The legend Carries on ... somewhat painfully (Xena Warrior Princess (PS2))

Member Name: Dan_Pentagram

Product:	Xena Warrior Princess (PS2)
Date:	04/04/07 (623 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Re - living the escence that was Xena

Disadvantages: Almost everything this game has to offer

First of all let me clarify that this is a budget title costing between £8 and £15 - so to be honest i didn't get my hopes up too much about a PS2 release for Xena.

History -

Produced by Blast! (a budget firm) other games include Babe, Captain Scarlet and the newly popular Little Britain.

Xena Warrior Princess was first released on the N64 and recieved mixed acclaim. Later another title of the same name appeared on the PSOne. Personally this was a good game with flaws but ones that are passable.

Graphics -

Graphically the game is shabby - almost worse than some of the most dire games on the PSOne. Surrounding consist of blocks that resemble walls and other objects lack any kind of detail. It almost made me laugh when you first see Xena's face - Unimpressive. Characters lack any real emotion or facial features apart from eyes and nose and mouth. This results in a rather comical sigh when you see half laboured cut scenes offering no interaction between any characters.

The animation is even worse - characters move awkwardly and almost rigid making it seem like not much attention was paid into making a quality game. On a plus note the infamous Xena back flip looks somewhat ok and Ares' face resembles his TV counterpart. Gabrielle on the other hand has the look she had in the later series but still manages to unimpress.

Sound -

Familar Xena sounds echo throughout the game but the makers seem to have placed them in no pattern. Every now and then Xena will shout out phrases like 'Gabrielle' and her wierd but wonderful screech. I feel however that these feel like they have been recorded straight from the TV and placed into the game. Even in the few cut scenes in the game no speech is spoken just the words appear. At times there is no sound put the grunts of enemies - totally disgusted!

Gameplay -

Well the storyline can pull the game off to be an episode from the TV show. Gabrielle has been kidnapped (Yet again) by Ares and he is holding her captive in his castle tied up surrounded by water - Xena must rescue her in time before the water drowns her. This means you must race through each level quickly just to make sure she doesn't drown. You can collect timers however that will magically reduce the water - pretty lame stuff really.

On the back cover it tries to lure you in by saying that there are puzzles in each of the NINE levels (that don't range much either) - however most of these consists of pulling a lever, then running around to find another lever! And guess what running around to pull another lever. Very Challenging to say the least.

The battles don't offer much fun either. Simple punch - punch - kick contributes to most battles. But you can do the flip to inflict more damage. Enemies rarely have chance to use their sword because their animation is so slow, but their is range of enemy you get archers too. On a plus note a Xena game wouldn't be a Xena game without her fantastic Chakram. When you use this you can hit enemies from a far and kill them instantly.

The game as a whole offers a mixed platform - beat em up experience that is extremely bland and uneventful. Their are no bonus' - secrets or many guest appearances you might expect. Simply play through each level and rescue Gabrielle is all you can expect - simple dissapointing and the makers seem to lure you in by its Xena Facade but offers nothing of the sort. Stay Away even if you are a Xena fan - stick with the PSOne version its more fun and rewarding!

Information -

Players - 1
Memory Card - 204 KB
Online - No
Produced by Blast!

Price:
(as of 04/04/07)

Play.com: £8.99
Gamestation: £9.99

Summary: Stay away from this - stick to the PSOne version