More Articles on GUNVALKYRIE
GUNVALKYRIE - New ScreensGUNVALKYRIE - Media UpdateGUNVALKYRIE - New ScreensGUNVALKYRIEGUNVALKYRIELatest Reviews
Guitar Hero: On TourSecret Agent ClankWe Love Golf!Ferrari Challenge Buzz! Quiz TVUser Reviews
There are currently 0 User Reviews for GUNVALKYRIEWrite your own review for this game today and you will receive 100 Gamer Points.
Click here to register
GUNVALKYRIE Review
Chris Leyton
00/12/0000
Gun Valkyrie is a true Sega title, an old-school shooter for the modern generation.
Gun Valkyrie is the second title to arrive on the Xbox from Smilebit. Originally scheduled for release on the Dreamcast, and set to use a rather bizarre joystick/lightun combination, the game is a revival of the old-school gaming formula thought long gone. Fight numerous enemies to reach an end-of-level boss, progress through the progressively more difficult levels, fight the occasional mid-level boss and end up fighting the boss to end all bosses.
Players take control of one of two futuristic commandosā decked out with the latest in machine guns and jetpacks; Kelly who is faster and more manoeuvrable and Saburouta who is slower yet has more firepower. You may be surprised to find out that the game is actually set in the early 1900ās, in a nod to Jules Verne and other contemporary authors the games story describes an alternative past. A time when the passing of Halleyās comet graces Earth with a new energy source, allowing for great advancements in transportation, space exploration and weapons. Dr. Hebble Gate the man responsible for these advancements has gone missing, at the same time contact with one of the Brittish Empireās colonised planets stops. Coincidence? Unlikely, and so itās left to you to find out what has happened.
Before too long youāll realise that bugs have taken over the planet, not just any bugs but huge insects on a scale of those seen in Starship Troopers. So youāve got to clear each of the games huge levels of the bug threat that each one poses. Completing each level allows you to buy upgrades to your weapons, shields and various other items that will help your crusade.
As youād expect from a game of this type there isnāt a lot of variety between the different levels, most require you to kill all of the bugs, others will see you having to escape the level in a certain time whilst some see you having to find certain items. Thankfully the game is all about blasting bugs, and in this aspect Gun Valkyrie is one hell of a hoot thanks to the superb controls and constant onslaught of bugs to fight.
The game plays a lot like a mech-shooter, akin to Segaās very own Virtua On crossed with Sonic Teamās overlooked Saturn classic Burning Rangers. The trick is to continuously keep moving whilst targeting the enemy. To this end Smilebit have developed a wonderful control system that is daunting at first due to its complexities, but eventually becomes as intuitive as . The left analogue stick controls your character allowing them to move and rotate, the right stick aims the characters gun. Holding onto the left trigger will give a limited vertical boost, when your gauge falls youāll find yourself plummeting to the ground, touch down to the ground and your gauge will replenish itself. Sounds simple enough so far, however nowās where things get slightly more complicated. To boost in different directions youāve got to click the left stick down and in the direction you want to go, plus hold onto the left trigger. Clicking the right stick will swiftly rotate your character in the direction of the stick. The boost offers a definite strategy to employ as boosting vertically uses up a lot of your gauge, whilst boosting left, right, forwards or backwards uses hardly any. So the trick is to boost to a certain height and then boosting in all directions horizontally, giving you practically unlimited time in the air.
Itās frustratingly difficult at first as you try to come to terms with the complicated controls, let alone dispatch of the hundreds of bugs that enclose you at any mistake you make. However perseverance reveals a very rewarding game as you eventually come to terms with the controls, boosting in every direction, taking out wave after wave off bug infestations. If youāre a retro gamer and miss the balance of frustration and reward, combined with the classic gameplay formula youāll find something to love about Gun Valkyrie, it just takes a great deal of perseverance to find.
If Gun Valkyrie is rooted in old-school gameplay mechanics, its visuals are anything but. Levels are huge affairs with unbelievable draw distance and the usual mixture of special effects weāve come to get used to on the Xbox. If there was a slight complaint it would be that chasm after chasm eventually becomes a little repetitive, especially when thereās not that much diversity between the different environment textures. No such complaint can be made about the numerous types of bugs that youāll meet, which are varied and extremely well detailed, thanks to some unbelievable clean and varied textures.
The sound is rather subdued to what youād expect, lacking the impact and big bass-lines that would have suited the chaotic action. The soundtrack has a very strange yet professional feel to it, which works with the nature of the game.
