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Aug 26th, 2009 at 21:05:06 - Hybrid Heaven (N64) |
GAMEPLAY
As I play further I find myself still enjoying the bits of dialoge between characters and unfolding story, but the gameplay has become a little more enjoyable (even if frustrating at times). More events are happening in the exploration bits of the game, for example a giant beast/monster chases you around the field for bit. The frequency of the arena battle encounters can be frustrating if you fail to manage your health bar responsibly because the humanoid enemies can kill you surprisingly quick. But I have to say I'm learning more about the fight mechanics so the fights are becoming more fun. Also as you level up the character gains new moves, which I found to be exciting (most especially the new grapple moves).
DESIGN
The first thing I should note is the fact that this game requires a Controller Pak memory device in order to save your game. I played this game for the first time recently when I bought the game used and it wasn't until I got home did I discover this. Though the box for the game probably has this necessary information on it, I was still shocked mostly for the fact that most N64 games save directly to the cartridge. This decision to require the controller pak instead of using some sort of battery back up must have been an effort cut production costs I guess.
As I've said before the design elements were pretty novel to me. The rpg elements added to the arena fighting almost seem to border on obsessive it seems to me. There are a plethora of stats you can increase in your character such as the expected Strength, speed, endurance, reflexes, etc. But on top of these basic traits you also level each your limbs for both offense and defense. For a while I started to play only using my Right Arm in order to see if I could make a super power Right Arm attack, but as I kept getting killed I dropped that approach.
The game uses Savepoints, which isn't really a problem for me as I'm used to games that use them, my only problem is that when you die it's Game Over and you are returned to the game's title screen. Which is something else I should be used to, but it's still annoying regardless.
The game uses 3D models and characters which are pretty impressive in some senses, but pretty awful in others. The opening sequence works well with the limited graphics and eventhough the character models have a relatively low polygon count, the artist still do a good job of designing eyecatching unique characters. The animations of these characters leave me terribly ambivalent however. All of the fighting moves used in the arena fights look pretty great, when you select swinging neckbreaker that's what the character does. All of the suplexes and leg locks look great too. The problem however comes from the scripted cut scenes and cinema events. The animations are always unimspired and often times poorly done with characters not even making apparent physical contact. It's as though the developers had two different teams, one involved with recording all of the fighting moves, and another team doing all of cinematic events and scripting.
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Aug 21st, 2009 at 21:50:18 - Hybrid Heaven (N64) |
SUMMARY
"Hybrid Heaven" is a 3rd person action-adventure game where the player must traverse 3D playfields in or to advance in the game. The story is one of subversion and mystery involving a shady organization with aims to control the world through the strategic placement of cloned doppelgangers of various world leaders. The player is given the ability to run, jump, climb, and use a ray pistol to navigate the levels. But whenever the player encounters a humanoid opponent the player must confront the enemy in an arena style of combat.
GAMEPLAY
The gameplay in Hybrid Heaven can be split into two parts, the first being traditional 3rd person exploration. The player will complete mild platforming objectives, dispatch minor enemies with the ray pistol, and solve mild puzzles. However, should the player encounter one of the many humanoid enemies the gameplay changes into something more novel. At the start of combat the player's heading becomes fixed on the enemy with the analog stick used to strafe the character about the enemy in the three-dimensional space. What's interesting is that when the player presses the "A" button both the enemy and player's character freeze and a list of commands are brought on screen. From here the player must choose which limb (right or left leg or arm) and what attack (jab, hook, roundhouse, etc) to use on the enemy. But the enemy also receives chances to freeze the action in order to choose a command, at which time the player must choose an evasive command (move, counter, guard). I found this hybrid of realtime action and traditional RPG elements to be interesting.
Though I found the gameplay to be novel it also turned out to be pretty mundane and monotonous most of the time. The driving force for me really seems to be the unfolding story more so than the combat or exploration. The story seems to be of the Hollywood-esque style that seemed to become popular with the advent of 3D capable video games (Perfect Dark and Metal Gear Solid come to mind). The story so far seems to promise a bit of intrigue along with a few twists and climatic encounters.
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