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Intro And here we have another entry into the more-successful-as-a-game Hunter: The Reckoning franchise, this time on the Playstation 2. For those not acquainted with the paper and pencil role playing game, it's essentially based around a group of heroes, called Hunters, and their continuing battle versus the undead, or Rots, using a variety of fun, modern day weapons like grenade launchers and chain-saws in an alternate reality, present day setting. Hunter: The Reckoning -- Wayward takes place 2 years after the original game for the Xbox (and later the Gamecube) and places the Hunters back in the city of Arkady as a new mysterious force has followed humanity back into the city (read: mysterious force = zombies). And while the game does feature cooperative play, a variety of weapons and spells, multiple playable characters, and a full bucket load of unlockables, there's just something missing -- namely fun. Gameplay: 6/10 Hunter: The Reckoning -- Wayward is a dungeon crawl, hack 'n slash, blood spattering, kill-fest unraveling across a variety of quintessential game locations -- city streets, hospitals, prisons, etc.. Now that sounds like it should be fun right? Personally, I love slaughtering the vile undead. Man, I hate zombies. But, unfortunately, no amount of gore and weaponry can save this game from tedium. Starting the game, the player is given a choice of 4 unique characters, each having a different class, or, in the Hunter world, Creed. There is the big, slow biker guy (Avenger), the small, fast raver girl (Martyr), the balanced, hard-as-nails ex-cop (Defender), and the magic wielding priest (Judge). Each character has access to two kinds of attacks -- melee and ranged -- and some accompanying magic spells that become available as experience is earned from killing Rots and completing objectives. On top of the 4 original characters, several more can also be unlocked by completing various requirements. One of these, the Wayward, is unlocked in the course of the game plot and becomes available from there on out. All characters have unique rankings in convention-adhering stats like strength, speed, and stamina that determine that character's strengths. While the big, biker guy's melee attack cuts through zombie like a Ginsu, his magic attacks leave much to be desired. The priest however, has a slow ranged attack and mediocre melee attack, but devastating magic. Some characters are better suited for various levels as the conditions change. Melee attacks have a variety of uses and combos, ranging from the standard 3 hit, to the jumping attack, to the charging spin move. However, players will soon find out that the running attacks are by far the most effectual, and really, there's no reason to use anything else. Run and attack, run and attack, run and attack. Why are the other attacks even included? Special weapons littered throughout levels do a lot to help out, I'll never grow tired of shooting automatic shotguns. Unfortunately ammo runs out, and it's back to the standard weapons. As characters continue to battle it out, their abilities grow. Magic attacks, or Edges, are gained by leveling up. Each character can have up to 4 edges, each having 3 varying strengths. First, a character will have a single edge, then a second, then the first will get stronger, then a third will be added, and so on, until each character has 4 possible Edges all at level 3. The problem with the Edges is that they all seem too weak. By the time the characters have all of their edges and maximum power, the enemies are so strong that they almost seem ineffectual. Additionally, they tend to have a bit of recovery during which player characters can take a crucial hit. Oh, and there's another thing. For those who have never played a Hunter game before -- they are hard. Even on easy, playing in cooperative mode, players will often have to backtrack through earlier levels in order to accumulate enough continues (earned from killing enemies) to provide for the later levels. It's not that the enemies are individually tough, but once 10 enemies are attacking from all sides, some with strong ranged attacks, it is easy to become overwhelmed, even with a variety of weapons available. Some levels are so tough, that not playing in co-op mode is a death sentence. This backtracking and difficulty quickly makes Hunter tedious and frustrating. Some of the enemies' patterns and behavior do nothing to remedy this. About half-way through the game is an enemy that falls upon initial contact and then immediately jumps back up, making them impossible to combo to death. So by the time a player has knocked one down and began working on the next, the enemy will have popped back up to their feet and attacked from behind. And with the amount of damage that enemies seem to do, combined with a minimal amount of power ups in higher difficulties, controllers will be broken out of sheer frustration. The player's view of the battlefield is the ol' top down perspective. But the camera turns and bobs and weaves as the player progresses automatically, no matter how bad the view and no matter how many off screen enemies are shooting, nothing can be done to fix the camera. Level design is limited to a big space, laid out in a maze-like fashion populated with spawning enemies. In any given area, the player has no idea how many enemies will spawn or where, making strategy somewhat difficult. To compound this, later objectives force players to backtrack through these levels to find objects strewn across multiple levels. Going through 5 previous levels while looking for 10 pieces of some magic book thingee that does something that the plot doesn't really explain, all while enemies spawn and attack, and an unadjustable camera disorients you just isn't fun--it's annoying. One
bright spot is the insanely challenging boss battles. Each boss will leave players
mad and frustrated, as they are very, very hard. But, each boss also has a weakness,
that once discovered, fells them in seconds. The bosses are graphically large,
and impressive and really do a lot for providing a large, climactic battle that
lets the player know that they have beaten a level.
Graphics: 7.5/10 But, player characters look great,
and are very fluidly animated with every strike, slice, and shot. Additionally,
the Edges look great, displaying a variety of shiny colors and particle effects
to shred through the baddies. And then there's the blood. There's nothing more
satisfying then seeing the streets run, well, green, with zombie ooze. Sound:
6/10 Control:
9/10 Overall:
6/10 [ top ] | |||
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