Must find sailors! (Shenmue (DC))

Member Name: quirky

Product:	Shenmue (DC)
Date:	23/10/01 (365 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great graphics, a little bit of Japan in your Dreamcast, comedy dialogue

Disadvantages: Comedy dialogue spoils any tension in the plot, controls are criminally bad, rubbish sequel-priming ending

This game was something like 20 years in the making. I remember reading previews when jokes told with Ronald Reagan puppets were still funny. Or so it seemed. When finally released last year this game got rave reviews and everyone said it was The Best Thing Ever. Well, nearly a year later, how has it fared?

"So-so" is the answer. It is a game that all Dreamcast owners should play through, but you will need the patience of a saint, the coffee of Starbucks and a will of steel. It is very slow to start, never really picks up and has a disappointing end. Doesn't sound great so far, eh?

Off set against the tedium are some true Great Gaming Moments that are not to be found in any other game. What other games offer the player the opportunity to spend hours searching through sock draws in their virtual house? Where else can you play perfect arcade conversions, even if the arcade games in question are from the mid-eighties? And how can you even think another game would give you the chance to purchase cans of coca-cola from exquisitely detailed vending machines?

As I'm sure you'll agree, these alone are reasons to get the game, but there's more!

OK. I can't keep that level of sarcasm up any longer without doing myself serious long-term harm.

In Shenmue you play the role of Ryo Hazuki, who is the son of a martial arts expert. In the opening sequence, Ryo's dad is killed by a mysterious guy who is after a mirror. Ikea doesn't sell magic ones, it seems. The sequence is "shot" quite spectacularly, and this is the same for most of the game; it has a real movie-like feel to it. Every cut scene advances the story along a bit more, as Ryo seeks out to avenge his father's murder.

Once the game proper begins you will discover the first major flaw: the controls are awful! If you read my op on Resident Evil, then you'll know I am not a fan of the turn-on-the-spot-then-walk-forwar
ds style of control system. Shenmue takes this to new, previously undiscovered levels of awfulness. Rather than turning on the spot, left and right make Ryo do a sort of "half shuffle" sideways and also rotate a bit. Forward then makes him walk forwards in the direction faced.

The problem is that neither are responsive at all. You push a direction and it takes a moment to initiate Ryo's motion. After you let go he keeps moving for a while. It is just horrible, and quite possibly the worst 3D control mechanism ever.

The analogue stick isn't used for motion at all; instead it makes our man look around. The environments are spectacularly realised, so you'll make use of the look about option a fair amount.

This is the main draw of Shenmue - the wonderful graphics. Never before in a game has a "real life" location been depicted with such detail, it is even more surprising that most of it is interactive. True, most of the interaction consists of "Open sock draw. Hmm. It's empty. Move along" but at least the thought is there. It is a very atmospheric game, not in a scary way like Resident Evil, say, but in a being-in-Japan sort of way.

The second draw of Shenmue is the plot - finding out how Ryo gets his revenge!
To be honest this is all a bit trudging. You first have to go around questioning people, asking them if they know anything about the men that killed Ryo's father. The questions are all stock; you can't choose what is said. Similarly most characters give you the same answer - "dunno, mate" or a variation on the theme. It is only when you ask the right person that the plot advances and you move on asking a new set of questions.

Luckily, some of this leads to the funniest moments in gaming history. Not, you understand, intentionally funny, but instead due to the dodgy translation, terrible voice acting and moronic outbursts from all the characters inv
olved. My favourite comedy moment is when Ryo has to find out about some sailors. He goes around his hometown asking people "where do sailors hang out?" like a lost member of The Village People. None of his neighbours seem to bat an eyelid, instead pointing out the Ryo should "check out the bars, late at night". I haven't laughed so much at a video game since? well, since ever.

On top of this, there is a character in the game, Tom, who is supposed to be of African-American decent. Quite why they couldn't actually get somebody authentic to do this guy's voice is beyond me. Instead they have the voice of a guy who crosses from Scottish, to some sort of pseudo-Indian, via North America and goodness knows where. It is toe-curlingly bad, but adds to the general air of kitschness. Just don't take it too seriously.

The genuine good bits are in there too. The old skool arcade games are fantastic, you can spend literally hours in the virtual arcade in Ryo's home town beating your hi scores. There is a whole fighting game built in too, with Ryo having access to dozens of "special moves", which need to be worked on in various places around the game world. ("Let's get sweaty!" our vengeful chum says, rather strangely, when you happen upon a spot that is right for a bit of karate practice)
I don't want to say too much about the surprises along the way, as that would spoil the.. er.. surprise. Suffice to say it has a bit of love interest, some crazy kung-fu fighting, Chinese gangsters and loads of sailors.

If Shenmue were a film, I think it would be "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon". It has a similar sort of pacing, with some great action sequences spaced far apart by some really dull bits. And the end is a big let down in a "yeah, is that it?" sort of way. All of it has a definite martial arts feel to it though, and they both look gorgeous, Shenmue though has the
added bonus of terrible dialogue and an unintentionally hilarious script. I can't wait for the sequel!

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