McFarlane's Evil Prophecy
Score: 30% ESRB: Mature Publisher: Konami Developer: Konami HWI Media: DVD/1 Players: 1 - 4 Genre: Action
Graphics & Sound: McFarlane's Evil Prophecy isn't one of Konami's shining moments. In fact, there's barely a spark, glimmer or otherwise. Going from the introductory sequence into the actual game is a punch in the stomach. The animated intro, which really has little to do with the game's story, is honestly the best part about the entire game. So much so that it feels almost as if all of the game's budget was blown on producing this masterpiece. Once you get past the cool animated feature and plodding novel of an intro story, the game presents you with bleak, flat environments and character models are only a notch above the best of what the PSOne had to offer, all viewed through an annoying blur filter to try and generate a spooky ambiance. This lack of detail is one of the few things holding the game together stylistically. While the distinct character design of the McFarlane toy line is readily apparent, the overall effect comes across as a grotesquely mutated Saturday morning cartoon. Each of the four main characters, which range from a salty pirate to a sexy marksman, are drawn from worlds that seem out of place when thrown together - all adding up to a game that is more silly than gothic. Sound is a dead issue. None of the dialog is voiced, which really slows the game down when you consider the dissertation that makes up the game's intro story. In addition, most levels lack even an annoying, looping track - it is nothing but silence and painfully bad sound effects. When music does kick in, which is a rare treat indeed, it always pops for no real reason and stops just as suddenly as it started.
Gameplay: In a nutshell, the world is going to hell in a hand basket. Ships are disappearing, monsters are showing up all over the globe, the dead are rising from there graves, dogs and cats living together -- mass hysteria. The entire world is in a panic except for a lone doctor who happens to possess a book of poetry that predicts all of these happenings. He then decides to call upon three adventurers to help him stop the world from ending - or something like that. Each character takes part in the mission for their own reason and, as it turns out, all three are also legendary warriors prophesized by - well, who cares. The truth of the matter is that the game's narrative tries to throw so many clichs at one time that you lose interest about half way through the first paragraph of the introduction. Considering the game's dull hack n' slash premise, no story would have been better. Just give me a weapon and a group of zombies to use it on and things would have been fine. Instead, McFarlane's Evil Prophecy presents pointless gameplay and a mindless story. Essentially the game gives you control of all four characters as you tear through groups of enemies. The entire game boils down to one thing - running around and hitting everything in sight. You can also collect monster cards during the game, but what's the point when they add nothing to the gameplay? A Multiplayer mode is also included, but this turns out to be the digital equivalent of when someone takes a bite of food, says it tastes bad, then offers to share.
Difficulty: It is completely possible to run through a number of areas in McFarlane's Evil Prophecy without taking a hit. It is also possible to run through a number of levels without pressing the attack button. Just walk to the next area and let your posse take out everything. Using another clich to describe a game chalk full of them - the hardest thing about Evil Prophecy is enduring it.
Game Mechanics: The main 'dynamic' that is supposed to push the game forward and give it challenge is using each of your characters to overcome certain obstacles. Truthfully, there's no real reason for switching between them (other than to unlock the secrets of statues that are attuned to certain characters' element). They all feel about the same and eventually equal out ability-wise. Each character has their own special combos, but there's no reason to even attempt pulling off complicated button presses when hitting X does just as good of a job. Besides, trying to execute the combos could mean that you'd actually take damage, something that rarely happens when jamming on the X button. Controls are very floaty and never feel right. Sometimes this even gets to the point where you feel like you're pointing your character one way and he's going in another. There's a laundry list of other problems that plague the game, but there's no real point to it - this is just a really bad game. Even if the McFarlane name attached to the title draws your curiosity, silently push this one aside on the self.
-Starscream, GameVortex Communications AKA Ricky Tucker
La Pucelle: Tactics Samurai Warriors