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If
I was going to give out a award for 'worse looking box
cover for the PS2' hands down Eternal Ring would walk
away with that honor. But beauty is only skin deep.
Eternal ring is a First Person Shooter/ Role Playing
game hybrid, similar but not a polished as Deus Ex or
System Shock (I've heard it is similar to Kings Field
although I've never played that game). The entire game
is in real time, there is no 'random' battles like traditional
Console RPGS, requiring you to have quick fingers as
well as patience to build up your character.
You
play the role of Cain, who is commanded by the king
to explore an island called 'the Island of no return',
investigate the activities of search party of the elders
(the true rulers of the kingdom, the King is just a
figure head). You later discover that the island turns
people into monsters and the true purpose of the 'Eternal
Ring' and your connection with it. Lame, lame, lame.
Your
weapons, a arsenal of magic rings base on the six elements,
Wind, Earth, Water, Fire, Holy, and Shadow. Each
ring has different abilitys such as casting offensive
magic, or status clear. You create you own rings with
the help of a ancient but it more based on luck than
experimentation. The only physical weapons you get are
swords and daggers but they will refill you MP a little
if you defeat a monster with them.
The
game does not support the analog buttons!, making
a pain in the bum to control, you haft to use the L
and R buttons to strife and look up and down, it takes
a great deal getting used to. Collision detection is
non existent, both you and your enemy's projectiles
will go through walls! It is very annoying!
The
graphics look like something that came off the N64,
the textures are not detailed and are very blurry. The
characters themselves look as they are made with wood
chips and cement, even the mouths are out of sync! ER
does have its moments but most of the graphics are monatomic.
The
music however is suburb, even though some tunes are
recycled most have a wonderfully haunting feel to them,
dealing you deeper in to gameplay, its fantastic. The
voice overs however are awful, I'm certain that the
voices where recorded out of someone's basement. It
is amazing how music and sound can make or break a game.
For
a RPG it is way too short, you can beat the game in
around 20 hours or so, and replay value is non existent,
you are required travel 90% of the Island to complete
the game. I enjoyed the game but the many problems lowers
the game's final verdict.
-Chip
Scheppel
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