Project Sylpheed: Xbox 360 Review
Back in the 90’s Wing Commander set the bar for the cinematic shooter genre. The series had everything fans wanted including deep characters that were easy to root for or to hate and a great storyline. I would have to say this was my favorite series for the genre and still is to this day.
I heard a lot of gamers talk about Project Sylpheed saying it was a lot like Wing Commander. Even though they should be rated on their own merits, I enjoy comparing games to the classics. Being a fan of cinematic shooters, I wanted to check it out. Read the full Review of Project Sylpheed to find out what I thought of this new entry into the genre.
Gameplay
When the game first started, I found it familiar and later found out the game was loosely based on an older game. Gamers take on the role of Katana, a young guy who fights for Earth against the ADAN resistance. The story unfolds in cinematic cut-scenes. While the story is decent, it’s highly influenced by Japanese Anime. It also has a habit of jumping around a bit and gets a little confusing. The only thing that Project Sylpheed has in common with games like Wing Commander is its way of presenting the story and the fact your flying a ship.
The sad part is you only get the chance to learn a small part of Katana’s story due to the way Square Enix made the story line. The biggest complaint is that the game is over way too quickly and you’re still left with questions after the ending. I don’t want to ruin the main story line it’s one of those angles that tries to take a villain from the past and weave it into the main story.
While it made sense, it just seemed a little too similar to other stories already used in games before it. The dog fights and the feeling of being in a real space ship are captured decently and you get the feeling you are trying to save the earth. I just kept thinking I have played this before and with better results. Any cinematic shooter dealing with space needs a great story and graphics are almost as important to keep the flow going. Project Sylpheed has problems pulling this off. The game is short and over before you get a chance to really get into it.
Control
Any space shooter needs great controls and ones that respond well. You get the choice of using one of three types of controls or schemes. The biggest issue I had with the controls is that all three sets really didn’t feel or react well at all. They are easy to learn but have several odd quirks. Buttons need to be tap once and then double tapped for another feature and this can get confusing.
They should have made each button to have its own function. This would have helped. While not horrible, I think some gamers will have issues with the controls. The learning curve is about 15-20 minutes. The tutorial is helpful, but at times you will have to just wing it no pun intended.
Graphics
already touched on the graphics and like I said any game like this the graphics help the story to be told and are a key to a game like this. They look great at times and even fantastic when you’re just sitting still, but when in a dog fight or huge battle, the graphics look bland and show problems. There are also some major issues with slowdown and the ships lack the right look.
They really needed to tweak and adjust the graphics for what is supposed to be a fast-paced and it just seems something didn’t work the right way. Graphically, the game just looks okay and when the main purpose is to tell the story and make you feel like your deep in space, it fails. It’s a shame since the game had some nice effects. They just didn’t keep the same look throughout. The explosions and the HUD look great, but it’s not enough to make it look like a real Xbox 360 title.
Audio
The voice-over work in the game is good but has that anime feeling of at times over selling the story or trying too hard. This may be due to the fact it was made for the Japanese market first. The lines do not always make sense. Overall, the audio effects are good but I expected more.
Replay Value
The game was promoted as a cinematic shooter and people who buy it will soon find out the game is nothing more than a poor attampt at one. It’s not that deep but requires more than just shooting at ships and targets. I think this hurts the game and the replay value. Those used to the type of game will get the most replay value out of it. Although once you beat the game, I don’t see a good reason to go back and play it again.
Bottom Line
Overall Score: 5.8/10.0
Additional Comments
It really is a shame since there are not many games like this on the Xbox 360. It could have been a title to compare with the great series of Wing Commander if it was designed better. I can see why some may want to compare the two but overall Project Sylpheed is at best a rental for a few nights. I hope one day the Xbox 360 will have an epic cinematic space shooter.
Links
Filed under: Reviews • Xbox 360
Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!
Leave a Reply