Vexx

The people of Astara are enslaved, your grandfather dies protecting you as
you watch in terror, helpless to change the chain of events as they unfold before
you. Later you escape and find the Astani War Talons that will let you exact
your revenge against the evil Dark Yabu. You are Vexx. Travel
through 10 different realms collecting Shadowwraith Hearts to empower your Talons
with the strength to defeat the evil Dark Yabu. There are many different enemies
that will stand in your way, countless obstacles to hinder your progress, and
an occasional friend to help guide you along your journey. So let’s go explore
Vexx’s world together.

The
storyline for Vexx begins in Astara where once thrived a civilization filled
with beauty and peace, but as we know a happy go lucky civilization just doesn’t
cut it for a video game. The people of Astara dabbled in technology
that would open doors to other worlds, the first door they opened was the door
to the ShadowRealm, immediately after opening the portal the
Shadowwraiths broke through into Astara and began a war with the Astani people.
Using the Astani War Talons, guardian Trevyn
battled as if he alone was an army, many Shadowwraiths fell at the power of
the Talons, but even he became overwhelmed by the onslaught of Wraiths. Knowing
that should the Talons fall into the wrong hands certain death would come to
his people, Trevyn sealed the Talons in the very Stone of Astara,
creating a blast that killed all of the Shadowwraiths but one, the evil Dark
Yabu.

Hundreds of years later, after building up his dark army, Yabu returns to Astara
to finish what he started. Yabu and his followers destroy the village and enslave
the residents… Enter our protagonist Vexx. Having witnessed the murder
of his grandfather at the hands of Dark Yabu, our hero enraged escapes into
the darkness set out for revenge on the Shadowwraith’s windship, instead he
finds the Astani War Talons, still embedded in the stone of Astara. On sight
the Talons awake and fuse themselves to Vexx’s hands. Now Vexx has the power
to finish a war that started so many centuries ago, and guess what, you
get to do it all.

After
you have a brief backstory, you will begin the title with an adequate tutorial
which will teach you the basics of navigating Vexx and using his newly found
powers. If you like platformer games then Vexx certainly won’t disappoint you.
The game is filled with 10 huge levels in which you need to collect Shadowwraith
Hearts and return them to the Rift Hub to open up
new levels for exploration. Each level contains 8 – 10 challenges in which you
collect these Hearts ranging in difficulty from simple to down right
ludicrously hard. The levels are varied in presentation and all
have a clearly defined theme to them, and each of the levels are huge. The first
area you’ll encounter is Timberdale which is a lush forest
village that houses such obstacles as cliffs, waterfalls, a large tree, and
a hidden castle. (What platformer game is complete without a castle?)
The Neverglades, as you might expect from the similarity in
name to the Everglades, are a watery cave like area with an ancient
temple where Vexx will need to solve the puzzles of the ancients. This is not
to say that all of the areas are outdoors, Tempest Manor Peak
is an area that is home to a giant, fortunately for Vexx the giant is not home,
but his pet Rex is, and one false step onto the ground of this giant
sized room would not be a good thing for our hero.

Throughout
the 10 levels Vexx will be presented with challenges such as mazes, puzzles,
bounce pads, climbing poles, jumping from platform to platform, climbing walls,
swimming through vast areas, controlling time via the Sun Dials,
over 20 different enemies, and did I mention platform jumping? There’s
a ton of it! In addition to what’s seen at first glance there
are many sub-worlds and mini games/levels that can be discovered within the
title. Interesting to note during the gameplay is that many levels have a sun
dial in them that can change the time of day within the level. As the time of
day changes and the surroundings become darker, the enemies become more fierce
and more difficult to defeat. The sun dials also have a dual purpose, certain
areas can be reached via portals that will only be visible during certain times,
you really do need to explore each world carefully, especially if you’re one
of those fanatics that NEEDS to complete everything in a game…
like I am.

With
a ton of things to stand in his way, Vexx needs to have special abilities to
make it through this strange world in one piece. Vexx can perform many different
maneuvers and attacks. Vexx jumps, swims, climbs walls, throws things, and juggles
enemies. Yeah, that’s not a misprint, he juggles enemies! Vexx
has an uppercut move that will throw an enemy into the sky, keeping him in the
air by subsequent attacks is a part of the fun in Vexx. If you juggle an enemy
more than 20 times you’ll get an extra life. Mind you, the excitement of doing
this does wear thin, but it also fills your frenzy meter which
when activated will allow more powerful attacks. Vexx’s basic attacks are flare
kicks, slash combos, charge attacks, uppercuts, and ground blasts. Once the
frenzy meter is full Vexx can also perform the Talon Dash and
the Talon Blast. It’s ashamed that there weren’t more special
moves incorporated into the arsenal, but to give due credit the basic attacks
which are available from the start are not only easy to perform but varied enough
to keep the game interesting.

There
are also a couple of power ups in the game such as an Air Suit
that allows Vexx to fly and a Rock Suit that makes him invincible,
again more of these power ups would have been nice. Other pick ups scattered
throughout the game are extra lives, (if you dare to get them, considering
they seemed to place them in the most challenging of areas) scrolls, and
health. There are two ways to regain your health, three if we were to be technical:
destroy enemies, smash objects to reveal a health pickup, and Spirit
Stones which hold the souls of fallen Astani people. (Which is
pretty eerie when you think about it, considering you hear their final words
when you’re close to the Stones) I think it is also important to note that
Vexx begins the game with all of the abilities that he will need to complete
the missions. Some may think it defeats the purpose of a game to start with
everything, and have no need to build one’s strength and abilities, but I have
to stress that this is a platformer title, not an RPG (role playing game)
even though is has a non-linear progression. The majority of the 20 plus hours
you need to complete the game will be spent exploring, battling, and figuring
out how to make it from point A to point B. I think they call that platformer
paradise.

The graphics in Vexx are done fairly well, albeit nothing extremely
ground breaking. The colors range from vibrantly brilliant to dull and dreary
depending where you are. Many of the levels are located outdoors and have excellent
skyscapes that will change in appearance depending on the time of day at which
you are playing. The textures are detailed enough to give you a good sense of
realism, even while inside the giant’s room, while other details within the
title are clearly presented in 2D, such as the grass. The characters and enemies
are animated well and the maneuvers Vexx performs seem fluid and well rehearsed.
We did not experience any drops in frame rate while playing through the title.
One issue we did have was the camera, which seems to be a consistent area of
opportunity for developers, which at times made it very difficult to perform
the most basic actions accurately. I was also happy to see that the game
console in Tempest Peak Manor appeared to look very similar to an Xbox.
If you have the correct HDTV setup 480p resolution is supported as well.

The musical score in Vexx lends itself well to the overall feel of
the title, rising and falling depending on the importance of the situation and
the severity of what is taking place. It has a gothic feel at times and a care
free feel at other times. Vexx himself does not talk too much, and in the rare
case that you do hear him the dialogue is short and to the point. What voice
acting that was present in Vexx was done well and was effectively portrayed,
but for the most part the voices are few and far between. The ambient sounds
such as a waterfall nearby, a wooden bridge creaking as you pass over it, the
shreeks screaming, and the eerie sounds of the fallen souls at the Spirit Stones
were all convincing enough to make the game have character and appeal. For those
with systems to support it the game is delivered in dolby digital.

Let’s face it, single player platformer titles are never going
to have an extremely high replay value, but you have to remember that Vexx will
easily take you more than 20 hours to complete. If you suck at jumping this
can take substantially longer. All of the levels are huge and there are often
areas and mini games that you may have missed the first time through. Simply
put, it won’t get the most replay out of your library of Xbox games, but there
is definitely more than meets the eye at first glance in Vexx.

Overall
Score: 8.5/10 [Not an Average] Recommended

Vexx was a pleasant surprise for me that I enjoyed very
much. I always like a game that has hidden areas and enough challenges (or shall
I say frustrations – ala the Castle!) to keep me into the game. The graphics
at times were beautiful and the musical score fit the game well. Even though
the storyline seems a bit weak since there are only a limited number of cinematic
scenes, the game does hold your interest right up until the end. I
have a feeling that this little bad ass Vexx would knock the cap right off of
Mario! I recommend taking a closer look at Vexx, especially if
you like puzzles, platforms, platforms, and platforms.

• Acclaim
• Official Vexx Website
• Vexx
  Screenshots (Temporarily Unavailable, Sorry.)
• Vexx
  Cheats and Hints

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