4C. THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
KANSAS RELAYS
THURSDAY,APRIL 21,2005
Jade Empire Xbox
Video games
Our friends at BioWare were kind enough to create a game where the opportunity to beat ghost ass is around every corner.
The problem is, the dragon was a powerful spirit charged with watching over the gate to the underworld. Bada-bing, bada-boom — you've got restless crazy ghosts walking all over the place, screwing stuff up.
In Jade Empire, you are the sole survivor of a clan devoted to the preservation of a Water Dragon. After a terrible drought, the Emperor takes the dragon, thinking he can use its power to restore his empire.
So you, the last Spirit Monk, have to use
your ghost-beating prowess to calm (punch) the unruly souls of the dead, restore the water dragon, and save the world.
The whole game is set in a fictitious East Asian land known as the Jade Empire. It has an obvious Chinese influence, yet the main theme is structured in
Japanese Shinto beliefs.
As gamers have come to expect, the graphics are breathtaking and the story is compelling, but this is a pretty big departure from BioWare's other titles. BioWare's blockbusters Never
winter Nights and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic are both based off of existing D20 systems and well-established worlds. Jade Empire is the first time they've had to lose their licenses and go ground-up. What they've developed isn't quite an RPG yet isn't quite action.
You learn and develop fighting styles and forms of magic that you employ real-time as you take on ghosts, demons and whatever else happens to come along.
The trick is finding out what combat
styles work for you and using them to beat, blast and brawl your way to victory. This title also employs a philosophic system of morality. The good, peaceful stuff is the Way of the Open Palm. The mean, angry stuff is the Way of the Closed Fist. Which path you choose determines the outcome of certain situations and, in the end, the fate of the empire itself.
Gather up your chi and check this one out.
All images courtesy www.ign.com
Jeremy Monken
Grade: B+
Rise of the Kasai PS2
Cutting a gory swath through a ton of enemies has never looked so great. Too bad that's about the only thing that saves this game from being just another hack-and-slash sequel.
Rise of the Kasaitis off where its predecessor, Mark of Kri, left off. The plot bolts down to reliving past moments to prevent Rau, the main character, from being killed. To do this you get to play as four different characters, each with their own unique weapons, in more than 10 different levels.
Here's the problem; there have only been a few marginal changes from the first game. Everything works the exact same way. Even the characters, even with their varying array of weaponry, play pretty much the same. Sure, Rau's sister Tati is quick and nible, but she doesn't put her spells to use very well. For the most part you'll be button mashing and not even worrying about combs; either way is very effective.
The game's graphical presentation, however, is what sets it apart from other games in the genre. The animation looks to me like a few of the Dianne guys got fed up with their child-oriented artistry and decided to draw some very adult-oriented
material. Enemies are continually chopped in half, with arms and legs severed and maimed in about every way possible.
Rise of the Kasai simply follows the conventions established in the first game while not doing much to make it something new, but it's fun for the first couple of hours.
Grade: C
Nick Finnegan
Dynasty Warriors 5 PS2
Grab your armor and weapon. It's time once again to step out on the battlefield. These legendary Chinese warriors never quit, so neither will I. Take part in some of the greatest battles in Chinese history and prepare for a free-for-all of action. Dynasty Warriors 5 comes in with some of the same old gameplay, but is always worth playing.
Once again, you choose a warrior during the time of the Three Kingdoms of China and play their part in history. In this installment, you play a character's specific part in the battles. As the character, you still have the ability to be a one man army. I once killed more than 700 soldiers in one mission alone. There is some strategy to the game still. While you can jump
head first into enemy camps, it's sometimes better to back off or you'll find yourself surrounded by enemy officers.
One thing that's regrettably missing from this Dynasty Warriors is the ability to create your own officer and body-guards like in *Dynasty Warriors 4*. I miss the ability to choose what my officer looks like and what weapon he can wield on the battlefield.
Another thing that always draws me to these games is the music. The music of the missions and the character select screen always get me in a fighting mood.
Another Dynasty Warriors is now on the market. If you're a hardcore fan then you'll feel right at home playing this game. If you are a newcomer, I suggest you pick it up and give it a try. No need bothering with previous ones; it's pretty much the same game. It also good for getting out aggression.
Grade: B
—Chris Moore