reviously seen in three games for Sega's own console system, the style and background of the Panzer Dragoon franchise had as much to do with its winning a legion of fans as did its slick graphics and engaging gameplay. Detail was a watchword with these games, and they inspired many Web pages that track, among other things, the language that the developers created for the game world. Now Panzer Dragoon Orta carries on that legacy with what may be the best-looking game ever created for the Xbox.
The last game for the Sega in the PD series was a role-playing game, but this new game from Smilebit returns the franchise to its "rail shooter" roots. What "rail shooter" means is that the character, in this case a young woman riding a flying dragon, follows a predetermined course on each level, and the player has only limited control over where and how fast the dragon flies. What the player does fully control are the dragon's breath weapons and the girl's guns. Dragon and rider use these weapons to knock out the multitude of enemies that try to impede their progress.
The player also controls the dragon's shape. It can morph in real time between three different body types: lightly armed and highly maneuverable, heavily armed and not maneuverable, and an in-between form. Most levels require using more than one dragon shape.
The world of PD is an ancient one where little of the old makers' technology and even fewer of their servants have survived. What has come down, however, was enough for certain powers to construct biomechanical dragonmares and use them establish a world-spanning empire. Orta, the young woman riding the dragon and the player's character, must fight off the forces of the empire as well as various natural menaces that the bio-weapons of a previous age have created.
Graphics to die for
Words cannot convey the experience of guiding a dragon through a tunnel of trees while being chased by two giant, armored worms that are jumping in and out of the water like mutant dolphins. Of course, to get to the worms, players have to shoot their way through swarms of exploding blue butterflies, and the worms aren't even the bosses of the level. The level boss is huge floating plant with giant buds that explode to release corrosive poison. And that isn't even mentioning chasing the flying manta rays through the waterfalls. Or that this is just one level of 10.
Nor would the amazing world and creatures of PDO be so incredible were it not for the fantastic color, detail and animation with which they are rendered. The cutscene movies are as good as anything ever produced for a video game. The gameplay graphics are jaw-droppingly smooth and beautiful. Enemies fill the sky as water effects and shadows play about the screen, and there is no lag or pixilation. Players lose track of the number of times they say "wow" while playing this game.
As for the play itself, the controls are easy to learn, harder to master. The same button controls both the dragon's breath and Orta's gun: tap shoots the gun, hold and release sends dragon fire arcing away. While the button is held down, the dragon will lock onto targets the reticule passes over, and the fire homes in on them when the button is released. It takes time to get the rhythm down and to judge when it is time for rapid gunshots and when for slower but stronger dragon fire.
Some of the levels contain branching paths to let the player decide how they want to reach the end and give the game some replay value, but most of the replay value comes from wanting not just to finish the levels, but to finish them well. The game scores players on each level and good scores unlock more bonus features, including the complete, original Panzer Dragoon game. The only thing that doesn't make sense about PDO is that players can restart each stage of a level, but saved games, no mater where they are saved at, always start over at the beginning of that level.
This is just a crazy impressive game. I've played lots of games that gave me a similar rush, from killing monsters and beating bosses and advancing in level and power, but I've never seen it done with the sheer beauty contained in PDO.
— Eric
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