Product description
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A Gothic Tale Straight from the Grave, Challange the Powers of
Darkness and untold Magic....
.com
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One hundred years ago, in the land of Gallowmere, an evil wizard
was defeated by the honest citizens of the land. You are a knight
that died in the first unsuccessful charge against the wizard's
army, but the king, in need of a way to inspire his embattled
people, gave you both a hero's burial and the credit for victory.
Now the wizard has returned from the dead with a mind for
vengeance, and you've been brought back from the dead to stop
him. Perhaps the world's least worthy hero, you set out to save
the land once again--for the first time.
The animation and humor are reminiscent of Tim Burton'sThe
Nightmare Before Christmas ( /exec/obidos/ASIN/6303122647/${0} ).
If this alone isn't enough to thrill you, the difficulty level
will. This is one of the few games that seems to keep itself near
the perfect level--difficult enough to keep you interested, easy
enough to keep you from getting frustrated.
The perspective perfectly complements the gameplay and animation
style: the 3-D follow-cam allows you, in most places, to look
around with ease. And you'll want to take time to see the s,
since the game looks as good as it plays. This game isn't just
for the hard-core gamer. It's for everyone. --John Cocking
Pros:
* Cartoon zombies
* Gentle learning curve
* Goofy good looks
Cons:* Killing zombies can get monotonous
* Addictive
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Review
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Sony's MediEvil takes place in a fictional Gallowmere, relaying
the legend of a one Sir Daniel Fortesque. At one time, Sir Dan
was Gallowmere's most esteemed knight, until he died fending off
the evil sorcerer Zarok's battalion. As the fable goes, Sir Dan's
demise wasn't of the heroic proportions of, say, William Wallace,
but the king put on the big spin (for national security) and
documented history as such. Well, Zarok didn't die back then, and
now his magic brings Dan back accidentally, and incidentally,
around the time that Zarok feels his new army of evil dead and
plug-uglies is prepared to go at it once again. So, as Sir Dan,
you're given a second chance to save the land, if you can live up
to your own weighty reputation.
The game may appear like something of a 3D version of Ghosts 'n'
Goblins (with touches of Tim Burton's film, The Nightmare Before
Christmas); however, the gameplay is very different. There are
similarities to Capcom's title, since you must wade through a
horde of creatures using an arsenal of found or earned weapons
(such as a magic , a bow that shoots flaming arrows, and a
throwing ax), but there's more at work than just hacking and
slashing. Each level has unique puzzles that differ from stage to
stage, giving a nice degree of variety to the title. Also, once a
certain number of enemies is dispatched, you can gather up a
chalice that gives you access to the Hall of Heroes, a place
where heroic ghosts dole out special weapons or items with each
visit, usually accompanied by a verbal dressing down at your
unworthy status as the champion of a Gallowmere.
While MediEvil may have an original look, its visuals aren't
perfect. Pop-up occurs from time to time, there's a rare bit of
bad collision detection, and the camera can be a bit wonky also.
You can shift the perspective left and right by using the L2 and
R2 buttons, but when you start moving again, the intelligent
camera can sometimes get ideas of its own and shift back the way
it was. Luckily, this only occurs in the levels that contain
wider open areas, and not in the later levels that see the
character walking across thin bridges, where tight camera control
is an absolute necessity. Still, a single button control enabling
a follow-cam (as seen in Rare's Banjo-Kazooie) would be welcome.
The real stars of MediEvil though are its variety, story, and
difficulty level. As mentioned before, the diversity found from
level to level adds a lot to the game, as does the wide and
varied arsenal of weapons. The storyline is also strangely
engrossing - as Sir Dan gets farther and farther in, he slowly
begins to gain the respect of the other characters in the game,
which you, as the player, surprisingly start to take actual pride
in. And while the title starts off pretty simple, it soon attains
a level of difficulty that is "just hard enough." That is, it's
"just hard enough" to be challenging but not difficult to the
point of frustration. It also really does a good job of making
you comprehend play mechanics without being too overt (like
spelling them out in the form of signs and whatnot). For example,
you'll be put in a situation where you have to figure out
something new before you can leave the area you're in. Then, once
freed, you realize you can apply it everywhere you've been
earlier in the level to get items that were previously out of
reach.
MediEvil may not be as graphically appealing or as accurate in
camera controls as a ro the Dragon, but to keep that analogy
going, it provides the level of diversity, challenge, and fun
that that title may have somewhat lacked. All in all, it's a
welcome surprise. --Joe Fielder
--Copyright ©1999 GameSpot Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction
in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written
permission of GameSpot is prohibited. GameSpot and the GameSpot
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