It is a trend that is becoming quite
prevalent – see the movie, then play the game.
Reign of Fire, a Bam! release for the
PlayStation2, is the latest to throw its hat into that ring. While the game is
solid graphically, if you are looking for depth of gameplay, look elsewhere. The
game only touches on the movie in a few areas. Yes, there are dragons that have
overrun the world. Yes, human enclaves are heavily armed and under attack. And
yes, Denton Van Zan arrives with a troop of well armed and trained ‘irregulars’
to help push back the invading force.
From that point on the game diverges
into a shooter game.
You begin on the side of the humans,
learning to drive your armed 4×4, blasting critters on the ground and an
airborne dragon assault on your compound. There are weapon power-ups scattered
that you must collect in order to keep your armament at top condition. Sit in
one place too long, and you will be targeted and ignited.
There are four controllable vehicles
in this game: the 4×4 Jeep, a tank, fire truck and buggy. Weapons include
machine gun turret, tank cannon, ground-to-air rocket, heat-seeking missile,
water cannon, and water grenade.
Now here is where the game gets
interesting: complete several missions as the human force, and you unlock the
dragon missions. Yep, you will get to play as a dragon attacking the human
forces.
The game features a one if by land,
two if by air mentality. Jakyls are the ground force the humans must battle.
They move quickly but tend to run in straight lines, which make them easy
targets for your guns. Dragons fire tracers, which can also be tracked back to
the source. And it doesn’t take much to lock on with a heat-seeker.
The game has been simplified in
control elements, though there are two settings and the advanced one definitely
adds more challenge to the game. In the simplified control settings, the left
analog stick is what is used to aim. Wherever you aim, that’s where your vehicle
will go if you hit the accelerator. In the advanced settings, the left analog
controls all vehicle movement, from direction to momentum. The right analog
button controls your selected weapon.
For those not familiar with the
storyline, here it is in a nutshell. In present-day London, a young boy’s
mother, a construction engineer, accidentally uncovers and awakens a
fire-breathing dragon from its centuries-long sleep. Well, the dragon is hungry
and feels the need to breed. Twenty years later, the world has been overrun by
the massive beast and its offspring. Fast forward to 2084 – the human race has
dwindled significantly and is under constant attack from the dragons. That young
boy, Quinn, is now grown and on the front line in the battle for survival of the
human race.
Reign of Fire is a good-looking game,
interspersed with movie footage, and is primarily a shooter game from a
third-person perspective. You maneuver your vehicle – where it is human-driven
vehicle or dragon – throughout a hostile environment blasting away at anything
not on your side. The action is fast paced.
The player interface has been kept
simple to allow immediate access to the game. Each mission has its own set of
criteria that must be met in order to collect a medal and advance.
With its strong graphics and seemingly
non-stop combat, this is a game that will likely appeal to fans of that type of
game. There are a host of missions (16 for humans alone) that will challenge
players, whether with the simple control elements in place or the advanced.
This game is rated Mature.
Gameplay: 8
Once in a battle, the action is nonstop.
There are hordes of enemies to fight, and you must keep on the move. The
mapboards are big enough to give you room to roam, and the cutscenes have been
kept down, allowing the game action to supplant the majority of the program.
While each mission has criteria that must be met, the nature of this combat
beast insures replayability.
Graphics: 8.2
The game features well-designed
environments. The animation is smooth, though the special effects, like fire,
are adequate enough to convey the feel, but not strong enough to make you feel
the heat.
Sound: 8
The game intersperses movie soundtrack
with in-game combat sounds. This element supports the graphics well.
Difficulty: Medium
The control elements have been kept easy
enough to allow anyone to jump in and play on one level, and yet can be set to
challenge. The chaotic nature of the battles will have players on their toes
constantly.
Concept: 7.8
Tying this game to the movie may imply
that it is an adventure game with puzzles to solve and an actual plot. Not so.
This is a shooter game, and could easily have stood on its own without the movie
tie-in.
Overall: 8.1
Reign of Fire is a fast-paced game with
loads of action. The game looks good and plays well, and is very forgiving –
especially if you are driving a vehicle and not paying much attention to where
you are going, but are concentrating on what you are shooting at. The AI is
average, and enemies tend to move in a predictable manner, making them easy to
target. The anomalies of terrain do throw the concept of ‘easy pickings’ down
the drain, and you have to be constantly on the move, jostling and bouncing
about, or the game will end quickly. This is an enjoyable game, and should suit
most fans of action-packed shooting games.
