Xena: Warrior Princess |
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Saterday November 06,1999
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Xena: Warrior Princess |
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Saterday November 06,1999
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Battle on as Xena! |
Xena is a character that was introduced in the Hercules TV Show and was supposed to be on for only for 3 shows, but she was so well received that they have done a spin off called Xena: Warrior Princess. In no time the spin off was more popular and the ratings better than Hercules. Xena: warrior Princess TV Show last year dethroned Baywatch and now as of today is the number 1 watched syndicated action show in the world. So with all the success and the popularity that the main Character Xena has acquired, it was only a matter of time to see a game made based on the show. Developed by Universal Interactive Studios and published by Electronic Arts, who purchased the game from 989 Studios just before the E3 game convention of this year. Kalabaraz, an ancient evil sorceress comes back to earth for revenge and to dominate the world. In order to cast a spell that will grant her ultimate power, she needs the sacrifice of a mortal Queen. since gabrielle is the Queen of the Amazons, that makes her the target. With the help of King Valarian and Narsus, the evil amazon queen, Kalabaraz will kidnap Gabrielle and Xena will try to rescue her. The game starts like the show, Gabrielle and Xena walking down a dirt road while Gabrielle tells a story. Then Xena sees smoke and they separate as Xena goes investigating the problem. Gabrielle gets kidnaped and thats where you start from. You will have to go through 7 worlds with sublevels, 21 in total. It will take you on the same sort of epic adventure as the tv show does. You will travel through different place like a labyrinth, castles and the Amazon Village. while you try to get to Gabrielle, different enemies like pirates and cyclops will be in your path for you to overcome until you rescue Gabrielle. While you travel these worlds you will have to pick up the scrolls left by Gabrielle to help you along your way. Also you will have some magical power-ups like healing potions, Super Chakram, Frost Biter, Golden Shield, Hand of Zeus and the Promethean Blade. In only a couple levels you will find and free Gabrielle, but then lose her again. Besides that you only hear or see bits of of her. The voice is not of the original character but the official voice double from the show, and of course we do have the yell done by Lucy lawless herself.
"Fabulous training room!" |
"Outstanding graphics!" The grafhics are ok but the charcaters could of been better. Xena looks too fragile and thin more like Barbie than Xena really. And if you are adept with these type of games it will not take you long to finish the game. The only setting that you can change is either you walk or run although each are used during the game. Adding harder difficulty levels would have brought the game more depth. Also there is no multiplayer mode. It would have been interesting to see Gabrielle battling at Xena's side like she usually does. The third person view of the camera can also use some work. Sometimes it does not follow you well or switch sides, and when there are a few after you you can get killed because the camera is too slow to follow you. Also Argo, her horse, is not in the game at all, not even at the beginning. But where the game excels is in the control of Xena's signature moves such as the Chakram throwing, Kung-Fu and sword, You now actually play as Xena, I was surprised of how real it looked when she throws her Chakram you then can control it like a guided missile in Descent to hit anything you want. At one point I was able to stand on the top of a destroyed building, and send the Chakram far across the entire village and cut the chain of the drawbridge that will let you into the castle. (By the way, that is the only way to do it ). You have a training place to familiarize yourself with all her moves. All her Kung-Fu and sword moves are included. She can fall on her back and flip back up onto her feet. It is all very well done even when she kneels to plant a sword down into her enemy. Also the sound effects are well heard like the swords slashing, kicks connecting, and of course her Arabic customary yell. they also included some original characters like Orpheus, Hades and Ares. Although it does not have quite the depth of Tomb Raider, Xena: Warrior Princess, with special moves and unique weapons, is a very original game worth trying. And of course, it is a must-buy for every fan out there. If the show goes on, will we see a Xena 2? So far no plans for it have been made but we never know exactly what the future holds. |
Companies Developer Publisher Category Notes Originality : 83% TOTAL : 80 % Requirements Console Number of Players Analog Controller Vibration Function Memory Card ESRB
Rating LadyDragon |
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