There is a place in the
farthest corner of the universe where anything is possible and where humans live
in a peaceful coexistence with dinosaurs that our world knows to be long
extinct. This is a universe where many dinosaurs can talk like humans and live
like humans in beautiful communities. Yes, this is the universe of Dinotopia:
The Sunstone Odyssey that brings to life–and on the Xbox too–a world
introduced in books and television. What can we expect from such a place?
Let’s just say that even dinosaurs can seem uninteresting in the wrong hands.
The Sunstone Odyssey tells
the tale of the Gemini Twins, Jacob and Drake, who are suddenly conflicted in
their opinion that humans can live in peace with dinosaurs since their father
was killed by a murderous tyrannosaurus rex. Jacob joins an anti-dinosaur group
called the Outsiders while Drake upholds his father’s belief that Dinotopia
should be defended at all costs. Gamers assume the roll of Drake as he trains
and becomes the guardian of Dinotopia against a number of enemies that have come
to threaten this world.
Armed with his trusty
mallet, you move Drake about the environment rather smoothly. Aside from his
ability to jump and swing the powerful mallet, he’s also able to target enemies
and toss Hobi Peppers at enemies (used to either stun enemies or enrage them
enough that they attack rather brutishly). Throughout the game, you’ll find
that you can upgrade your mallet with mallet heads (or sunstones that are found
throughout the land) so your strikes can pack a meaner blow to the enemy.
You’ll also be able to use special magic attacks when your magic meter is filled
during combat.
As far as the combat is
concerned, while Drake faces human and dinosaur enemies the fights always feel
the same. You can block attacks, jump, use the peppers and swing your mallet
but by the tenth fight gamers will feel that these battles are more of a
nuisance rather than a joy. The only thing that keeps this from being really
repetitive is the fact that Drake gets to ride on the back of a winged
pterodactyl and operate a mechanical (and out of place) walker-vehicle.
Unfortunately, this alone doesn’t save the game from its boring combat
sequences.
Gamers will find that
Dinotopia has a charming backdrop with plenty of villages to visit and
characters to talk to when you’re in the middle of exploring. However, thanks
to the bad story development and poor writing, conversations become a little too
long and uninteresting. Many of the missions characters, be they human or
dinosaurs, are always to find a certain object and deliver it to a person in
another town. One mission has you looking for a basket of apples to give to a
dinosaur that wants to bake apple pies and all you get for your trouble is
one Hobi Pepper! My biggest complaint, though, is the fact that after you
have collected the item asked of you, finding the person who sent you on the
quest suddenly becomes a guessing game because you can’t find the person so
easily again.
The Sunstone Odyssey is
not a great looking game, sorry to say. Its environments are quite lush and
there is plenty to look at, but the low polygon count makes the game look more
like a PS2 game than a Xbox game. The characters themselves are rather blockish
and have a blank stare about them during the animated cut scenes. Oddly enough,
though, it’s the dinosaurs that look more amazing than the human characters and
it’s a real treat watching them move about in their surroundings. Massive
brontosaurs crane their thick necks to eat from a tall tree while colorful birds
take flight overhead.
The game’s sound, though,
just doesn’t do justice to the Dolby Digital Sound feature this game supports.
The soundtrack is quite decent enough and brings to mind those soothing Celtic
tunes you’d find in a New Age store. With a score that works well enough, it’s
the bad voice acting that makes the dialogue seem really slow and drawn out to
the point that gamers will get bored listening to the long bits of dialogue that
rarely get to the point when you want it to. At least the sound effects are
done far better and it’s a delight to hear the monstrous grunts of dinosaurs in
the distance.
The Sunstone Odyssey is
not a thrilling or action-packed experience that will make gamers a fan of the
Dinotopia world. With a weak story that will hardly keep a gamer interested
enough to see the game to the very end, it’s hard to recommend this game to
anyone new to this universe. If you’re a fan of the books and television
series, this might be worth the time, but if it’s fun with dinosaurs you crave,
I suggest waiting for Dino Crisis 3.
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#Reviewer’s |
Gameplay: 4.5
Slam enemies with your mallet, block
blow, and toss distracting Hobi Peppers to blind or enrage foes and repeat.
This pretty much sums up the game’s action sequences that does not add much of a
variety when it comes to battle . . . although you do get to ride on the back of
a winged dinosaur as well as operate an interesting all-terrain vehicle. Yet
when it comes to quests, they follow the same get Item X to Person X formula
throughout the game.
Graphics: 6.2
Visually speaking, this game doesn’t
showcase any exclusive Xbox graphical features nor will it amaze gamers. The
environments in the game are flowing with many little details that make forests
and farmlands look wondrous, but still a bit on the plain side. The characters,
though, look awful and move rather awkwardly. During cut scenes, characters
don’t even move their mouths when they talk and their stiff joints make them
seem more like robots. The dinosaurs, on the other hand, look spectacular and
are far better detailed than any human you’ll encounter.
Sound: 4.5
As far as the game’s soundtrack is
concerned, the score feels right at home and is decent enough despite the lack
of any true dramatic depth–especially in moments where the action becomes
intense. Yet it’s not the score that is troublesome, it’s the voice acting that
is far too awful to ignore. Why do the Gemini Twins sound as though they come
from the Highlands of Scotland while everyone else sounds like they come from
the northern part of the United Kingdom? And to top it all off, the characters
don’t sound like true English folk. To this Englishman’s ears, it’s a poor
imitation of a British accent.
Difficulty: Medium
The game’s puzzles won’t have gamers
really stumped since the majority of the tasks asked of you are to find certain
items scattered throughout the level to bring back to the person that requested
the items. Often times, though, it is easy to lose track of who asked for what
and where the person is located exactly. Most of the game is spent looking for
a lost item and the person who sent you on the quest. As for the battles, the
enemies (whether they’re human or dinosaur) you’ll encounter suffer from
unintelligent AI and attack the same way every time.
Concept: 5.0
The world of Dinotopia is a
fascinating one when it comes to books and television and, in the right hands;
this universe is interesting enough even for a game. The dinosaurs interacting
with man theme has been seen before, but Dinotopia’s dinosaurs actually interact
verbally with humans. Add some conflicted humans that don’t really
accept this abnormal coexistence and twins brothers fighting on the opposite
sides and you have an interesting story plot. Still, even with these elements,
there is no hiding the fact that the game failed to deliver the story and action
in ways that gamers would find interesting and fun.
Overall: 5.0
Sadly, the game’s poor design,
uninteresting story plot and monotonous gameplay will sorely disappoint fans of
the Dinotopia books and television miniseries. This is most unfortunate,
really, since there are many interesting possibilities present and a unique
universe that would have been fun to explore. Unless you’re a true fan of
anything Dinotopia, give this a good rental; otherwise stay clear of this one.
