Majestic flying armadas soar through picturesque skies, squadrons of gossamer-winged wyverns swoop through misty waterfalls, and deep down, under the Earth's skin, organic machinery shifts with ancient purpose. They all produce tight cascades of weapons fire, each a challenging filter through which only very skilled players survive.
Panzer Dragoon: Orta is more than just a shooting gallery on a flying roller coaster. Yes, it does follow a pre-determined, tunnel-like course, but the designers at Smilebit have been very clever in simulating the sensation of flight and turning the combat into something that uses a lot of strategy. Beyond the familiar dynamic of dodge and shoot you have a series of innovations.
The first is firing. Pressing the fire button rapidly will produce an automatic stream of gunfire. Hold that same button down and drag it across a series of targets and you will "lock" onto them. Let go and you will send a volley of seeking missiles, one for each target.
The game is designed so that you can do both, you can drag-and-lock, release, and then in an instant follow the missiles with a volley of automatic fire right behind them. It's a neat move and it forces you to have to plan your shots, instead of simply reacting as the targets pop up.
The second is a full radius of attack. This was in the original Panzer Dragoon game on the Sega Saturn, only here we're talking moments where it extends to all 360 degrees. Aside from the front, enemies can approach you from the sides, from behind, and sometimes from above and below. By pressing the left or right triggers, you can turn yourself in your seat to face either of those directions. There will be times when you'll be attacked from several directions at once, with enemies approaching at different speeds and deciding how to manage between them can be a challenge.
The third is gliding. It's a sudden woosh of speed that you can use to put yourself in front of, beside, or behind a large target. If a large battleship lines its guns alongside you to attack, you can glide in front of it and then turn your aim to the rear. The technique isn't just for out-flanking ships and dragons, but against Boss Monsters, you can use it to reach weak spots, in some cases allowing to glide above and below. You can also use the glide maneuver to slam through a wall of targets, destroying them as well as passing through.
Finally, the dragon you control can undergo three transformations, each offering a different, strategic advantage and it's own chargeable "berserk" attack. The "Base Wing", the one you start each level with can lock on a maximum number of targets with its missile system. The "Heavy Wing" is a monstrous version that, although it can't glide and its size makes for an easy target, attacks with the most damage and will eliminate enemies quickly. Its berserk attack is a concentrated one and can be focused on one target. The "Light Wing" is a small, nubby version that has the highest maneuverability. Unlike the others it can't shoot missiles, but its basic gun attack can shoot down the largest barrage of incoming bullets with incredible ease and its berserk attack will drain the health from others and add it to your own.
Each form can be upgraded in strength throughout the game through special power-ups and you can decide to focus those upgrades on one form over the other. Switching between one form and another is instantaneous, allowing you to switch repeatedly when needed. You can use the Base Wing to send the most missiles against a Boss Monster for instance, then quickly switch to the Light Wing to handle a wave of incoming missiles, then when the berserk attack is charged up switch over to the Heavy Wing to deliver the most damage. You can make all three switches within seconds.
All of these features take a game that could have been just reactive, "twitchy", and instead create stimulating gameplay filled with options and choices, both for you and for the level designers who know they can hit you from all sides, with creatures that change flanks, that swarm and hide, that turn the game head over heels, and send out waves of attacks that might normally be impossible to defeat.
Orta has more than great graphics. While yes, it's visually stunning in detail, wowing in special effects, these are surpassed by an incredible artistry. The character design includes dragons that are nothing like the traditional beasts of legend, yet just as majestic. The creatures, the machines, the flying armadas, the large, boss level beasts all have incredible presence. The landscapes, the villages, the underground passages, they have the history and distinctive feel of lands taken from great novels. There are moments in the gameplay, not just the cut-scenes that are brilliantly composed and could easily stand on their own as fantasy paintings
The story itself takes place over ten episodes, each divided by stages, and although you are encouraged to repeat the game in order to reach a higher score, this doesn't take anything away from the length of the game, where you will get your full money's worth. Reaching a higher grade of completion, as well as simply playing the game for over five hours, will give you access to a number of unlockables. There's paintings, player records, a word encyclopedia and a full copy of the original Panzer Dragoon from the Sega Saturn. While it doesn't quite stand up to the passing of time, it is worth loading up just for the opening intro.
The best nuggets hidden away on the disc are the sub-missions and the scenario games. These are more than just mini-games, but are actually additional levels to the game, and quite brilliantly follow the paths of character from Orta's journey. In the scenario set you'll play a series of vehicular training missions as one of the young recruits in the Imperial army, the forces that are trying to capture the girl in the game. In the Sub-Missions, you get to discover what happened to Orta's goofy friend Mobo who rides off into his own adventure. The imagination, it seems, never stops.
We often hear from Microsoft about the "power" of the Xbox, that it can make an incredible difference, but it's not often we get proof of that. Panzer Dragoon: Orta is definite proof, easily one of the ten best games for the Xbox.