Taking on an evil corporation bent on world domination has become something of a reoccurring theme in games for quite some time now and EOE: Eve Of Extinction is yet another title jumping on the corporation-smashing bandwagon.  On the other hand, how many titles are there where the main character uses his girlfriend’s soul as a weapon?

Gamers assume the roll of Josh Calloway, an employee of the Wisdom Corporation, who betrays this conglomerate after finding out their dastardly plan to control the world.  The problem is that Wisdom has found a way to use a mysterious metal and fuse it with a human soul to form a powerful weapon known as a Legacy and then use it against mankind.  As a result of Josh’s betrayal, the corporation’s upper management transforms his girlfriend Eliel into a weapon.  Josh must stop Wisdom and find a way to revert his girl back to human form.

Controlling Josh is simple and so is the battle mechanics.  He starts with basic moves that are flat and boring and three methods of fighting: unarmed combat and using his Legacy weapon in the form of a sword or a rod. After defeating level bosses, Josh obtains their Legacy weapon. You can easily alternate between weapons in mid-battle that is the same as unleashing a combo.  After defeating a number of foes using a specific weapon, your Weapon Experience Level goes up for better fighting or gamers can activate the Legacy Drive for a special attack. 

However, the enemy AI is so poor that fighting becomes repetitive . . . and boring.  Many of the enemies come in the form of Wisdom Agents and they don’t offer much of a challenge, in fact, many of them don’t make a move until you’re almost inches away. You do get to face level bosses that can be easily dispatched with just a few tries (gamers have unlimited continues) or memorizing attack patterns. Much of the game’s seven levels also require Josh to jump to hard to reach areas and often he can use the rod to propel himself much higher.

There are also sequences in the game--known as Button Timer Sequences--that require gamers to quickly press a button or suffer an injury as a gunshot or a slash of a Legacy blade.  These moments can be found on all the levels and was designed to keep gamers on their toes--a feature that actually does do a good job of it too.

If gamers get lost, Eliel’s voice reminds Josh of where to go or what to do.  This often makes the game feel rushed, especially when she constantly keeps reminding Josh where he should go.  She does, though, offer many good tips and helps you locate Ley Seeds which activates the Legacy Drive and she even tells you how to use it since the action is quite complex (you have to trace a certain design with the analog stick).

EOE’s graphics are decent enough and the characters are adequately detailed and that goes especially for animated cut scenes where there are a lot of close ups.  The buildings are not as detailed as the people are, but there are enough areas to marvel at as the game progresses.  Yet the biggest flaw happens to be the camera that often places Josh in spots were gamers can’t see their surroundings or where the enemy is.  And most of the enemies, and this mainly is directed at the Agents, look identical to one another and are used over and over again throughout the game.

The game’s soundtrack is hardly a running presence in the game; in fact, much of the title’s score is played in animated sequences or when a level boss appears.  Aside from the absence of music, sound effects are also noticeably lacking throughout.  Enemies don’t cry out in pain when gamers strike them with weapons nor do they make a sound when they die--they just dissolve in a puff of smoke.  Josh’s Legacy weapons don’t even make much noise or no noise at all.

As far as replay value is concerned, the game does offer new areas to explore in story mode via some of the secret items gamers discover by playing the first time around.  Yet I hardly feel that many gamers will want to replay the game over again for the secret areas or the fact that gamers will be able to start anew with more powerful weapons.

EOE is hardly a game compelling enough to give action gamers a good dose of  fighting fun. That is not to say that the game is downright awful, it just doesn't measure up to the recent offerings seen lately. Gamers should be warned: rent this one first before even considering purchasing it. 

  Gameplay: 6.9
The heart of the game is the fighting and that is not saying much considering Josh’s attacks are basically the repetitive use of the two attack buttons.  There are ten weapons to use in battle but nothing can disguise the fact that gamers are simply repeating the same fight pattern.  Also, the enemy AI is awful, making matters worse.

There are also moments in the game that require gamers to quickly press a button--done in the same “QTE” style as Dreamcast‘s “Shenmue”--or suffer injury or even death.  This is actually a much welcome feature and keeps the game from being dull. 

Graphics: 7.0

Aside from the horrendous camera angle problems, the graphics are not at all that bad at all.  The characters are finely detailed, as are the surroundings, especially during animated cut scenes.  However, the game’s graphics suffer a lack of diversity . . . specifically in the enemies you face.  It becomes tiresome fighting the same identical Agents over and over again.

The glowing trails each weapon leaves behind--most evident when using the rod--is a neat effect that makes for great looking battles.

Sound: 5.5
The sound is one of the most disappointing aspects of the game and it doesn’t help that sometimes sound is absent altogether.  There is no running soundtrack that adds to the excitement of battles or no rich score that compliments the animated sequences.  What little music there is in the game crops up every now and then and for short periods of time.

There are also very little sound effects in the game, especially when using the weapons or killing Agents.  The voice acting is decent, although the dialogue is poorly written, and it does get a little better as the story advances . . . but not by very much.

Difficulty: 6.9
Sadly the game hardly provides a real challenge even though there are four difficulty settings (Easy, Normal, Hard and Very Hard).  The Agent’s basic attack formation is simplistic and even the bosses themselves move in a pattern gamers can memorize with only a few tries.  Setting the difficulty level to Hard or Very Hard just means more enemies rush at you more often than usual.

Concept: 7.0
EOE concept is nothing original or unique in any way, rather it’s a 3D fighting game with familiar territory.  The game does, though, allow gamers to freely explore the surroundings before being forced back into the main objective.

The game’s story, although weak in plot and sometimes confusing in certain points, is actually somewhat interesting.  It’s rather odd that Josh is in actuality wielding his girlfriend and using her as a weapon. 

Overall: 6.7
Gamers looking for a good action-packed brawler will only find great displeasure with EOE.  It hardly adds anything unique or challenging and although the game has its share of fun moments--they’re not enough to keep gamers from becoming bored.