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DAIKATANA
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Daikatana? No, Killkatana more like it
By BILL PETRIDIS
Based on the highly successful Quake 2 engine
comes John Romero's latest offering, Daikatana. It is hard to refer
to this product as latest - it is anything but, as it began development
over four years ago. One would assume that with this lead-time, Romero
would have belted out an absolute epic first-person shooter but Daikatana
seems to have missed the mark.
We begin asking questions. Why would a game geared to contend with Unreal
and Quake II be released so much later? All sorts of speculation was circulating
over the course of its development especially since it cost $30million. It
would be fair to say that there was a lot of buzz surrounding
Daikatana. Good, bad or otherwise, it was still buzz. As such, when
the CD landed square on my desk I was a little more than curious as to
what mysteries would be discovered by playing.
Graphically, Daikatana is your standard 3D first-person venture, with
controls that resemble any other, enabling most gamers who haven't been
locked in a closet for the past six years to get going in minutes.
The Story of the Daikatana is an interesting one. Fashioned by an ancestor
of the main character, Hiro Miyamoto, the Daikatana is an immensely powerful
sword that has the ability to hurtle its wielder through time. It was
used to vanquish an evil ruler thousands of years ago, but was subsequently
used by his modern day descendant to travel back through time to alter
history.
The results were a Blade Runner-style future that seems to suck, on all
accounts. Obviously it is your job as Hiro to reclaim the sword and make
things right. After the intro it was high fives for everyone as I looked
forward to a Twelve Monkeys style trek through the ages, killing stuff
as only Quakers know how. Then Daikatana's worst feature hit me square
between the eyes, annoyance.
Daikatana would have to offer the most annoying game-play that I can remember.
The first level solely consists of shooting mechanical dragonflies, frogs
and crocodiles. I'm not kidding. It is actually quite funny when you die
to see a really lame-looking frog sucking away at your leg with nothing
that even resembles teeth. It felt like the old days of Mario Brothers
when touching a walking mushroom would instantly kill you. Obviously,
the designers were eating too many suspect mushrooms when they came
up with this.
To my relief, the later levels actually give you something decent to shoot
at. The Athens (ancient Greece) and Norway (Medieval) levels provide
some breathtaking scenery. This is when most gamers will make their decision
as to whether they enjoy the game or not. You are greatly influenced by
how well you get along with the AI sidekicks. I definitely fell into
the "not" group. To get through the later stages you need your cheesy
stereotypical companions Mikiko Ebihara and Superfly Johnson to help you
out. Superfly Johnson? I know. It sounds like a porn star. His
role in this game seems to be that of token black guy/comic relief.
Whatever the intent, it's all a bit ordinary in a Japanese Manga
sort of way.
If you didn't require the assistance of the AI characters, it would work
okay, as they do perform well and can be of immense help in certain situations.
However, they will occasionally fall off a ledge for no apparent reason
or walk head-first into a trap, leaving you smashing your computer because
the last save Daikatana allowed you was 10 minutes ago. If you
are in some desperate need of a first-person fix and have already played
Half Life, Soldier of Fortune and Quake 3 to death, then take a light-hearted
look at Daikatana, otherwise save your hard earned cash and maybe spend
it on some mushrooms.
ORIGINALITY 65%
SOUND/GRAPHICS 70%
PLAYABILITY 65%
ADDICTION 30%
ENJOYMENT 20%
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