| QUOTE (TrinityJayOne @ May 20 2004, 08:00 PM) |
| Hmmm...I'm not so sure such a section would be too well used considering there's only around 150 members here. Maybe if you wrote a game review, a Mod could pin and lock it for you in it's relevant section, then everyone would be able to read it and it wouldn't get cluttered with spam. If the ammount of reviews suddenly surges, then a reader review section could be implemented. :) |
| QUOTE (FusionCloud @ May 20 2004, 10:35 PM) |
| The other problem is that it's hard to find good, constructively critical backing for a lot of the reviews; most people will just be too polite to put anything other than "Yeah, that good (because it's better than what I can write)!". Just my thoughts, anyway. |
| QUOTE |
| For the naysayers who seem to emerge from the woodwork at the slightest hint of disappointment, declaring that Rare are spiralling towards the pits of hell, Sabre Wulf might just be enough to ensure their silence. Bringing together the shiniest aspects of platforming, strategy and adventure gaming, Sabre Wulf is an enjoyable and classy sequel to its 1984 predecessor of the same name. Due to the original Sabre Wulf’s prestige, it is very satisfying to proclaim the GBA incarnation of Sabre Wulf deserves just as much admiration as the original. Rare have never been known as great storytellers, and Sabre Wulf will do nothing to remove that mantra. As clichéd as it is, Rare do not take the overused ‘Hero vs. Baddie’ formula too seriously, and that’s one of the reasons it works. Very reminiscent of the original Sabre Wulf storyline, the story unravels when it is discovered the wicked Sabrewulf has again escaped from his stony tomb. Years earlier, an adventurer by the name of Sabreman managed to thwart Sabrewulf’s previous reign of terror by finding 8 pieces of a magic amulet which, when brought together, encased Sabrewulf in a ‘permanent statue.’ The townsfolk of Blackwyche had lived happily ever since, content in the knowledge that the likes of Sabrewulf’s reign of terror would never be seen again. However, the townsfolk underestimated Sabrewulf’s power, and with the help of the mysterious Dr Dolittle-Goode, Sabrewulf has broken free from his stony grave once again and set out on ransacking the town of Blackwyche for all its wealth. Terrified, the Blackwyche Mayor calls in Sabreman once more, hoping his previous experience in destroying Sabrewulf’s terrifying reign will prove valuable in averting the threat on Blackwyche. Sabreman reluctantly agrees to the Mayor’s desperate requests, and your adventure begins. Sabre Wulf begins in a campsite not far from Blackwyche, and for those with a keen eye, homage’s to Rare’s past are instantly recognisable among the campsite ‘necessities’. The Mayor informs Sabreman that to advance through each world, he must travel through differently themed levels, gaining a piece of treasure or an important inventory item each time he completes a level. At the end of each world, Sabreman will collect one piece of the amulet, which, upon collection of all 8 pieces, will once again banish Sabrewulf to his stony tomb. Sabre Wulf offers players a healthy selection of 64 themed levels, each becoming progressively more difficult as Sabreman closes in on collecting all 8 amulet pieces. Each world has a different theme, varying from an underground mine, a snow level, ancient ruins, right through the customary jungle world. Within each word lie 7 levels, which contain the creatures and items Sabreman must collect if he has any hope of thwarting Sabrewulf’s destruction. Levels follow a simple formula and are quite easy for the first 30% portion of the game, before the difficulty ramps up significantly. Beginning in Sabreman’s tent, the player must lead Sabreman through each level, using the creatures he has at his disposal to clear a safe path to the end. Blocking Sabreman’s path to Sabrewulf’s lair is a vast selection of enemies, which, just like Sabreman’s own creatures, possess unique abilities aiming to incapacitate Sabreman and protect Sabrewulf’s bounty. If Sabreman manages to clear a path to the end of the level, Sabreman will encounter a sleeping Sabrewulf protecting the treasure in his lair. Once Sabreman collects the treasure or item, Sabrewulf awakes, and a frantic chase back to the beginning ensures. The key to completing Sabre Wulf is the methods in which the player utilise the native creatures Sabreman gradually discovers throughout the levels. The game offers a vast selection of creatures that each possess diverse and innovative abilities to aid Sabreman in his quest. Serpents for example, act as floating platforms, allowing Sabreman to trek broken paths, lava pits, or act as stepping-stones to higher areas. Boomers are small explosive creatures that explode after 2 seconds, and can destroy nearly all obstacles and enemies that lie in Sabreman’s path. Perhaps the most important creature Sabreman has in his repertoire is the Phoenix. When activated, the Phoenix acts as an invincibility cloak, allowing Sabreman to traverse through the levels unharmed by any obstacle for a short amount of time. In total, there are 15 unique creatures to help out Sabreman on his quest, with some truly innovative additions that help to justify the aforementioned originality of Sabre Wulf. Sabre Wulf manages to interlace multiple genres into one neat package. Although the majority of the game is played as a 2D platformer, a key percentage of the game involves exploring the rich 3D locations in Blackwyche. It acts as a breath of fresh air when the levels begin to become repetitive -- which they tend to do until the difficulty ramps up midway through the game --and breaks up the gameplay just enough to deserve being placed in adventure/exploration category. This exploration aspect even includes characteristics of a modern RPG, as Sabreman must travel throughout the vast overworld retrieving items and interacting with the many characters that require his assistance. The townsfolk of Blackwyche are particularly useless, and rely on Sabreman for everything, from finding warm clothes, to helping convince a female Blackwyche inhabitant to wed her desperate boyfriend. Although it may appear to detract from the overall experience at first, the way Rare has managed to inject the side-quests with cheeky humour and somehow made them entertaining and rewarding. Thankfully, they prove to be a welcome addition and distraction from the occasional repetitive level design. Additionally, Sabre Wulf’s eight worlds provide enough action to keep the player chipping away towards the final confrontation for at least 10 hours, and that’s just the normal game. For someone wanting to get 100%, a more realistic time would be around 15 – 20 hours of actual gameplay. After achieving a gold medal time on each of the normal levels, players must collect every creature and complete all the sidequests in the main game, but the key to achieving a perfect 100% lies in the Challenge Mode. The player must attain an ‘R’ symbol medal rating in each level in Challenge Mode, and only then can reach 100%. Suffice to say, achieving a perfect 100% is no easy task, and hardened Sabre Wulf players will revel in its challenge. Sabre Wulf undoubtedly succeeds in separating itself from the normal cliché of platform games by offering the player an innovative approach to the genre. There is the strategy element, exemplified when the player must use the limited amount of creatures in just the right way to progress to Sabrewulf’s lair. The strategy aspect is most noticeable in the excellent Challenge ModeThe exploration aspects provide a healthy and entertaining distraction from the main game, complimented by a well-designed overworld. Most importantly though, the platforming action that represents the majority of the game is a mostly innovative, thoroughly enjoyable representation of what a developer can achieve when they dare to be different. Innovative and impressive are also fitting words to describe Sabre Wulf’s music and sound effects. Never one to let music fade into the background, Rare’s sound studio has pumped out some truly memorable tunes. Almost instantly, Robin Beanland’s musical achievement is apparent right from the opening credits, as the Sabre Wulf theme is richly emitted from the GBA speakers in its full glory. Despite the limitations of the GBA sound chip, Rare has managed to present a soundtrack on par with many of its N64 musical creations. There is hardly any hint of compression in the music, and the wide selection of tunes and sound effects implemented into such a small space is a testament to Rare’s ability to gain the most out of a machine without any loss of quality. Sabre Wulf’s music director Robin Beanland does a bang-up job of using the various level tunes to create an atmosphere that fits the game flawlessly. The best example of this spot-on composition is the music that can be heard throughout the snow levels. Not only is it original, this particular tune packs its own very special punch. It blends in seamlessly with the surrounding environments, and has a particular sound that you’d expect to hear during a dramatic orchestral presentation. Almost as satisfying are the tunes composed for the underground mine levels, and special mention must be made for the jungle-based levels whose accompanying music is a truly special. Unarguably, Robin Beanland’s composition for Sabre Wulf ranks alongside his greatest musical achievement to date, Conker’s Bad Fur Day. That said, Sabre Wulf’s sound composition is not perfect. Just like Banjo Kazooie, Sabre Wulf opts to use mumbled babble in place of real voice acting, and it quickly becomes an annoyance. There are 4 different sound effects for the secondary character voices, and this limited variety in itself is disappointing. Disappointment turns to irritation however when Sabreman must interact with a number of characters in a row, as the character voices sound quite ridiculous, despite Rare’s obvious comedic approach to their recording. Despite this annoyance, interacting with the characters will be the only time you’ll feel compelled to turn down the sound on your GBA, and Sabreman’s coherent speech samples quickly prove a satisfying compromise. Cries of ‘Splendiferous!’, ‘Great Scot!’ and ‘Leg it’ among others are clearly spouted by Sabreman. Most players will revel in Sabre Wulf’s audio achievements, and once again, Rare’s resident music ace Robin Beanland should be congratulated on another magnificent composition. As if Sabre Wulf’s technical achievements weren’t enough, Sabre Wulf ‘s artists have managed to visualise and produce perhaps the GBA’s finest looking title. Using an overhauled version of the Advanced Computer Modelling technique made famous in the original Donkey Kong Country, Sabre Wulf’s visual splendour is virtually unmatched on the powerful GameBoy Advance. The environments are vibrant and colourful, with the jungle levels a visual standout due to the immense detail in their design. Likewise, the dank surrounds of the mining levels are also noticeably beautiful, and the visual style used in these particular levels manages to create a moody yet frenetic atmosphere that suits the style of the game distinctly. For such a visually detailed game, it’s remarkable to find that the quality of the in-game sprites is second-to-none on the GameBoy Advance. The detail and vast array of colours available manage to form lush, detailed but constant and seamless environments, and unlike Rare’s previous GBA efforts, foreground action never blends in with the background due to the versatile colour palette, a problem that plagued Donkey Kong Country. Each world has its distinct visual styling, and Rare’s talented artists have created a plethora of lush environment that are very easy on the eyes. For a Rare game though, none of this is amazing news, simply because Rare continue to set the benchmark. With this amazing visual quality however, comes a niggling problem that unfortunately does take away from the overall polish of the title. Just as graphics are always guaranteed to be top notch in a Rare game, so too are the subsequent framerate inconsistencies. Disappointingly, the occasional framerate drops do detract from the experience, depressingly similar to Banjo Tooie’s framerate issues. When Sabreman enters a heavily populated area filled with multiple enemies, the framerate slugs along at less half its normal speed. Although it’s not a huge problem in the context of the game, it is noticeable and the framerate inconsistencies take place often enough to deserve a mention. To be fair however, the disappointing framerate is Sabre Wulf’s only visual flaw. It may have taken longer than expected, but Sabre Wulf proves itself as a game that is indicative of Rare’s global reputation. It's with great relief to finally play a game that takes us back to the glory days of Goldeneye, Banjo Kazooie, and Diddy Kong Racing. Despite the minor publicity the title has received, Sabre Wulf entirely deserves the glowing reviews it’s received amongst the European and Australian press. Sabre Wulf succeeds since it combines the better aspects of platforming, exploration, strategy and adventure gaming and complements them with excellent visual quality and a cracking soundtrack. Sabre Wulf is the perfect addition to the GBA library, as it innovates and improves upon the generic platformer considerably, earning its label as being one of the ‘standout’ titles on the GameBoy Advance. If Sabre Wulf is a definite indication of the forthcoming fruits of Rare’s loins, the many fanatics of the popular British coders can breath easily, as Sabre Wulf encompasses all the factors that have cemented Rare’s reputation… fun and unique gameplay, a magnificently orchestrated soundtrack, benchmark-setting graphics, humor and stylish production values… Sabre Wulf is a celebration of all things Rare, and any self-respecting Rare enthusiast should snap it up. |
| QUOTE |
| Sabre Wulf manages to interlace multiple genres into one neat package. Although the majority of the game is played as a 2D platformer, a key percentage of the game involves........... Additionally, Sabre Wulf’s eight worlds provide enough action to keep the player chipping away towards the final confrontation for at least 10 hours, and that’s just the normal game. For someone wanting to get 100%, a more realistic time would be around 15 – 20 hours of actual gameplay...... Sabre Wulf undoubtedly succeeds in separating itself from the normal cliché of platform games by offering the player an innovative approach to the genre. There is the strategy element...... Innovative and impressive are also fitting words to describe Sabre Wulf’s music and sound effects. Never one to let music fade into the background, Rare’s sound studio has pumped out some truly memorable tunes..... Sabre Wulf’s music director Robin Beanland does a bang-up job of using the various level tunes to create an atmosphere that fits the game flawlessly. The best example of this spot-on composition is the music that can be heard throughout the snow levels. ...... That said, Sabre Wulf’s sound composition is not perfect. Just like Banjo Kazooie, Sabre Wulf opts to use mumbled babble in place of real voice acting, and it quickly becomes an annoyance. There are 4 different sound effects for the secondary character voices, and this limited variety in itself is disappointing...... As if Sabre Wulf's technical achievements weren’t enough, Sabre Wulf ‘s artists have managed to visualise and produce perhaps the GBA’s finest looking title. Using an overhauled version of the Advanced Computer Modelling technique made famous in the original Donkey Kong Country, Sabre Wulf’s visual splendour..... |
| QUOTE (Gregg @ May 29 2004, 08:16 AM) |
| Having a look at Hyper's Reader Review forum, I think it's the right decision to go with pinned threads in each forum over a dedicated forum. Hyper's a massive community and they have two reviews. That doesn't really warrant a forum. Have we got any pinned Reader Review threads around here yet? |