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The Lowdown
Pros: The virtua fighter engine is deep and allows for a wide
range of combos.
Cons: Sloppy control system and a rigid camera distract from the action.
 Purchase
at Play-Asia
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Sega's latest game Virtua Fighter Cyber Generation: Ambition of the
Judgment Six (soon to be known as Virtua Quest in North America) stars a
young boy named Sei who enters a cyber world known as Nexus. Nexus,
similar to the NET world in the Rockman EXE series or the World from
.hack, is a common place virtual reality network. Originally, Sei enters
the world in search of a hunter's license (a nod to you Phantasy Star
Online players out there) to pick up some treasure. Soon though he runs
into a young girl named Toka and realizes there is more in Nexus than meets the
eye.Since this is a Virtua Fighter themed game you would expect a
solid battle engine. Right from the start of the game Sei is equipped
with a good amount of moves that will please fans of action and fighting
games. Sei has two buttons to dish out attacks, one is a light attack
that can do a quick combo with a couple of presses. The second button
makes Sei perform a more powerful attack that can launch an enemy into
mid air. After you launch an enemy you can jump up and attack him with
an air combo. Sei can even unleash a bullet time like move called
"Synopsis Break" to keep an enemy floating in the air longer. This lets
Sei make an even longer air combo, but the catch is using Synopsis Break
drains Sei's SP meter. If you want to get really technical you can
unleash Sei's cyber rope by tapping the C-Stick (right analog stick on
PS2) to catch an enemy that you've launched and pull him towards you for
a larger combo. While Sei already starts out with an uppercut, a dash
attack, a throw, and a couple of combos, Sei can learn even more moves.
Perhaps the most interesting part of the game is customizing Sei's
fighting ability. The main way to do this is to find Virtua Souls
scattered throughout the levels. Once found, Sei enters a cyber battle
arena with a member of the Virtua Fighter cast. You'll be able to meet
Akira, Vanessa, Pai, Shun Di, and the rest of the Virtual
Fighter 4 cast in the game. Although when Sei first meets them he'll
need to prove himself by battling them one on one. Once Sei beats them,
he'll be able to learn a signature move from the character he just beat.
Eventually, you'll be able to get a wide range of moves from different
characters to make a powerful and fully customized Sei. However, you
won't be able to equip every move you get you'll have to choose between
different moves. Therein lies the challenge of making the "perfect
fighter" for your style of play. All of the special moves Sei can learn,
like Akira's stun palm, use SP when you use them, which means you will
still have to rely on Sei's regular attacks. More basic attacks can be
purchased with points that you get from beating up enemies. Sei will
eventually be able to extend his combo, get a dash attack and increase
his life bar.
Besides customizing Sei you can also change your robotic bird like
partner called a bit. You can feed your bit different types of food,
similarly to how you feed your mag in Phantasy Star Online. The changes
to your bit can be pretty dramatic. You can upgrade your bit to become a
super attacker, another can grab items and another bit can heal you when
injured. It's up to the player to make a bit the way they want to it to
best suit their style of play.
With all the emphasis on fighting and customizing Sei it is easy to
neglect the many platforming elements in the game. Virtua Quest is full
of jumping, double jumping and swinging with Sei's cyber rope. Sei will
need to use his cyber rope to latch on to moving orbs of light so he can
move from place to place. Another useful move that Sei has is the
ability to run on a wall or run up a wall. All of these platforming
elements don't work well with the rigid camera. Even in the first
tutorial level jumping with Sei can be a challenge since you can't
freely rotate the camera. Also the camera doesn't automatically focus
itself, which makes the running on wall jumps frustrating. The control
scheme, which is great for a fighting game doesn't fare well with the
platforming elements either, which makes the game feel a little
disjointed.
Virtual Fighter Cyber Generation isn't the best looking game on the
PS2. In fact the blocky buildings, drab colors and squarish character
models makes the PS2 version look more like a Playstation One game than
a PS2 one. The game looks much better on the Gamecube, with smoother
textures and more vibrant colors. Although, it still doesn't look great,
at best it looks like a Dreamcast game. Sei and all of the characters
have rigid animation instead of the fluid animation seen in Virtua
Fighter 4. The graphics could surely use some polish. The music could
use some work as well. You have some bland over repeated background
tunes with the occasional Virtual Fighter 4 character themes mixed in.
Virtua Fighter Cyber Generation isn't quite the RPG it originally
promised to be. However, the great fighting engine and deep character
customization makes Virtua Fighter Cyber Generation stand above the
average 3D brawler.
All of the text and speech are in Japanese, which will make it
difficult to play through the game. Although, the gameplay is intuitive
enough to enjoy the game without understanding Japanese.
US Bound?
The game is slated for release in 2005 under the name Virtua Quest.
Overall
Virtua Quest ends up being a unique action game with the
goal of making Sei into your ultimate fighter.
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