Ever play a
game you really, really wanted to like and yet when you look at it critically,
you realize that it is more lost potential than it is realized inspiration?
That is the
knock on X-Blades, from Southpeak Interactive and Zuxxez Entertainment. It is a
hack ‘n slash adventure that is more arcade than role-play, though you do level
up the central adventures, and depth of gameplay is supplanted by waves of
enemies that keep coming at you until you manage to clear the level, at which
point the level is over.
That should
tell you one essential thing right there – X-Blades is less about story than it
is about the combat. And while the combat is fine, filled with melee attacks,
ranged attacks and magic attacks, the story thread barely holds it all together.
The story
centers on Ayumi, a scantily-clad adventurer, who is armed with the weapons that
give the game its title. The weapons are part sword and part gun. Part of the
upgrades to Ayumi include a better bullet.
The story
begins with Ayumi, in all her cel-shaded glory, finding a map for an ancient
treasure. She realizes that it might be myth, but it might be junk and in either
case, someone will likely pay a lot of money for it. She finds the temple and
the orb that is guarded at its center. Though the orb’s guardian, a large,
hairy, werewolf-looking beast, warns her that no human can touch it, she grabs
it anyway, and enters into a nightmarish scenario where black goo envelops her
(think the Venom suit wrapping itself around Spider-man). Essentially what this
does is give Ayumi access to dark powers or black magical upgrades.
But the magic
system and combat skills do have checks and balances. You cannot just unleash
all manner of mayhem to your heart’s content; rather you have to build up the
rage meter to allow certain skills to become available during the course of a
fight, and that means a certain amount of button mashing. And while you can
learn a lot of skills, you can only slot four of them for use at any one time as
you venture forth.
The control
scheme, while it relies on the square button for most of the combat, is decent,
but you can’t make smaller movements with Ayumi. It almost feels like you either
move with purpose or simply not at all. This can provide annoyances when it
comes to the game’s puzzles that are based on movement. The voice work is
serviceable and the other sound effects are decent. Graphically the game is very
nicely designed. Ayumi, for the skimpy outfit, moves well, and the acrobatics of
combat are handled very well. The environments are also handled well, though the
monsters faces start to bear similarities as you move through the game.
And while the
combat mires this game into the realm of routine, there are collectibles that
also help upgrade skills. But the game’s biggest problem is lack of innovation.
This is a game that seemingly has borrowed from a lot of other sources – which
is not a bad thing – and then simply presents those concepts in a different
package rather than expand on them. The enemy AI is insipid, and swarms without
any strategic attack – which makes countering the attacks a matter of routine.
Of course, some enemies are immune to certain attacks, but there is always a way
to dominate them, even if they do come in wave after wave after wave.
X-Blades is a
game that is average, and could have been so much more.
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Gameplay: 6.5
The gameplay is
redundant and there are some minor annoyances with the controls.
Graphics: 7.5
While the monsters
start to have similarities as you go deeper into the game, Ayumi and the
environments are all handled nicely.
Sound: 7.0
Solid and done
reasonably well. Nothing will jump out, though.
Difficulty: Easy
Concept: 6.0
This is a game that
borrows ideas and then doesn’t do anything more with them. There is a lot of
redundancy to the gameplay.
Overall: 6.5
X-Blades is one of
those games that I really wanted to like, but while it’s average entertainment,
it really does nothing to move it to the next level.
