he plot goes like this: Our hero, Josh Calloway, and his girlfriend, Eliel Evergrand, discover that Josh's employer (the biogenetics corporation named Wisdom) owes its rapid rise in power to being the underground supplier to the military establishment of a new weapon component called "Legacy." Legacy is a fusion of ancient metal (from Atlantis, as it happens) and a human nervous system to create a "masterpiece" of destructive power. Josh and Eliel are caught trying to escape with this information. He is tortured and tested, while Eliel's soul is grafted to the newest Legacy weapon. The day for preliminary testing comes and Josh and the weapon that was and still is his girlfriend are transported to the test site. The helicopter carrying them crashes and the game begins.
The game is divided into levels, which are set up to allow Josh to wander freely, but he is guided by Eliel's comments. Yes, she is now perhaps only a nervous system grafted to metal, but she can still talk. Eliel helps with insights or suggestions about how to get past the puzzles. The levels are structured to guide the player in logical directions until Josh unlocks each final "door" and faces the level boss.
The Legacy weapons that Josh and the bosses wield can change forms. The bosses' weapon forms are built in, but Josh has to collect crystals that allow his to change to new shapes. Each crystal/weapon can be upgraded by collecting two ley seeds, as in ley lines. The ley lines flow throughout the levels; sometimes they have seeds, sometimes not. Any ley line will heal Josh, so they're always good to find. Each weapon form is slightly different in speed, damage and range, and each has a different overdrive. The player can rapidly change between weapons using the L1 and R1 buttons. Switching between the weapons allows for combo attacks that can be quite creative such as: lift the goon into the air with the katar attack, slice him with the sword in mid air and bring the rod down on him as he hits the floor. No
more goon.
A surprising first-person shooter
One of Josh's weapon's first forms is a pole, and it gets a workout. EoE requires a lot of jumping, pole-vaulting and climbing. Despite the number of enemies that need bashing, players will spend the majority of their time just getting around the levels. It is actually easier to die trying to cross between buildings or over gaps than it is fighting the non-boss opponents. Failing a few times is fine, since there are unlimited restarts, but the more Josh falls, the more frustrating it is, particularly considering the time spent limping to the nearest ley line to heal before returning to try again.
The controls seem very natural, so even an uncoordinated player can make Josh do some nice-looking moves. The graphics are fine. The motions of Josh are fluid, but those of his opponents are a bit mechanical. The levels are nicely done, certainly up to current standards. The cutscenes are fine, and
most come with a command or two to keep players focused on the screen. For example, players are prompted to hit the O button as the first-level boss dives at Josh. If the player reacts in time, the boss misses Josh. The only problem with this is that keeping an eye out for a command at the bottom of
the screen distracts players from looking at details in the cutscenes.
The battle with the first boss illustrates how all the elements of EoE come together. The boss has a Legacy weapon and is invulnerable to Josh's weapon. He has the neat trick of sinking into his own shadow and then coming at Josh through the floor. Josh can avoid him by jumping, but can't
attack him. Eliel helps the player by saying, "You have to get rid of his shadow." This is a hint to destroy the chandelier hanging above them. To do so requires avoiding the roving shadow on the floor, pole-vaulting to the second level, staying on the ledge so the shadow doesn't get him, and using
the Legacy weapon's overdrive to destroy the chandelier. Then the boss rematerializes and Josh gets to fight him for real. Once the boss is defeated, Josh gains a new legacy crystal so his weapon can now take the shape of the boss's. Not every challenge combines all the game's elements, but many of them do.
I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed Eve of Extinction. Even though it is essentially a first-person shooter, it has enough other elements to make it very entertaining.
— Eric
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