reated by Crave Entertainment, the studio that made Galerians and Jade Cocoon for the Sony PlayStation, Draconus: Cult of the Wyrm offers adventurous fantasy action of grand medieval scope with a smooth video game pace.
Players embark on their quest in the role of Cynric, a sardonic knight, or Aeowyn, a swashbuckling sorceress in hot pants. Their world brims with cheeky monsters and classic fiends--dragons and hellhounds and trolls, oh my.
The heroes' goal is to save humanity by applying a pointy edge--and some sharp words--to the hide of the Dragon Lord and his minions. The dark-side team includes an insect queen and her brood, plus a passel of hilltop giants, among others.
This story of interspecies discord is told via cut-scenes that pepper the 15 levels of forests and mountains and swamps. The game provides an overlay compass and pointer that clearly define the quest's objectives, as well as a map that indicates points of interest, making the pleasantly vast stages manageable.
Pure console sword-and-sorcery
Draconus' Game play is a splendid mix of exploration and swordplay with a few nifty magic spells thrown in for good measure. The two characters' skills and abilities evolve as the story unfolds. The game emphasizes roleplaying elements without swamping play with tedious inventory management. In fact, the game style is essentially a wandering 3-D hack 'n' slash fighter, complete with button combos that execute acts of bravura.
The combat system is simple and intuitive yet intelligent enough to include the ability to simultaneously defend and assail during melee.
Beleaguered voice actors deliver clumsy but faithfully grandiose dialogue. Not least among them is George Takei (a.k.a. Star Trek's Sulu), whose baritone would suit the material perfectly were it not for the choppy way he delivers the antediluvian language. Fortunately, the brilliant game play, magnificently rendered scenery and fluid character modeling far outshine the incongruous voice acting.
Although there are a few perspective glitches typical of third-person/chase camera games, they don't detract from play. All told, this is one of the purest translations of the dungeons-and-dragons genre ever created for console gaming.
Rich and involved yet easy to play, Draconus: Cult of the Wyrm is an outstanding epic adventure riddled with 3-D action savvy.
