When I reviewed the
2000 movie
upon its DVD release, I said it was the Chinese equivalent of Gladiator.
Sadly, this game is the Chinese equivalent of the recent and dreadfully dull,
Gladiator: Sword of Vengeance,
in that it's one long hack-n-slash game getting from one level to the next until... there's more of the same to
follow, each time knocking them out with a "swish, swish... swish" of your sword and then an optional kick to
send them flying into the air, as you use the 'strong weapon' button in combination with the regular one, even
with a view to 'swish' them again on the way down for extra pain. Or, just use the strong button to send them
flying - job done, mostly.
You can collect power-ups along the way, usually dropped by baddies or found
inside big vases and boxes, and while I started off as Jen, who stole the
Green Destiny sword from Sir Te, I understand you can go on to play the others
but if they're all as tedious as this one then I doubt I'll bother.
At one point, one of the enemies exclaimed, "Close the gate so they don't
escape!" - Exactly what difference will that make since the characters
are meant to be able to fly through the air anyway?
The graphics are the best thing about this game - when they're static. Thanks
to bloody awful camera work, I had to use an overhead view because I couldn't
see what was going on, and it's possible to get stuck behind trees too, although
at least with wooden stairs those go transparent when required.
It's taken four years to release this game, it looks nice but plays like a game
from four years ago. Just don't bother and spend your money on a far better
fighting game for the Xbox like the stunning
Soul Calibur II
GRAPHICS SOUND EFFECTS AND MUSIC PLAYABILITY ENJOYMENT
As of April 2009, Blu-rays and DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TH-37PX80B
37" Plasma TV with a Sony BDP-1500 Blu-ray player and played through a Yamaha DSP-AX820 amplifier.
PC games reviewed by the editor are on:
Since Jan 2011: Intel Quad Core Dell XPS 8100, i7 CPU 860 @ 2.80Ghz, 8Gb RAM, nVidia GeForce GTS 240, Windows 7
Since Nov 2005: Intel Pentium D 830 3.0Ghz, 1Gb RAM, 128Mb nVidia GeForce 6700XL, Windows XP
Since Aug 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.66Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb GeForce4 MX440 graphics, Windows XP
Since May 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.6Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb ATI Radeon 9600TX graphics, Windows XP
Since Jun 2002: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, 64Mb ATI Radeon 8500LE
Since May 2000: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, Voodoo 3 3000 AGP
You can collect power-ups along the way, usually dropped by baddies or found
inside big vases and boxes, and while I started off as Jen, who stole the
Green Destiny sword from Sir Te, I understand you can go on to play the others
but if they're all as tedious as this one then I doubt I'll bother.
