OK, Survival Horror to me
has always involved zombies, half decayed dogs, demonic humanoids, and a hero
who’s main weapon usually revolves around something which seems ineffective like
a plank of wood or a hunting knife. It entails darkness, creepy noises, and some
of the most shocking and frightening imagery that sometimes even hell would seem
like it was outdoing itself to produce. Well, this is neat for a while, but
lately there has been a flood of titles that are a little different but still
revolve around the same style of monsters and settings. Sammy Studios has
released a sequel to it’s sleeper PSX hit, Galerians, and the result overall is
a unique blend of Blade Runner, Akira, Dragonball Z, and a Marylin Manson video
which definitely stands out on its own.
Unlike most survival horror
titles out, Galerians: Ash goes into the future rather than sticking to the
present to tell a disturbing story indeed. A super computer named Dorothy runs
the planet, and learns what God is. She decides that she too can be a creator,
and begins tinkering with human children to produce a sub species known as
Galerians. Armed with cyber implants and packing some intense psychic powers,
the Galerians are ordered by Dorothy to turn on and destroy the human race. One
Galerian, Rion, denies his existence and fights for humanity, ultimately teaming
up with a human named Lilia and uploading a virus into Dorothy. Right before she
is destroyed, Dorothy executes one final program to create another race of
Galerians to finish the job, including a ticking time bomb named “Ash”, and this
is where our story begins … or ends … since the game picks up right at the
ending of the first one. You must control Rion and save humanity from total
destruction in a post apocalyptic world filled with cybernetic nightmares and
some really creepy and murderous children.
At first glance, Galerians :
Ash may seem like your typical survival horror style title. It’s presented in a
third person viewpoint, and the main object is to guide Rion through a few
different locales solving puzzles, unlocking doors, backtracking, killing
monsters and an assortment of weird humanoids, and fighting bosses. The controls
are tight and maneuvering Rion is simple, and switching between weapons or
pulling up inventories is a breeze. At it’s bare core, it contains the same
recipe as other titles, but there are a couple of things which make it
different.
The first thing that really
set Galerians : Ash apart from other games in a similar vein out there is the
weapon usage. Combat is not done with pistols and shotguns, but rather with
psychic energy known as PPECs (Psychic Power Enhancement Chemicals). Rion has a
few different types of psychic energy weapons to select from, each one doing
various amounts of damage or being more useful in certain situations. Some will
fire rapidly and are useful for taking out weaker “foot soldier” type enemies,
while others take longer to charge up or spread a wave of fire across the floor,
but ultimately will do more damage and come in handy for bigger creatures or
boss battles. Much like reloading a gun, Rion will keep his PPEC energy filled
up by injecting a dose of serum into his neck, which results in a cutscene and
is a really interesting idea rather than your average “lock and load
conventional weapon” style setup.
Now, having the power to
clear out a room of bad guys seems like a lot or that it may be unbalanced, and
there are times where it seems like you will always have the upper hand. Well,
to make things a little fairer for everyone, there is also what is called an AP
meter. This meter fills up as Rion uses his psychic powers or takes damage, and
if it gets to the top he “shorts”. Things get blurry, and he emits an explosion
of psychic energy capable of popping heads off of enemies like Gallagher hitting
a watermelon with a sledgehammer. The downside to this is that Rion will take
massive damage in the process. It’s a neat looking and cool attack / concept,
and can come in handy at times, but ultimately it’s better to use an injection
to keep the rage under control.
Another unique feature to
Galerians : Ash is the usage of items and things in an “inventory”. This title
focuses more on navigating and periodic combat than collecting tons of items as
you go, so you won’t have a lot of “key A obtained by braking item B found at
location C by using item D to make the statue drop it” kind of thing. Most of
the items that you will find scattered around are PPEC refills, but there are
some times where a cable or key will need to be used and will be found by
searching.
Now, there are things that
were done well in this game, like tight controls and an interesting and unique
concept, but there were also some things that could have been done better. For
one, combat is exciting … true enough. Having enemies that just keep coming back
over and over and over again in a repetitive cycle can get annoying quickly.
There are multiple areas that you will have to go through where killing a bunch
of creatures just results in more popping up and coming after you. On a plus
side, they will drop items like HP recovery or PPEC refills when killed, but if
you are OK on items it just gets repetitive and regardless, it happens way too
often to be a minor thing.
Another thing that hurts
this title is the overall difficulty of what needs to happen at times while you
are playing and trying to progress. Most of the game you will find yourself
running down hallway after hallway looking for some kind of items or clues in
room after room, then sometimes going back and trying it again because you
didn’t find what you needed. Unlike other survival horror or third person action
games, “hard to see” items like small keys don’t have any indicators to tell you
when they are nearby … like the character looking at them or a light flash … and
some things tend to blend in with the environment. The graphics, which I will
get into later, are really good … but the similar color scheme in most places
hides things well. In addition, some solutions are really vague, and can
ultimately lead to a lot of running around.
Graphically, Galerians: Ash
really stands out in the CG department. The game is chock full of movies which
are sometimes weird, sometimes creepy, sometimes informative, but always
good-looking and well done. The overall presentation in them and the game itself
definitely sets up a bleak and industrial future for mankind, and the
confrontations with other Galerians out there are just plain spooky. There are
some really cool things here and there also, like reflective floors, great
lighting effects, nasty looking monsters, and decent character animations. In
addition, the enemies are top quality during CG scenes or the gameplay itself,
and you will never see a creepier set of kids. Unfortunately, the future takes
place mostly in underground structures, with multiple connecting areas of the
same color scheme or design and set up which gets a little dull after running
through them for an extended period of time. This is mostly found in the
beginning, and it gets a little better as you move forward.
Sound wise, the game sets
the tone of what the developers wanted by offering a strange variety of
industrial clangs, buzzes, and whirs which makes up most of the background music
or sounds. The setup and the fact that they don’t overkill it by doing it ALL of
the time is good, so when it does happen it adds to the environment. The music
here and there in the game is good, but many times is easily forgettable. There
are also character voiceovers, most of which have an anime kind of childlike
quality to them, and most are well acted and don’t sound too scripted. Dorothy
sounds just positively intimidating during your first (or last, if you played
the first one) confrontation, and really makes you go “Great … look what I get
to look forward to”.
Overall, Galerians: Ash will
probably cater to the survival horror fans out there and offers something a
little more unique than the run of the mill action game that is seen so
frequently today. It’s a good blend of horror, science fiction, and unique
gameplay that stands alone in its genre. While it improves on the original title
for PSX and definitely operates and looks a lot better even boasting 60FPS
consistently, it unfortunately has flaws to it that may cause even survival
horror buffs to get a tad frustrated. Ultimately, science fiction, anime, and ex
– Raccoon City veterans will probably get enjoyment from it, and fans of the
original will love it, but if those types of games just aren’t your thing … you
will definitely want to rent this one first.
Gameplay: 7.4
If you played the
original, you will be amazed at how much different this title is. The controls
are tight and there is no slowdown, even when Rion’s “short” takes place. The
combat system is unique, and the usage of PPEC’s and a handy lock on feature
makes fighting simple. Unfortunately, there are some issues with the “what do I
need to do now” progressions of the game, with many puzzle solutions being a
little too vague and items being hard to find which leads to more running around
and backtracking than action or progress. In addition, areas with consistently
regenerating enemies gets annoying quickly, happens more than it should, and
makes it hard to inspect everything in that area to look for what you may need …
as if it wasn’t difficult enough. Needless to say, there are also some camera
issues here and there which make certain battles difficult, but if you’ve played
any similar games … you should be used to it by now.
Graphics: 8.0
As I stated
before, the CG scenes are absolutely awesome, and creepier than heck as well.
The developers took advantage of the PS2’s power for this one, and it shows that
they wanted to give one heck of a presentation. The game runs smoothly and
quickly, with no pop up or slowdown. The only issue that I could see here was in
the repetitive environments found in the beginning, since everything had a very
similar look and setup to it regardless of the room or area. It gets better as
you progress, but a little more change of environment overall would have been
nice.
Sound: 7.9
The sound to
Galerians: Ash was mostly made up of industrial noises and clanging sounds, but
did a good job in setting the tone. The creatures all sound tormented and in
pain, and some of the monsters that you face will be re-worked children … some
of which will send a shiver down your spine. The voiceovers were well done also,
and the dialogue was better than a lot of other survival horror titles out there
(“I sure hope this isn’t Chris’ blood” to name one). There could have been a
little more intense music or random things to make you jump when setting
something up, but that’s my opinion.
Difficulty: Hard
There are two
difficulty settings, the easier one not making puzzles any more easier than the
normal one, and this is where most of the difficulty comes in. This will
definitely have you running around and going “now what am I supposed to do” at
times, and the battles themselves will sometimes take strategy rather than
constant fire to win.
Concept: 7.9
In a world filled
with zombies and hellish mutations, it’s nice to see someone step out of the
normal mold and make something completely unique to the normal style. At its
heart and mechanical soul, it remains a third person survival horror title, but
the unique plot line, enemies, and weaponry make for a one of a kind experience.
Overall: 7.5
It’s a one of a
kind, fear filled glimpse into a bizarre future where mankind is no longer
needed nor wanted. The designers did a great job in bringing something that
feels like a playable “Akira style” anime – like title to the PS2, and I would
have loved to see some of the kinks worked out prior to release. If you are a
fan of the original, you won’t be disappointed by this game regardless of a
couple of issues. If you are a survival horror or science fiction buff, the plot
and creepy images will give you some enjoyment but you may want to try it out
before you buy. If you haven’t really become a fan over the years of other
horror games, this one probably won’t change your mind and should be rented
prior to purchase.
