referred to as "Phantom Dust" - these people have no recollection of who they were, or where they came from; but they all share a vision of a ruin with an overwhelming urge to find it. They don't know what this strange ruin is, or why they need to locate it so badly - they just know it is important. And so the adventure begins.
Futatsugi's vision was to inject the strategy and depth of a card-battling game into that of a fast, action-based game. This, for the most part, has been accomplished. The action element comes in the form of basic third-person arena-focused combat, whilst the strategy is born from the three-hundred-plus psychokinetic powers at your disposal. Harnessing the power of the elements, these skills fall into six distinct categories, such as attack and defence. For every skill there's another that's capable of countering it, like some a grand game of Rock, Paper, Scissors.
With so many things to take into consideration, the game eases gently into the action with a selection of introductory missions, teaching the basics of the different skill types. Once adept with the more simple powers the game gives you full reign over your skills - this is where the card-battle-type strategy comes in. You essentially create a 'deck' of skills, commonly referred to as an Arsenal. This can then be taken into battle, where the skills are dealt out randomly through three spawning points in the arena, where they can be picked up on the fly. Battles are won or lost based purely on the balance of the Arsenal, so a fair bit of forward planning needs to be done.
These battles take place in a variety of locations amongst the derelict remains of the planet's surface. Whether it be a crumbling office block or an abandoned highway, the designers have done a great job in creating an eerie 'ghost town' atmosphere. What is particularly impressive is the way the dilapidated scenery can be destroyed. Stray shots leave impacts marks in walls and pillars, whilst the more powerful attacks can destroy whole sections, rendering some areas unreachable on foot. Fall from a great height and the character will impact on the floor, leaving a sizeable crater.
Combat generally consists of one or two none-too-smart enemies, which more often than not can be defeated with cheap peek-a-boo tactics. It doesn't take a great deal to confuse them either; stand in the right place and they will be undecided as to which route to take, mindlessly running back and forth, thus allowing themselves to be picked off as if they were ducks in a fairground shooting gallery. Also you very rarely go into battle alone, as most of the missions will allow an ally to fight at your side. Whilst this will take some of the heat off your back when fighting multiple enemies, your friend unfortunately shares similar levels of mental faculty as the dim-witted foe. On top of that, as the skills spawn in a single area, you tend not to wander too far as not to be left high and dry without any means of attack or defence. There's a whole arena to exploit, but through design the player is anchored to just a small part of it, and coupled with the slow introduction of new levels it doesn't take long for interest to wane.
Things do pick up a little when you face a human opponent. Four players can duke it out either on Xbox Live or via system link, or two players on split-screen, but some of the inherent single-player problems also apply here (such as the skill-spawning issue mentioned above). The fights can be a lot more intense as your opponent will no doubt have an IQ higher than plankton, and with so many different configurations of skills, in theory you could never meet an identical opponent twice. But again, it doesn’t take long for the novelty to wear thin.
The main hub of the game centres on the aforementioned underground colony. Here you can walk around freely, chat to the locals, shop for new skills and setup your Arsenal ready for forthcoming battles. Talk to the right people and you might get the opportunity to partake in a few sub-quests, with the prospect of discovering new skills. Whilst all this is great to begin with, and helps to draw the player into the game, having to physically move the character around to access certain options can grow tiresome. You can't even bring up a basic options menu to change the sound settings without having to pay a visit to the Visions HQ. A simple 'jump to' function would have been an ideal solution.
On the outside the game has everything going for it - beautifully stylised visuals, atmospheric sound and an interesting storyline - but on the inside it’s riddled with bad design choices that could have easily been avoided with a bit of extra thought from the developer. Although the game can be very enjoyable at times, especially in multiplayer, these design issues do drag the game down into the pits of mediocrity - not the ideal place for a game designed to win over the Japanese market. |
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System: Microsoft Xbox
Genre: Action
Developer: Microsoft Game Studios
Publisher: Microsoft
Players: 1-4
Version: Japan
Writer: Dave Ward
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Pros:
- Rich storyline
- Looks fantastic
- Lots of depth
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Cons:
- Poor AI
- Combat gets old quickly
- Terrible design decisions
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