With
Treasure Planet recently out in theatres, its only obvious that Disney
Interactive would release a couple of games based on it before the holidays.
Treasure Planet: Battle at Procyon is one such game.  Barking Dog Studios, who
were responsible for Homeworld: Cataclysm developed the game, and the production
values definitely show.  While the game is not without its flaws, it features
impressive graphics, a great storyline, and easy-to-learn gameplay.

Battle
at Procyon follows Ensign Jim Hawkins (the protagonist of the film) five years
after the movie as he finishes Royal Cadet Guard training.  He’ll go on rescue
missions, fight pirates, and investigating strange phenomena.  Along the way,
he’ll run into old acquaintances and unravel a story involving the events that
took place five years ago.

The
game makes fine use of its Real-Time Strategy elements.  The gameplay is the
type of easy-to-learn hard-to-master gameplay that is rare in most games today.
The learning curve is pretty short and easy, but you have many actions that you
can perform.  If you get too damaged by battle, then you can dock with a bigger
ship and repair yourself.  In battle, you can grapple an enemy ship and board
it, thus taking it over and making it your own.  There is also a panic button
for sticky situations.  If enemy ships surround your ship, then the panic button
will fire everything you’ve got in every direction.  One difficult aspect of the
gameplay is maneuvering your ship so you can fire your weapons most efficiently,
as certain weapons can only fire from particular areas of your ship.

The
only real problem with the gameplay is the pacing.  The game requires a lot of
patience.  There will be long stretches where you simply move your boat (which
moves very slowly, might I add) across space, doing nothing.  The combat
sequences are few and far between, although they are very well executed.

The
graphics are a high point for the game.  The ships have a nice, cartoony flair,
and the environments are nicely detailed as well.  The game has great lighting
effects and cool space phenomena, like meteor showers, nebulae, and space
whales, all of which look great.

The
sound and music are also pretty impressive.  The voices are nicely done, and do
a great job of conveying both the action and the story.  The music is also very
pleasant.  It manages to be unobtrusive and changes to fit the on-screen action.

Treasure Planet:  Battle at Procyon is a good game that features nice gameplay
and great graphics, although the pacing problems could turn away some gamers
looking for instant action.  Any fan of either the movie or the RTS genre with
lots of patience should definitely give Battle at Procyon a look.

Reviewer’s Scoring Details

Gameplay: 8.0
The gameplay is
easy to learn, yet hard to master.  The combat system features many cool actions
to perform in the heat of battle.  However, the pacing is quite a bit slow, and
the action can be a bit sparse at times.

Graphics: 8.5
The graphics are
very nice.  The ship models have a great, cartoony flair, while the environments
are full of great touches like space whales and space phenomena.  Also, the
lighting effects are very impressive

Sound: 8.9
The sound and
music are great.  The voices are well done and the music provides nice ambience
without being intrusive.

Difficulty: Medium

Concept: 8.5
Battle at Procyon
uses some pretty nice gameplay elements, like the ability to grapple and board
enemy ships.  Also, the original storyline is great.

Multiplayer: 8.5
The game features some pretty decent multiplayer aspects.  The Game Lobby is
easily navigated and alliances with other players can be formed and broken.

Overall: 8.3
Battle at Procyon
is a great game with impressive graphics and a well-executed storyline.  While
the pacing issues could bother some gamers, any strategy fan with lots of
patience will find that Battle of Procyon offers a lot to the genre.