Literature
abounds with tales of those who have sold their souls to the devil, only to have
the deal soured by the devil’s underhanded machinations, and so the war rages
between the one manipulated and the forces of hell.
Ghost Rider
offered something a little new when the Marvel comic book debuted back in 1973.
It made the star, aptly named Johnny Blaze (the character’s trademark was a
flaming skeletal skull), a motorcycle stuntman, battling the forces of hell,
while laying down a little retribution on the wicked of Earth.
The game, which
by no consequence, releases on the heels of the theatrical film, and while it
tries to create its own space in the gaming world, when all is said and done,
2K’s PS2 title feels like a rehash of other games.
Albeit, the
graphics are decent – but not outstanding, with some various depictions of
demonic creatures, but the game has a definite feel of “been there, done that.”
Johnny uses a chain-weapon attack as his standard melee attack, a la God of War.
But if you kill enough monsters and collect enough souls, you can power up and
trigger more devastating area-of-effect attacks. And soul collecting acts a bit
like ringing up experience points, which in turn can be spent to upgrade powers.
The combat,
which seems to be the primary focus of the game with the story just a foil to
drive the action, is rather tired at this point, and even those who are
unfamiliar with the title, but have played other games will have no problem
launching into this game. As for the story, well, there is enough there to
propel the story along but without the tension and touch of horror that the
comic books had. It seems that Mephisto wants Johnny to battle some rogue
demons, or Johnny’s girlfriend will receive a very nasty vacation into hell.
The game begins
with a tutorial of the blazing-skulled Johnny wandering down a very linear path
en route to escaping the clutches of hell. Johnny uses a couple of different
attacks – light and heavy – to deplete the life force of his enemies, and then –
if they are stunned – you can grapple them for a WWE-style finishing move. Stand
next to a fire to replenish health, struggle with the camera a bit and move
along the path to the next junction where a brief cutscene awaits, along with
more demonic creatures.
Some of the
enemies have a shield that has to be whittled down before you can do damage to
them – which just means that the combat is prolonged a bit longer. You block,
tumble/dodge, attack – a rinse-and-repeat scenario. The motorcycle elements,
which were a key part of the comic book, feel a little like the early Xbox
title, Arctic Thunder. You ride, avoid obstacles and fend off attacks with
chains cast left and right.
One of the
interesting elements the game does throw in is the ability to unlock elements
other than improved attacks. There are comic book pages, concept art and
designer movies that can be unlocked and viewed. But the problem here is that
you might want to wait for these goodies. The primary focus is to level up
skills to work through the game. As odd as it may sound, though, if you skill up
too fast, you will find the game a bit of a cakewalk.
The game
mechanics are familiar, the sound is serviceable but more of a minor supporting
role to the visuals. Graphically the game is average. The edge that should be
attached to this game is gone. Spawn was derived from the Ghost Rider comics,
and the game was a bit edgier than this treatment of the classic Marvel series.
Ghost Rider diehards may want to steer clear of this title, while those who are
fans of ethereal- or demonic-influenced action games will find it done better
elsewhere.
This game was
familiar and disappointing.
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Gameplay:
6.0
The camera can
be problematic, and the whole game feels like déj
