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Intro
Ah Robotech, how you've nurtured me through the years. I remember
the days of yore when I would plop my little self before the television and take
in all the glory that was your Americanized chop-shop anime. I remember the toys,
some of which still lurk amongst my things in storage, and more importantly, I
remember the impact you had on my artwork. Flash forward to the present, I eagerly
bought up the first three box sets of your DVD releases as soon as they were released,
and yet you spurned my lust for a game from you all these years. Wounds heal however,
and I can forgive, for finally you have brought yourself into my loving arms in
the form of Robotech: Battlecry. Oh dear sweet Robotech, let us
never fight again.
Gameplay:
8.5/10
There are two basic modes of play in Battlecry: the self-explanatory
story mode, and the equally easy-to-grasp versus mode. In the story mode, you
take on the role of Jack Archer, a reckless ace pilot who has found himself thrust
into the midst of the war between the Earth and the Zentraedi. Throughout the
game, Jack will narrate the between-mission to fill you in on what's been going
on in the Robotech universe -- somewhat disorienting for anyone who knows
the story, as the gap between missions spans from a few hours to a few years at
times -- while being shown a nice little slideshow of the events, though actual
animation would've been a nice touch. The battles themselves take place in many
different environments, ranging from free-flying space arenas to the more limiting
earth locales. The mission objectives vary just as nicely as sometimes you will
find yourself pressed the task of simply killing your enemies, while other times
you will have to undergo tiresome missions of defending buildings and the like.
Thankfully, you can transform your handy-dandy veritech fighter into
three different modes to help you along your way. The most basic of these modes
is the fighter mode, in which you are simply a jet that can shoot bullets or fire
a volley of missiles onto locked-on targets. The second form is referred to as
guardian mode, and it is with this that you can once again shoot missiles, but
you may now also stay stationary, fire short range missiles, or pick up objects
and carry them. Lastly, we have what is perhaps the most humanoid of the three:
battloid mode, which allows you to shoot down incoming missiles and use the sniper
function of your rifle, though you're left unable to fire missiles of your own.
Each of the modes has its own charm, and while some are better-suited for some
missions than others, it's all really in how you play the game.
After
beating each mission, you may be awarded different medals based on your performance.
It is with these medals, which are basically game completion points, that you
can unlock bonus features of the game such as new veritech fighters that have
different stats, new levels for use in the versus mode, and little video interviews
with the many people involved on the project.
Speaking of the versus
mode, it is rather basic, and yet very fun at the same time. There really isn't
too much to say about it: you and a friend go into a selected field of battle,
choose the different combat options that you want, and have at it until one or
the other has been destroyed. To make things interesting, you can turn toggle
different options such as the auto-lock feature to make it just a bit more challenging.
Graphics: 8/10
Robotech:
Battlecry uses cel-shading, and I've got mixed feelings on this little dandy
of a visual effect. While it does look rather great on the fighters and ships
themselves, the style really didn't lend itself too well to the environments and
smoke effects. If you watch the series, you'll notice that everything looks more
like it has been painted by watercolors as opposed to saturated cel-shading. As
a result, the cel-shading style was very much a turn off for me, as it made Robotech
look much more like a cheesy cartoon than the epic space opera that it is. Personal
issues aside, Battlecry is a very impressive game to look at, as everything
is crisp and clean, and I can't think of any moments where the game slowed down.
I just wish everything wasn't so bright and saturated with color.
Sound: 9/10
Nothing
gets me more in the mood to shoot down some Zentraedi battle pods than classical
Robotech tunes, be they remixed or in their original form. Of course, this
is likely something that few people will be able to truly appreciate, unless they
have seen the television series at some point in their lives. The voice acting
is also terrific as many of the characters from the series sound exactly how they
once did; equally well done are the narrations and voice castings of new characters
made for the game. Even the in-game battle sound effects are nicely sampled, however,
like just about every other game out there, the miscellaneous one-liners quipped
by the various characters can become quite trying on the nerves. Control:
8/10
There's definitely a learning curve here; while the controls may be
as refined as the developers could have possibly made them, they still feel a
bit sloppy at times. Most notably awkward are the movement controls for the guardian
mode and battloid modes, as they both seem to rely on inertia to move forward,
and simply pedaling your little robotic legs forward more often than not won't
get you anywhere. I also believe that I would have been a bit happier with the
end result had the essential control schematics functioned and felt more like
those found in the Ace Combat games. Overall:
8.5/10
There can be no doubt that Robotech: Battlecry is a very solid
game, and yet I don't think that diehard fans will find pure gratification within
this black disk. The rushed feel of the story just doesn't sit well with me, nor
does the fact that many of the classic characters from the TV series have been
turned into generic versions of their former selves, now doomed to play through
their original storylines with slight twists. As far as being a worthwhile game,
Robotech: Battlecry definitely fits the bill, but to think of it as the
end all Robotech/Macross videogame? I'll have to get back to you on that one.
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