Sunday 16 October 2016

Realm Of The Dead (PS2)



Endlessly looping music, terrible AI, invisible walls, a truly terrible camera and perspective....everything about this game means it should be a totally unenjoyable, mind-numbing experience. And it mostly is! Yet for some reason, I actually keep playing this game....




A terrible plague is sweeping the land turning everyone into zombies, and you take control of one of three different characters and battle your way through the game to rescue a noble count and uncover a conspiracy that threatens to bring chaos and turmoil to the whole realm! So off you trot on a beat-em-up / hack-n-slash type journey...




The three characters available to play are Greezer, a holy knight with a sword...Hiro, daughter of the demon lord, who has a big, scary demon hand and a massive scythe ...and Lyla Dol, a female Black Knight who uses a weapon like the spinny thing from Krull! My favourite to use is Hiro, as Greezer is a bit slow and Lyla a bit fiddly to control. There's a surprising amount of moves and combos to use against the enemies, but you'll probably only ever use a few as a lot of the others seem a bit rubbish.




The most frustrating thing about the game, is that it could have been really good! The enemy design is okay, the locations suitably moody, the amount of pick-ups and secret areas is commendable and there's quite a bit of fun to be had fighting through the baddies. But then you're hit with all the flaws...terrible viewpoints that obscure the action, enemies that stand still if you hide behind them, other enemies like the Wasp Men who are almost impossible to kill....

So is it worth playing at all? I would say yes, if you can find it for a pound or so. It has a certain charm despite all its flaws. Just expect to get what you pay for if you buy it at that price...a shame though, as it could have been so much better...

No comments:

Post a Comment