Developer
Digital Illusions

Released: June 12, 2002
Genre: Action
Players: 1
ESRB: Teen

7
7
7
7
7.0

Supported Features:

Here you get a troll (which except for the staff and magic wielding looks remarkably like a Dwarf - but let’s not quibble) and a unicorn riding around through four different lands trying to heal them of a plague that infects everything and turns people into evil monsters.

There are four worlds, each with four lands (or levels) and a boss to fight, and then the big man at the end. It won’t take too long to get through them all, but like I said, this is a great game for younger gamers, or parents who are concerned about the violence of their children’s games. It’s nice, it’s light, and no one dies, though there were a few times that just turning some creature back into a cute fantasy creature just wasn’t satisfying enough for me. Even if you run out of life you don’t die - you just have to start over from the last checkpoint.

Control is very simple and the only thing I was really disappointed with was backing up, and swinging the troll’s magic staff. The problem is that sometimes it comes out a little counter intuitive and that can really screw you in a few places, but otherwise it’s really good. Riding controls are excellent, and feel very close to how a horse is really controlled including the awkward reverse. That is about all there is to this game. You ride around, you shoot or whack things on the head and jump every so often. There’s nothing very complicated to it really - again, perfect for kids.

I will say that while the majority of the game is pretty simple there were a few places where I was ready to put my controller through the floor in frustration. Most often things are easy, but about once per world you will run into a spot that is just agonizing to complete. Usually it only took me about a dozen tries to do it, but just the repetition and frustration were enough to drive me mad.

Take the Troll Mountains for instance. You do a couple levels of running through caverns and over stone bridges and the like then you come to a big mine/factory works level that’s all over lava. All the levels are similar in that they bring out a real feel for the type of world you’re in and the nature of it’s inhabitance just by placing you in interesting backgrounds.

The character designs are good, but the lighting not always so and the graphics are overall a little grainy, so sometimes it’s hard to make things out, especially when running by at high speed on a unicorn, which is pretty much required to stay alive.

What makes things shine though is the visual effects. The dynamic lighting and particle effects are plentiful and look great. There are so many sparkles and colorful glowing effects you feel like its 4th of July all over again. You get attacked with fireballs, glowing boomerangs, sonic rings, and even demented mutated sheep.

The cinematics are good, and they look almost like they were trying for a cell-shading look but then tried to make it look like they weren’t. They chracters look nice, and I’ve never seen quite that much expression on a horse’s face before. The movies are really short though, and there is a movie player included even though there’s not much reason for one. The movies are either a flythrough of the level you’re just about to play, a shot of it after it’s been healed, or a very short and mildly disjointed scene to advance the story - none of which you would particularly care to rewatch.

The absolute worst part of this game was the voice acting, partly because of the juvenile script - and I realize I’m not who they’re trying to sell the game to, so that’s fine. What makes the dialog so bad is that while the acting is alright for some characters, others are just terrible and the delivery sounds a little condescending from time to time.

Also, your characters have a catalogue of about three phrases that they run through repeatedly, and by the time you get to a level where they change to the next three you feel like strangling our heroes. Despite the repetitiveness, it was nice to see the characters actually develope and change their attitudes as the game progressed. It’s a nice touch and something that I haven’t seen before in a game. Now if only there were a story that I liked backing this quality detail work up - some more grit and a little mayhem and I’d be raving.

Some one younger would probably take a lot longer to complete the game and would be a lot more satisfied with the plot. I don’t hate the game; I’d just be a little disappointed with the outcome and the time it took me to get there had I dropped the $20 on it; especially when I can go and get one of many PS2 titles for the same price that offer greater game value.

There are a few extras to keep you occupied though. There is the movie player and a section of conceptual sketches for the game. They all unlock as you complete levels, and are ok for the most part but don’t add that much to the over all experience. It was nice to see some of the sketches and early concepts, but it’s not much compared to what they could have added, and there’s really only so much you can do with a horse.