The laws of physics have been broken, but there
is certain wonder in that. The ship seems only to be 20 yards or so long from
the door leading to the stern cabin, but open that door and the 30-35 yards or
so revealed is a wonder, marked by a living tree in the aft end of the room.
Belief is suspended, and rightfully so –
Galleon, an Atlus/SCI Games/Confounding Factor release for the Xbox console
system, sparkles with imagination and adventure, but the game has some failings
that bog down the game, and put a few shackles on what might otherwise have been
a grand tale.
But to understand the game, you really need to
think about its origins. Galleon: Islands of Mystery was conceived back in 1997.
The foundations for the story were laid down. Had the game been published by the
year 2000, the view of this title might be different. But when comparing what
this title offers with other titles on the market, Galleon is antiquated in
design.
The tale is from the third-person perspective
and follows the adventures of Captain Rhama Sabrier. The good captain, who is
somewhat an expert in rare items, is called to the island of Akbah by Areliano,
a mystic of sorts, to appraise an artifact the latter man has found. The first
person Rhama encounters is Jabez, Areliano’s assistant. The game makes it
painfully obvious that Jabez is not to be trusted
Aboard the mysterious ship are clues to its
origin, as well as a valued jar of herbs. These herbs are vital to a potion that
could save the lives of 100 or so people – just from the seven found. Areliano
cares nothing of the money, but is more concerned with saving people. He
commissions Rhama to sail the ship to the island where the herbs may be from, so
help secure a trade agreement and thus aid in healing countless people. But that
night, as Rhama is sleeping, Jabez reveals his true colors, murders Areliano and
sails off in the mystical ship.
To say that Galleon has a terrific storyline
is an understatement. The game will pull you along, but unfortunately it has
some failures that prohibit it excelling. There are load times that do interrupt
the flow of the game. You can save in several areas, and the game is powered
down the linear storyline with a lot of cutscenes.
Graphically the game uses old-style wire-frame
models that move awkwardly at times. But when Rhama is fighting or performing
some of his special movement skills, the animation is excellent.
The majority of the puzzles in this game are
simplistic, and just by using the wide range of skills Rhama has, you will be
able to work through all of them in little time. While the designers have stated
that this game has roughly 40 hours of gameplay, you can barrel straight through
it in
