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 GunValkyrie
Smilebit
Sega
Action
XBox
Does anybody remember the classic title for Sega, GunValkyrie? No?
Well...basically all you did is run around shooting stuff. Trust
me. Not much has changed.
Well, I'd be lying if I said that the remake is *just* like its
predecessor. Set in an alternate dimension with a timetable
similar to the end of the 19th century, Gun Valkyrie is about a
world filled with technological advances by none other than Halley
and Hubble, two of the world's premiere scientists at the time.
Similar to the Industrial Revolution that occurred in our world,
this world is flooded with superior technology at the same time.
From new colonies to incredible combat technology
 The
scientist responsible for creating the GunValkyrie suits and
founding Halley's Chosen, Halley himself has turned up missing.
Various notes of his and Hubble are found with numerous references
to rebirth among other things. While at the same time, the pair
making Halley's Chosen, Kelly and Saburaota are brought to a world
that is infested with gigantic insects.
As the agile Kelly or the powerful Saburaota, your GunValkyrie
suit can make hasty work of the simplest bugs, but it takes time
and skill to execute the moves necessary to let you survive in
this world. As the game progresses, the story is told through
short cut scenes and through the notes provided to you when you
are accessing the GV home site.
Enemies are vast and numerous and sometimes there are scores of
creatures swarming you. What do you do in this situation? Well,
just like Duke Nukem said, "It's time to kick ass and chew
bubble gum. And I'm all out of gum." Each one is different
from another and requires a slightly different tactic of dodging
and shooting to get the job done. Even creatures vary from each
other in size and stregnth which makes some more powerful than
others.
 Controls
are probably the most difficult hurdle to climb over in
GunValkyrie. A very tricky combination of the triggers and analogs
in addition to the analog buttons, gets the suit moving in the
ways you need it to. Finding the perfect combination of analog
direction and analog button timing is incredibly important and
takes a bit to master.
Just like in the glory days of video games of the 16 and 8 bit
eras, GunValkyrie brings back the ancient tradition of making a
game just barely beatable. While it most certainly is beatable,
there are a few tricks to do so and doing it takes some time. It
took me numerous tries to defeat the last boss and finally after a
few hours I had that creepy baby thing in my pocket.
The graphics in this game are some of the best to ever hit any
system. Easily one of the best of any of the 128 systems,
GunValkyrie cashes in on bright graphics, huge landscapes and
details down to the shine on the GV suit. It vies for the title as
a great looking game and even gives great looking XBox titles a
run for their money. Though not as graphically great as Dead or
Alive 3, RalliSport Challenge or Halo, GunValkyrie is easily on
the same graphic pedestal that Jet Set Radio Future and Wreckless
sit upon.
 Once
the game is finished and you give your tired hands, and they will
be, a rest. A new gameplay mode is unlocked that allows you to
replay missions for better scores with the current stats of your
characters. Each save game adds statistics to the overall game and
enhances the gameplay for the challenge mode. Defeating the game
with Kelly is challenging enough, I don't think I can imagine
playing through all the way with the slower Saburaota.
I enjoyed this game immensely and even though I've already added
it to my long list of conquests, I'm still considering it as a
purchase because its just that good. It has a flair that can be
found in the older games but maintains a position in the world of
the future of gaming.
Final Verdict: 9/10
Smilebit
Sega |
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