THE GOOD:- Amazing graphics: some of the best we've seen so far on this console. FMV sequences akin to that of Advent Children. Yes, THAT good.
- Length and Time Value. With replay value of about 1 extra game (unless you get bored easily) to complete it on Extra Hard and finish with every item, as well as about 50 extra level-based missions and a lot of interesting unlocks, there's quite a lot to see and do.
- Elaboration on the storyline of FF7 and the mystery that is Vincent Valentine. It answers a lot of our questions, especially about him, his father, Lucrecia, and the mysterious Chaos he harbours, but...
- More than one playable character. If you live in Japan, there's a multiplayer, too.
THE BAD:
- Square's milking of the series has come to a point, as irrelevant and unnecessary re-appearences of popular FF7 characters like Cloud, Tifa and Barret make no impact on the game or Storyline. It just feels like they're trying to squeeze every last penny out of the masterpiece they created back in '96.
- Gameplay, although not overly bad, could be better. The lock on system is far too easy to aim with, and the massive difference between Vincent's acrobatic skills and strength in FMVs compared with what we have access to ingame is annoying. In the (frankly corny) FMVs, he can jump hundreds of meters into the air, doing several backflips before taking out a helicopter with a few bullets or even his bare hands. In-game, we can run slowly, jump about a meter in the air, shoot, and do a set group of melee attacks. None of what WE get to do is even remotely impressive.
- Multiplayer option was released only in Japan. So we have to sit and watch in jealousy as the online option over there fails and the servers are closed down.
- The storyline also leaves a lot to be desired. It does not finalise the series, and doesn't involve any of the story from the previous installments other than that concerning Vincent, Lucrecia and one other character, whose name I shall not mention ;D
- Though magic is present in game, we are only given access to Thunder, Fire and Ice. Also, each weapon has only one materia slot, and the only way to increase its level is to attach an external item called a "Materia Floater/Booster".
- Almost entirely Linear.
SUMMARY:
Dirge Of Cerberus. We've all been waiting for its release. But is it worthy of all the anticipation that surrounds it?
To put it simply: Not really. It's a very good game, extremely flash with amazing graphics and a decent storyline, but along the lines of gameplay, it leaves a lot to be desired. We'd like to be able to zip around maps like Vincent can in cutscenes, please.
It starts with Vincent sitting in his room in Kalm, watching a news report about the disappearence of hundreds of people from Midgar after a new area, Deepground, was discovered under the Shinra building. Outside, the air is filled with the cries of happy people: there is a fair or carnival of some sort on, and all the town appears to be present. It's a happy scene: people dancing, parades, food and stalls...
Suddenly the laughter is cut off as an explosion rocks the town, tearing a chunk out of one of it's high walls. Several Helicopters are seen to fly over the wall and hover over the town, dropping soldiers into the scattering crowd. After a brief pause, gunfire starts to echo throughout the city. People are killed, fires break out, and chaos ensues.
A helicopter hovers outside Vincent's window, and fires a salvo of rockets into the room, destroying the house. Vincent jumps from the window, high into the sky above the town, and with 5 or so bullets from his three-barreled Cerberus, the chopper is sent spiralling downwards before it hits the floor and explodes. Here, the beautiful FMV ends, and the game starts.
Basically, you complete a set of objectives throughout each stage, taking down the guards with your Handgun, Machine-gun, and Rifle (all obtained in Kalm, in the first chapter). The story is that Deepground, a huge facility underneath Midgar that was officially used to house injured SOLDIERs during the Shinra war before FF7, has been opened and released an army of Mako-enhanced DG soldiers, intent on capturing the "Pure" and destroying the "Tainted" people of the world. As the story unfolds, we meet Reeve Tuesti, controller of Cait Sith and architect of Midgar from FF7, who compels Vincent to join his WRO - the World Regenesis Organization. Much of the rest of the game involves Vincent's assistance of WRO troops in their defence of various cities around the world map, and though combat is limited and sometimes frustrating, it's satisfactory at least.
Overall? Yes, it's a pretty damn good game. But it good be a damn sight better.
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