Vexx really is an underrated classic, and one for all of us older gamers who used to like playing platformers when we were kids but now find the majority of them too shallow and easy (game developers take note: its NOT just kids who like platformers, and some of us oldies do like to take a break from playing stuff like GTA every now and then!!!). Vexx has a familiar gameplay structure to what has gone before. Anyone whos played a 3D Mario game will be able to get straight into this as the basic premise is the same...follow the clues to collect a number of Wraithhearts (think stars/shines) on each level to unlock other sections from the hub, or collect 100 shards (think coins) to get a bonus Wraithheart (1 per level). So youre thinking this is a kids game, right? Wrong. As I said earlier, this is one for the adults. Vexx is hard. Very hard. More often than not, the clues to the Wraithhearts are as obscure as the riddles from the old 3-2-1 gameshow (with Ted Rogers & Dusty Bin!), and even when you find one and are told which clue its attached to...well, there are a few times when you kick yourself but many of them still leave me confused. However, this is where its handy to have played these sorts of games before...even with no knowledge of what youre meant to be doing, its often possible to find the Wraithhearts by playing Vexx as you would do when youre looking for those last few secret stars in a Mario game, and just trying everything. However, even when youve found an area where a Wraithheart obviously is (a tower full of traps, for instance), getting to it can be a near-impossibility. Some of the challenges are laid out in such a way that they require almost pixel perfect jumps from platform to platform (a lot of which are small) or ledge (a lot of which are very thin), as well as precision timing, and even the tiniest mistake can result in losing a lot of progress, or even death (meaning that you have to start the whole level again), and most of the time, the traps that you have to negotiate just to get ONE Wraithheart would constitute an entire level in another, more kiddy-friendly platformer. It almost feels like youre playing Manic Miner or Jet Set Willy again! The in game camera can also cause problems too...its mostly good, better than Sonics at least, but not quite as good as seen in the likes of Mario/Zelda, and can sometimes cause you to die unfairly when you miss a jump....which can cause SEVERE frustration when you have to start an entire section thats taken you almost 10-15 minutes to traverse, from scratch!
Im griping about the bad points though. The fact that its difficult really is a bonus in many ways as it has that one more go quality about it, and the graphics/sounds really are lush (especially on the Xbox version), with Vexx himself responding extremely well to the controls and having a very impressive set of abilities (and earning new ones as the game goes on).
If youre reading this review, presumably youre interested in the game....go on, do yourself a favour and give it a try. Its quirky, has many original puzzles (the sundial portals are clever) and will have you coming back to do those tricky jumps long after the recent shoddy sequels to Crash Bandicoot and Spyro have collected dust.
Reviewed by: Amazon Reviewer Rating:  Date Reviewed: 02Dec2004 |
More ACCLAIM Xbox Games
Vouchers Feed
.jpg)
