As a general fan of consoles, I would prefer all of them to have a
good selection of titles to work with. The XBox is the one that
needs the most work. This is why I was fully looking forward to
Panzer Dragoon Orta. I really didn't play much of the previous two,
as my only experience with it is playing the first one at a
Toys'R'Us demo display (I think, but I do remember playing it, not
remember where exactly). But still, it was pretty impressive (though
I wasn't exactly old enough to get a job and a Saturn was a bit out
of my reach). Anyway, getting one now requires digging and a deep
wallet, so I decided to hit the next best thing, Panzer Dragoon Orta.
With the past pedigree, I thought this baby would be a good bet.
Looks like a quality title in the previews, but lets see how it all
turned out.
Most Pretty
Sega seems to have a knack of getting everything
out of the big, black box. And Panzer Dragoon is no exception. This
baby is pure gorgeous. Insane models, perfect texture work,
beautiful effects. This game is a work of art in itself. The only
real flaws are the poor use of anti-aliasing as I noticed a lot of
jaggies while playing the game itself and the up-close cutscenes are
really odd as there are some funky effects going on. Orta looks all
pasty and dead and the dragon has a strange shine to it. Otherwise,
top notch visuals.
Sounds Good
There really isn't much to the
sound department, but what’s there is happens to be decent. Blast
effects are wonderful and enemy death effects are good too. My only
beef is that strange voice over. I am not sure WHAT that is, some
sort of strange made-up stuff. It got a bit annoying, as they would
say things that sounded exactly the same as a previous narration,
but the words on the screen would be different. Another example: a
character in the game clearly said "Orta" when referring to the main
character, but (even though the main character's name is used
extensively) the narration doesn't use it often.
Sweet Gameplay
The gameplay is absolutely sweet. As this is a rail shooter, you
have little choice as to where you go as you are pulled from point A
to B on your dragon; there is quite a bit going for it. Strategy has
a huge pull here. First, there is your lock-on ability. You hold
down the A button, and you are able to lock on to a given number of
enemies depending on the wings on your dragon. This unleashes an
attack that streams out to multiple enemies.
You then have your
standard attack.
Tap the A button, and Orta fires on enemies with
her blaster. When you’ve cleared out enough enemies or caused enough
damage, a green bar on the lower left fills up and you are then able
to unleash a powerful attack. Knowing when to use the blaster, take
time to use your slower yet more powerful lock-on attack, or when to
use your limited use power attack is all part of the game. Then
there is boosting and looking. Especially during boss fights, you
will need to use your boost ability. Boost and slow are limited use
and need time to recharge. Looking is also important as enemies
rarely come at you from one direction, so using the L and R button
to spin around, or both at the same time to pull a 180, are also
important.
The gameplay itself is fast and furious. There is little
time to take careful aim and then fire, you should be able to just
sweep across the screen and hit the locks then fire. This gives a
great deal of challenge to the game, something missing from many
next-gen titles.
Game Sounds Sweet So Far, What's Wrong?
The
biggest (if not only) problem is the complete lack of play time.
Orta is a circus midget among games, and dwarfs only the 45 minute
Way of the Samurai. This game can quite literally be beaten in only
4-6 hours depending on the difficulty level. You do unlock a few
things, like alternate level paths, but those felt tacked on. You
also unlock the original title, but for some reason it didn't feel
like a good title after playing the silky, sweetness of Orta.
Also,
there is the story… It is pretty much non-existent. Apparently, you
are some drone thing, something explained in a previous game
apparently as they told me very little beyond them being war
machines. You are locked up in a tower for no apparent reason and
are freed by a dragon (one from the previous games) and attacked by
an empire because they fear your power to destroy them. Pretty much
you fly around and shoot things. Not much meat in this story, just
an excuse to blow stuff up. It felt empty and dull in that sense.
Bottom Line
Panzer Dragoon Orta had all the makings to be an
instant classic. Tight gameplay, bleeding edge visuals, and some
great sounds to make things sound real. Unfortunately, Panzer
Dragoon Orta came up short, literally, with it's complete lack of
actual gameplay. This game felt like more of a coin-op than an
actual console game. Cost could be a factor here as this title would
be worth a purchase at around $29.99. It could have been a
completely awesome title, but it started fast, burned out, and left
you feeling empty and wanting more by the end (which sucked, by the
way). Regardless, it was fun while it lasted.
