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Review: Ehrgeiz (alternate) |
It takes guts to step away from “established gameplay” when it comes to fighter games. But once again Dreamfactory and Squaresoft, with the help of Namco, pull off a new innovation that is solid. Ehrgeiz is a multiplatform fighting game based on the “Tobal 2″ design engine. This is no where near similar to tekken games when it comes to gameplay.
In this fighter you are able to move around easily in a multi-level 3d environment. In doing this, players are not conformed to staying in the same dismal spot and favors the action while fighting in various places. Now you can attack from below your opponent, use boxes to leap off from or push into your opponent, use the wall as leverage, and you can even do a body splash ontop of your opponent if you are on a higher platform. This brings a new twist on how you block and probably one of the most time consuming features to get used to on the game. Most games have you pressing back to block an attack; with Ehrgeiz, you must leave the control pad neutral to block standing and hold down a guard button to block low. This may flame you at the start for those used to tekken style games, but it does have its advantages when you understand that while you’re holding down the guard button to block low, all you have to do is press back (like a normal fighter game), or move to the sides and you will block high and evade futher hits at the same time. This reduces waiting to trade hits like many “me too” games.
In the fighting game world of “Dail me a combo”. Ehrgeiz keeps it simple but with room to grow as many Street Fighter 2 WW players remember. There are chain combos but to deliver full pain on your opponents is to develop beyond predefined combos. One excellent combo feature is “in frame” combos which adds extra moves/hits in your combo by pressing the buttons exactly at the perfect moment instead of mashing them ahead of time. All characters have unblockables which take a bit from your super bar and there’s even unblockables in the combos to keep you from turtling. Many may have a problem with this when hearing that people can cheese on the game, but I beg to differ. Defense features in the game include combo breakers that you can do even when getting hit and you can stop unblockables in combos, catch swords in your hand, catch thrown objects, using only one button. All throws can be escaped, and some even reversable. Even if you are holding the guard button, double clicking the controls lets you evade, roll backwards or to the sides of unblockable hits. Tap guard to land on your feet if knocked down, or constantly roll all over the screen from projectiles without getting up from being knocked down. There’s even a super evade that enables you to become invincible for a brief moment to avoid a super move.
Due to Namco’s influence in this venture, many of the characters have similar moves if not similar looks from characters in Tekken3. Don’t get me wrong though, you can see the line drawn where Squaresoft and Dream Factory wanted some favorite moves from the Tobal series revamped. There are Final Fantasy characters on the game to play with a lot of original moves from the FF7 game but like many 3d fighters, some moves are taken from the original fighters except with differ attributes such as change of strength, speed, range, etc. There are mini-games you can play that open up new secrets and some are actually fun by yourself or with a friend. Battle race is my favorite cuz you can beat up your opponent while running to the finish line. Graphics are beautiful and no less than what you’d exspect from Squaresoft.
The only downsides to Ehrgeiz is the annoying select controller style feature under your select characters. It gives you various button configurations and allows you to customize your own (make sure you save it on memory). There is also the camera angles on the game. In certain areas of the arena, it can be confusing to tell if your opponent is hitting high or low, even if you are used to the opponent. If you are familiar with Tobal 2, you will definitely notice some of the hits, misses and blocks aren’t as visually crisp and sharp as they were in Tobal 2 but this is due to the awesome texture mapping on the characters distracting your eyesight every so often.
There is a RPG feature on here if you know your Japanese. If you like no-brainer fighters with easy button mashing, don’t bother getting this. If you are looking for innovative games to push you to the next level, this is a worthy investment and a must have if you can play imports (may come to US). Though many have given this game medium to disgrundled ratings, my advise to them is to re-evaluate the learning curve cuz there is more to this game than many mention. To sum it up, It’s a fresh new game for the “Evolving fighter gamer” Like Tobal 2, You are either going to Love it, or Hate it. I love it.
