Todd Mcfarlane is a genius,
the man is arguably the most famous modern comics creator and innovative
enough to expand into film, TV, toys and video games. Hitching his
mega-popular Spawn character to the Soul Caliber series was just one of Mr.
Mcfarlane’s decisive victories. However, I’m not sure using Todd’s "Monsters"
line of toys was the best move.
Evil Prophecy can best be
described as a modern version of the classic game "Gauntlet." Player(s) play
as one of four monster hunters who are charged with stopping the seemingly
unexplained appearances that are plaguing 1900’s Europe. The game uses
Mcfarlane’s re-imagining of classic monsters like Dracula, the Werewolf,
Frankenstein, The Mummy, etc.
If you think this game feels
like the recent movie
Van Helsing, then you
would be fairly correct. You see, the monster hunters (Pirate, Shaman,
Scientist, Hunter) are completely original characters that were created solely
for the game by the developers, not Mcfarlane. Now, at this point, the game
seems to be tapping into a genre that could certainly use some fresh ideas,
and using a toy line like
Monsters is a good
start, but here’s an idea… what if they used the popular toy line and you
actually got to play as these freakish new versions?
OK, enough blathering about
what could have been, how does the game play, Mike? Well, for starters you
can play either solo or with other friends, since I did not have three others
players handy, I played it single player. And wouldn’t you know it, the game
actually allows you to play as all of the hunters, switching from one to
another with the press of the D-pad as the game’s A.I. automatically makes the
other hunters fight along side of you. Of course, the hunters must complete
the various stages running from one end of the map to another finding items,
opening doors and doing other menial tasks the game throws at you to make you
feel like you are playing a game with legitimate depth instead of a
button-mashing mess. OK, that’s not fair of me, the game isn’t a complete
mess, it’s just for every clever idea or unique aspect the game has, there is
a negative that completely turns me off. For instance, where I really enjoyed
the ease of switching characters, the horrible camera angles made it difficult
for the game to move as fluidly as I would have liked. Where the game
provides an ample amount of varying nasties, the game menu pops up at
seemingly random times while in the midst of battle, making it incredibly
frustrating.
Each of the hunters ends up
having an elemental ability that allows for more powerful attacks and in a bit
of a surprise; weapons can be found as you play along, but unless you have the
correct hunter pick up the weapon, it’s usefulness is greatly reduced.
Imagine a African Shaman picking up a machine gun… the horror of it all!
And in a bit of nostalgic gameplay, players can do moves where they combine
their attacks (visions of Homer picking up Bart and smacking aliens dance
through my head).
The opening cartoon segment
is a slick little production that reminded me of the old HBO adult cartoon of
Todd Mcfarlane’s Spawn, I really dug it and it got me pumped up about the game
the first time I watched it. Likewise, the translation from toy-to-boss
character the actual
Monsters are every bit
the sick deformations that they were intended to be. The other grunt-type
monsters that attack you every ten feet were not done quite as well, but the
monster overall looked pretty good. The hunters themselves were not as good
as the monsters, the lightning effects that Dr. Jaeger uses to flay his
enemies are bright and clean, but it’s nothing we haven’t seen before.
I was even more disappointed
in the game’s almost nonexistent audio. The scenes that play out between
missions must be read instead of heard, which in this day and age
is practically a prerequisite. Sure there are grunts and other explosion-type
noises, but the game is practically devoid of any real quality audio.
While continuing to play, my
opinion of the game became lower and lower. Again, I really wanted to like
this game and was even afraid that my want would force me to review this game
favorably when it did not deserve it. Well trust me, that didn’t happen.
The game also features a
couple other playing modes like Dungeon mode (bad guys keep coming till yer
dead), a battle mode (players go at it tooth and nail) and time attack mode
(how quick can you take out the baddies). Extras yes, but not much to sink
your teeth into.
Gameplay: 6.1
The foul camera controls and
seemingly insane glitches leave a bad gameplay taste. Which makes it even
more sad considering that the game has some interesting things to offer like
the seamless character switching and clever combinations you can execute.
Graphics: 6.3
Really well done intro and
the boss characters are pretty spot on, but the other visuals seem flat and
uninspired. A lot of "been there, done that" kind of graphics. The lay of
the land is fairly bland and there does not appear to be smooth shading in
regards to the characters. When a lot of action is taking place, the screen
does bog down at times. There is an option to have the game be bloody or
non-bloody, choose wisely.
Sound: 4.3
Pretty much a no-brainer
here. There is no voice acting and the in-game action is lost in the
blandness. Explosions aren’t all that crisp and the hum of electricity
doesn’t really hum if you know what I mean.
Difficulty: Medium
There are several scenes
that get pretty hairy and the sheer number of bad guys make things
interesting. The game gives you grade scores after every scene and getting
those "A’s" is pretty tough. Not to mention that if you do not assist one of
the A.I.-controlled hunters that is calling for help, your teamwork will
decrease and when you find yourself in need of assistance, the chances of that
hunter helping you becomes less likely.
Concept: 5.7
1900’s, monsters, monster
hunters, based on a toy line, while this is all cool, it feels like were in
familiar territory here.
Multiplayer: 6.0
Sure you can play with four
people, but it’s overly cumbersome with the poor camera angles, making it an
almost fist-throwing experience.
Overall: 5.5
I’m not happy about this
game, I had high hopes and the execution is just flawed. The cool elements
that the game does possess are completely overshadowed by the glaring gameplay
issues and non-existent audio. Rent it if you are a Mcfarlane fan, but even
then you probably won’t play it more then an hour.
