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Review: Bloody Roar (alternate 2) |
I’m sure you have all heard about this game at some point. Whether it be through the nauseating commercial, or the constant wave of hype that seemed to follow this game around from its release in the Land of the Rising Sun, Hudson’s Bloody Roar (Sony only brought it over to America) certainly has garnered some considerable attention from the media and the average gamer alike. Frankly, you can leave me out of it, especially considering the pending releases of Dead or Alive + Tekken 3.
For starters, the graphics are just not up to snuff. Soul Blade is over a year old and Tobal 2 is about 9 months old, and both far outshine this one. Granted, not that mere comparisons can single-handedly drop a game’s worth. The characters in BR don’t look terrible, but they often look “blocky” and unappealing. These blocky behemoths DO animate very well, though, and make the engine run a little more smoothly. The backgrounds are also nothing special, just kind of there.
As far as fx and voices go, I’ve got nothing to complain about. The hits and throws are all relatively painful, and the voices are pretty much what you’ve come to expect from your average title. In other words, nothing to write home about.
However, those who know me (or read enough of my reviews) know that all the fancy texture-mapping and powerful arcade boards in the world don’t make up for gameplay in my book. This, in my opinion, is where Bloody Roar falls short.
Let’s get this out of the way now. Morphing into animals is a GIMMICK. It adds zero value to the title, and only makes you faster and more juggle crazy (I’ll get to that later). Besides, some of the creatures are just plain goofy (the gorilla and the rabbit come to mind first).
The engine is a little of this, a little of that. We’ve got Fighting Vipers’ cage + recovery maneuvers and Tekken’s tap-combo system, which sounds all fine and dandy, but we’ve got 5+ hit juggle combos (which take off entirely too much damage), and only TWO attack buttons. Shame on you, Hudson! The other “addition” they made is the RAVE mode, which enables bigger combos and quicker deaths, but leaves you open to be whaled on. Interesting, but isn’t gonna sell too many copies.
BR has some fairly interesting options to throw around. However, eventually you’ll realize the only option that saves this game from complete mediocrity is their sidestep. Turn on the sidestep option and the game is much more playable, even enjoyable at times.
In the end, Bloody Roar is neither creative nor exciting. The lifeless characters, predictable storyline, and even more predictable game play keeps this one from greatness. You’ll look at people morph into animals, “ooh” and “aah” a couple of times, play it, and put it into your games case, where it will collect dust while you play games with personality, innovative design, and (most of all) replayability.
Bottom Line: A good first try for Hudson, but too safe in its design. Perhaps Bloody Roar 2 will dare to go out and break new ground.
- Dark Schneider
