Developer Spark Unlimited previously worked on Turning Point – another game that had a very interesting plot twist but sadly ended up being fairly average on the whole. Hopefully though they will have learnt some lessons from that particular title and manage to turn this promising idea into a solid shooter this time around. With the plethora of triple-A titles due to hit the shelves at this time of year you have to wonder whether or not they are confident in their own product though, as the odds of another generic shooter making an impact seem to be slim to none.
Finally an answer to the griffon vs. werewolf conundrum.
The strongest element of the game by far is the plot. You play the part of master thief Charles Deckard (whose name seems to have come from a generic master thief moniker generator) who has been tasked with stealing a certain object from a New York museum. Unbeknownst to him the object in question is Pandora’s Box – known repository for quite a large amount of badness. Sadly he doesn’t just steal the item and hand it over to his mysterious employers (the world, and my game-playing sanity, would be a better place if he had) but instead manages to open it and unleash all manner of beasties on an unsuspecting population. Frankly the game doesn’t get any better than this, as the opening scenes see all manner of terror unleashed as you scurry to safety. As introductions go, it’s a very good one but it just never seems to take off from that point onwards.
After opening the box Deckard is blessed (or cursed) with the Signet, which is capable of storing animus power from the creatures you defeat. You can also snag power from random points around the level which detracts somewhat from the coolness – as if the developers knew you needed it for certain areas and wanted to make sure you didn’t run out. Sadly though the Signet is pretty poorly realised and not that useful. Its power can be used to heal yourself, blast enemies and objects aside or power certain items. Gosh, what an amazing use of mythical powers indeed. Would it have really hurt to give you a few new abilities as you progress or even to make it more integral to battling your mythical foes? It just seems like a bit of a gimmick and one that’s not all that great when it boils down to it.
Wait until you see the whites of their eyes.
Obviously the foes you meet along the way are the meat and drink of this whole affair and they are pretty impressive on the whole. The character models look great and everything looks suitably fearsome. If I had some criticisms (and I do), it’s that the creatures seem extremely random and it just seems like the developers threw in whatever they deemed cool rather than what would fit in with the legends of Pandora’s Box. The creatures are also fairly boring in terms of combat as the majority can simply be shot to pieces, while the rest require a very small amount of brain power to defeat. Allow me to give a basic example: Oh no, a fire drake – and my bullets seem to be having no effect, if only there was some water nearby – oh wait, there is. Sound patronising? Well that’s how you’ll feel when you actually play the game too. It’s as if you’ve been told about all of these wonderful beasts that need to be purged but then kept on a very tight leash in case you get hurt.
The game is far too on-rails for my liking as well. You’ll spend most of your time in either New York or London but you’ll struggle to tell the difference between either of them due to the generic nature of the dim and repetitive environments. Enemies come at you relentlessly until you get to the next set piece or dubiously designed puzzle. The fact that you are a master thief also seems to play very little part in the game, with the exception of a few easy to hack door locks. Surely a thief would be a tad more sneaky and be able to outfox his foes – rather than just relying on brute force and a few environmental tricks. The whole game just sees you reeling from on set piece to the next with no avenue for exploration or alternative strategies.
It doesn’t help that the Unreal Engine is so shoddily put through its paces either. Characters aside some of the ticks and glitches would have been embarrassing on a last generation console let only the 360, as the background textures are extremely ragged in places and you’ll occasionally find yourself seeing through walls (unless that’s a power of the Signet they didn’t tell us about). The game also suffers from pretty bad slow down in places too and the fact you can’t skip the cut-scenes is one of my pet peevs. It’s a real shame too as some of the individual creatures are a sight to behold and everything runs along beautifully at times, you just feel that with a little more tightening up the whole thing would have benefited as a result.
It’s quiet…….too quiet.
I almost forgot to mention the multiplayer, which is strange as I’m pretty sure that’s what happened during development too. There is one mode which sees you face off against another time and some deadly werewolves in a bid to grab as much animus as you can. The three way aspect is an interesting twist but one that doesn’t really work in practice due to the scrappy nature of things. Would it really have hurt them to put in some standard death-match or capture the flag modes too? It seems as though the whole thing was tacked on at the last minuet to pander to the LIVE masses. The most damning indictment comes when you try and find a game online – as there is no one to be found. If you can’t even play a title at launch then the online is never going to take off.
The achievements here are lacklustre and are mainly for story progression, the one bright spot comes from the pun related “Doubull Troubull” which gave me a bit of a laugh as it shows that developers are paying some attention to achievements at least. The online ones will also cause some grief as boosting is pretty much mandatory due to the fact no one plays this game online at all; so good luck finding seven fellow sufferers to complete this tripe with. If you get past that though things are fairly easy going and the main game will only take 10 hours all told. .
Overall this game is decidedly average with a few clever ideas and the odd nice touch failing to raise it above the mire. The graphics and sound are barely adequate for this generation and the whole thing becomes a race to end – not to witness the ending (which sadly seems to promise a sequel) but just to get it over with. If you start playing this game then your only motivation for completing it will be to move onto something much better – and at the moment there are so many worthier games lining up for your money.
Decent, and I use the term loosely, voice acting and an over the top soundtrack mean things could have been a lot worse. Still it’s nothing too impressive.
Anything good visually, like the character models, effects and some entertaining cut-scenes is brutally undermined by shocking slowdown, occasional pop up and dubious textures. I think it’s safe to say that the Unreal Engine has never looked worse.
A dull and linear shooter, matters aren’t helped by the fact things are heavily scripted and the one gimmick in the Animus signet is woefully underdeveloped.
With some many excellent titles in the weeks surrounding this games release' it comes up short in every department and will soon be lost in the midst. It’s fun for a short time but aside from a couple of clever set pieces it’s sadly lacking.
Barring one clever pun related aside this is a very generic and dull list. Matters aren’t helped by the fact zero people play the online component so boosting becomes a necessity rather than a help..
A game that tries to get by on one good idea but fails miserably, thus creating a very average game all around. The multiplayer mode feels tacked on and poorly realised too, so long term play is non-existant. Frankly you’d do well to look elsewhere for your kicks..
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