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Dirge Of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII Mini Review
Jon Wilcox
20/11/2006
Three years after the events of the seminal RPG, Vincent Valentine returns in this third-person shooter from Square-Enix...
The seminal instalment to the long-running franchise, Final Fantasy VII has always been revered by a massive fan base, so perhaps it's not surprising that Square-Enix has continued the story of Cloud, Vincent, and Cait Sith with a breadth of titles stretching beyond the original 1997 release. This latest addition to the "Compilation of Final Fantasy VII" is something of a significant tangent for the franchise; a third-person action-adventure title, Dirge of Cerberus follows Vincent Valentine three years on from the conclusion of Final Fantasy VII as he tracks down the Deepground Soldiers and the colourful Tsviets super-soldiers on their mission to operate the WEAPON, Omega.
Very much one for the fans, picking up Dirge of Cerberus isn't perhaps the best place to start discovering the tangled web of back stories woven throughout the Final Fantasy VII saga. Touted by many to be the final instalment in the series, though rumours persist that Square are working on developing updated version for PlayStation3, Dirge of Cerberus ties up some of the loose ends whilst at the same time investigating the origins of protagonist Vincent Valentine.
Despite being an action-adventure, Dirge of Cerberus stands with one foot firmly in the RPG roots of the Final Fantasy franchises; hit points, experience-based character development, weapons development, and a high ratio of gameplay to cut-scenes, are just a few of the features that add a level of depth to an otherwise run and gun-heavy experience. At the end of every chapter in the story for instance, players will have the chance to decide whether to convert their collected Experience Points to develop Vincent himself, or to convert them into the franchise's currency (Gil) and spend it on developing Cerberus or health potions and other goodies. There are other weapons in the game, though limited to clichéd machine-guns and rifles, but for the most part Valentine's trusty Cerberus is all that a player needs - take our advice and spend all of the Gil you can on upgrading Cerberus into the all-powerful triple-barrelled pistol it deserves to be...doing so just makes the other weapons wholly irrelevant. Weapon development also includes the ability to change the length of the gun barrel, which affects the gun's accuracy, damage, and speed attributes, but like the extraneous weaponry, these are largely immaterial for most of the game. Adding a sniper scope to one of the barrels is one handy feature that will make longer-distance kills more straightforward however - so too the Maki powers that can be added to a weapon for additional short-term firepower.
Derided on its initial release in Japan, Square-Enix went back to the drawing board and added a small list of improvements to the game; the European release now has Vincent move 120% faster than in the original, and he also has the ability to perform double-jumps, which is quite a handy move to have throughout the game. What's more, the PAL release of Dirge of Cerberus doesn't feature the multiplayer modes of the original Japanese release; instead, gamers are given compensation in the shape of forty bonus missions. Even with the increased speed of the main character, gameplay remains quite sluggish at times, and the camera system continues in this vein. What's more, the auto-aim function in the game means that players have to be actively trying to miss a shot, especially at longer distances. During close-quarter encounters, Valentine is more prone to missing his target, but this is mostly down to the cumbersome camera.
For their efforts to add some depth to the gameplay with the various RPG elements, Dirge of Cerberus is a very arcade-like action title, thanks to a relentless series of attacks from footsoldiers and boss encounters, all of whom feature little in the way of AI. Of course, their ability to show off advanced AI is far from being the important factor in Dirge of Cerberus, but it's something that remains underlying throughout the game. During every shootout throughout the game, Deepground Soldiers and other grunt enemies stand doggedly attacking Valentine from every angle with little consideration for themselves, making the bulk of the 'action' akin to a shooting gallery, and therefore very repetitive. Sure, it's nice to play through the odd standalone sequence like Valentine blowing away a pack of Guard Hounds from the back of a van, or the briefly taking control over Cait Sith during a stealth mission, but for the most part the action is samey and generic. Gameplay in Dirge of Cerberus largely follows a similar pattern of going to a new location, killing a few enemies, obtain a key card from one of the bodies of said enemies, unlock a gated area on the map, and fight a sub-boss before the next cut-scene...and onto the next mission. Perhaps the promise of forty additional missions isn't quite compensation enough for the lack of the multiplayer mode...
Considering that Final Fantasy titles have always done a stellar achievement in creating an immersive experience, it's amazing how detached you feel whilst playing through Dirge of Cerberus. Maybe that's because of the decision to make Dirge an action title, but if this is the best that Square-Enix can do, then perhaps it's better that they stick with producing more traditional RPGs in the future.
Dirge of Cerberus isn't quite the poor relation in the Final Fantasy VII saga that we're all led to believe, it just creates a very different experience to the usual one offered by Square-Enix's franchise. Skewing the gameplay heavily towards action is certainly a brave move, but considering the story-arc has already been featured as a CGI-feature, and a mobile phone game, perhaps a change in genre was the next logical step to take. Make no mistake however, Dirge of Cerberus is far from being an icon of the franchise to date, and is more of an anomaly that tries to expand the life of the Final Fantasy VII storyline years after it begun...perhaps Square-Enix are trying to keep it alive before confirming that 'remake' rumour?
Stuck with PS2
Date Added:Thu 13th Dec 2007 19:23
Anonymous
Date Added:Wed 3rd Oct 2007 00:47
abuse-here@inbox.ru
thank you!
game freak ramham
Date Added:Sat 28th Jul 2007 04:49
Anonymous
Date Added:Mon 28th May 2007 12:50
STS_Syflarce
Date Added:Thu 5th Apr 2007 04:25
p.s. I wish they would make a remake of final fantasy vii on ps2.
ffjoker
Date Added:Thu 1st Mar 2007 19:18
ffjoker
Date Added:Fri 23rd Feb 2007 04:31
Anonymous
Date Added:Fri 23rd Feb 2007 04:12
owls1993swfc
Date Added:Mon 5th Feb 2007 18:14
altho its quite hard
lol!!!!
Anonymous
Date Added:Fri 5th Jan 2007 12:44