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Review: Evil Zone |
I like innovation. I like new ideas. I like eye candy. Thus, Evil Zone satiates me in many respects, but falls short in a few others. I also like depth. And challenge. (To a point. Damn you, Guilty Gear’s Justice! Damn you!) So how exactly does Evil Zone fit into my tastes? Glad you asked.
I first heard about this game in an issue of some magazine, likely the now defunct Gamefan. It might seem that this game was designed specifically for Gamefan as a matter of fact: Lots of flash and style, but a little lacking in substance. Don’t get me wrong, though. I’m not referring to anything other than technical depth. Gamefan had exactly what I wanted at the time: Lots of cool images and news about niche games that looked (wait for it) FUN to play. But, did you ever see any specs on a new system or insight into the Biz (as people in “the Biz” like to call it)? No. What you got was sweet screen shots, story elements, and cover art. Just what every fanboy (me) craved. And, in the end, you might read over it a couple more times for nostalgia, but not for “education” (brrr.) Evil Zone fits right in there.
First, let me tell you about the innovations. You decide on their brilliance. This game was made with “ease of operation” in mind. Forget an arcade stick, or the lack of access to the shoulder buttons in a pinch on the PS controller. No more complaining that a High Punch fireball is too hard to pull off. Two buttons are back in style. That’s right, this game was made for the NES/PCEngine set in mind. One for attack, one for defense. That, my friends, is it. And, while we’re at it, forget about rolling that pesky D-Pad in any Half-Circle-Quarter-Half-Backs. Just point, and press. See, in Evil Zone, your different attacks aren’t based on a move set, but your distance from your enemy, and the direction you’re holding down the little cross under your left thumb as you press the (SINGLE!) attack button. In fact, all the moves are the same for all the characters. Sure, they LOOK different, but they all act the same.
Sounds sickeningly easy, doesn’t it? And it is. What’s mind blowing is that there is an extensive training portion in the game, which explains how to do everything, then lets you try it yourself. It’s actually pretty cool. I wish more games had that feature, but more games can’t, because more games have diversity in character action. In Evil Zone, two taps is a combo up close; One tap from far away is a fireball; One tap while holding down is a throw. (No matter the distance, which is boss. I’ll get to that) That goes for everyone. All the time.
OK, so you say, “Boorrrrinnng,” right? Well, no actually. Because it’s all fast paced, and looks pretty darn cool. Remember those throws I mentioned? Well, each character has three, depending, again, on their distance from the opposing character. When they are pulled off and connect, we’re talkin’ FF7 summon style movies, folks. One character, an armored super-hero-power-ranger type, calls on his ship to take a shot at you from outer space with a giant beam cannon. First, the enemy character floats up in the air. Cut to the ship moving into position. Cut to an overhead shot of the helpless victim as cross-hairs zero in. Cut yet again to the ship, which powers up, then fires. The beam blasts through space, tears through the cloud cover, and finally lights up the pathetic fighter’s ass in a huge fireball of destruction. Impressive, no? They all have something like that. The game isn’t slowed down by multiple throws of the same kind, either, as it cuts out some of the cinematics after the first one has been landed of any particular type. For instance, if super guy lands the same Ship-In-Space throw, the ship won’t be seen again, just the beam. Plus, the angles are different each time, giving variety to the theatrics.
The game feels like you have some control over an anime, albeit a poorly rendered one. Lets face it, the PS 3D machine isn’t what it used to be, eh? Still, it stands up presentation wise, and the moves are still fun to pull off now and again. However, as I mentioned before, the simplicity of it all creates a dispassioned attitude about playing it over and over. I’ll never get rid of Evil Zone, but I can’t play it every day like I can, say, any KOF game. Uh-oh, there, I’ve said it.
Game-play aside, the presentation is where it’s at. You get ten total characters to choose from, Boss included, each quite different from the other in terms of style. There’s that power-ranger guy, schoolgirl chick, pre-pube wizard, bouncy bimbo, terminal psycho. You get the picture? And their names are all Jap-engrish, for your confusion and pleasure. My fav is the big white guy, Gally (?) “Vanish”(??) Gregman. Supah Koo!
There are plenty of modes to choose from: 1Player Battle, VS, Survival, Practice, (which is very good, not just “pick two guys and beat up the puppet”) Option, and Story. Story reminds me of the story mode in Tech Romancer, but less pleasing to watch. It just uses the in-game engine to advance the events; no dedicated art. However, each character has a unique theme and path, and the chapters are presented like a Japanese anime show, complete with station break bumpers and “next episode” lead-ins. Lots of fuzzy voice acting adds to the fun.
Replay wise, there is an art gallery, encyclopedia-like text gallery, new costumes and the boss to unlock. Not bad for a simple fighter. I found myself wanting to unlock everything, and enjoying it as I did. When I was done, however, that was that. Time to put Evil Zone away for a while.
In the end, I like Evil Zone, cause it gives me everything I want.in an anime. Cool action, sweet characters and a nifty back-story. But as a fighting game, it falls a little flat. Buy it if you like to watch your games as much as play ‘em. For the rest of you: Go find the old article in Gamefan. That should do it.
