Shifters

You know, I have been a loyal 3DO supporter going all the way back to 1996 when I purchased my first 3DO system. Back in the day, there were some great titles made for the system by third party developers … and for me, that system was “it”. Soon, Studio 3DO emerged and hit the scene with half and half results overall. Some titles were really good, like Killing Time, but others weren’t much to talk about and some were just downright disappointing. Years later, 3DO has been putting games out for PC, PSX, and PS2, and after a slew of lackluster Army Men titles, less than below average Might and Magic console games, and the most recent Godai : Elemental Force which met some really bad reviews, I really haven’t been much on 3DO at all. Well, Shifters … the unofficial sequel to Warriors of Might and Magic … has hit the scene now. I will say it is definitely a step up in the grand scheme of things in the 3DO console library, but it’s still a long way from perfection, or even above average. This is going to be a long review avid Gamezone fans, because there is a lot to this game I felt needed to be said to help you decide whether it needs to be bought.  

The story revolves around Alleron, the hero of Might and Magic, as he rides in to save a kingdom under siege. The opening FMV shows a fierce attack in progress, filled with catapults and a marching army of untold numbers of soldiers. A higher evil soon reveals itself in the form of an insane mage who calls upon a bizarre power which shifts the advancing army into a rampaging horde of fierce looking and bloodthirsty creatures. Alleron soon learns that the army has uncovered an ancient relic which permits a rift between his dimension and another one, and now strange creatures, structures, and chaos have erupted throughout the kingdom, threatening the peace which has been present for so long. You must find the relic and stop the madman before everything is destroyed, and once again bring peace and prosperity to the land. 

The gameplay overall is very similar to the Might and Magic game which was released last year, with some small tweaks and improvements in some areas. The controls are mostly the same as the previous installment, where X attacks, square does a ranged attack, triangle jumps, circle activates magic, etc. There is also a block button, a target lock, and a “sneak” button, among others. The left analog stick controls Alleron, while the right analog stick controls the camera angle in any line of sight area to see what’s going on around you. One improvement that has been made that is noticeable from the get go is a continuous “face your opponent” style when you lock on, which was not there in the original game. This allows the jump button to be used as a roll button instead when you have locked on to get out of the way of a potential hit, and also will not ever cause you to get hit in the side or back during melee combat. The sneak button is also new, which allows you to creep up on an opponent without being detected. When this is done, you can deal a fatal blow which will kill in one hit or do more damage than a regular face to face hit. Also, each creature will get a ring around their base when it is targeted, representing the four elements of water, wind, earth, and fire. Since each weapon has a particular element it is attributed to, this helps you determine what will work better during the battle. For example, a fire based creature will take more damage from a water based weapon or spell. Alleron also has a ranged attack, and what is called a “suicide attack”, which drains his health and mana down but creates a deadly and destructive attack and is useful in a tight spot.

So where does the “Shifters” part come in? During the game, of course. There are crystals which can be found in various areas which give Alleron the ability to Shapeshift from man to a various assortment of 6 different classes, ranging from Bestial (Humanoid with beast like features) to Automata (Technology and Robotic). By transforming into the various monsters and creatures, Alleron can gain certain magic or physical advantages to help him overcome his attackers. For example, the first Shifter ability that is picked up is  “Bestial”, which gives the ability of “Lloyd’s Sanctuary”. This allows Alleron to transport into the nearest town if things get rough or more supplies are needed. In addition, the beast forms will grow and progress as Alleron levels up, since “ability points” and “beast points” are awarded at each new level for both man and beast forms. The first stage transformation is a grunt, which is a melee only creature, and after a certain amount of points are applied to it, it becomes a Shaman. The Shaman now has a new spell ability and becomes more powerful in attack and defense as well. After more points are added, the next stage will either be a Mage (Magic) or Warlord (Melee proficient) form, depending on what you prefer, and is the most powerful form of the Shifter class that it is in. Be careful when distributing points to the various classes however, since once a point  is applied … it cannot be removed. Just like your opponents, your beast form also answers to one of the four elements which can determine how much damage you will take. If you are using a fire based creature, and the creature attacking you is water based, you will take more damage than if it is fire based as well. 

Now, all may sound good on the up front, and the overall idea and concept sound really good. There are some issues under the surface which show up consistently throughout the game, however, which really begin to detract from the overall experience. In the control department, Alleron moves pretty fluid throughout the game. He seems a little loose while being controlled, however, and I found myself almost pinballing (bouncing from wall to wall) throughout some hallways or straying off of paths at the slightest lean to the left or right of the left analog stick. During combat, the button hits are usually responsive and quick to activate, but can also become an issue if you and the enemy swing at the same time during melee combat which will result in your attack not happening while you stand there helpless during an opponent’s combo. To help this, you can swing while the block button is pressed , but you can’t do combos … just one swing. Alleron also has combos which he can utilize, but they are very repetitive and consist mostly of the same four swings or swipes over and over again. There is a slight amount of variance in being able to hit combos such as x, then circle, and doing a quick combo with a ranged attack at the end.  Doing this rather than hitting x four times also cuts down on the rebound time and allows you to attack quicker when starting on the next chain.

Now, every good has had a bad associated with it so far, but there are some more issues there which can be chalked up in the bad category as far as combat is concerned. First off, if an attack is not done on a selected attacker within a certain timeframe, you lose the lock on. Since Alleron will face the opponent while locked, this will cause him to turn to one side and may result in getting hit from behind. In addition, if Alleron moves outside of a certain radius, he loses the lock on and the same thing happens. While this sounds like a real problem, it’s really not that bad from a getting hit perspective since the enemy AI ranges from stupid to “well, duh!”. Enemies will stand there just staring at you and won’t move most of the time, even after you have hit them. The times that they do decide to get aggressive and actually attack usually results in them just walking up and blindly swinging at you over and over. Secondly, blocking with a weapon or shield … no matter how big, small, or magical, will result in not taking any damage at all, regardless of where on Alleron’s body they attack. Since there are three difficulty settings, I decided to try the medium and hard difficulty as well to see if it improved the AI or made it more challenging … it didn’t. It just put more monsters into the game and resulted in more damage when Alleron got hit, but they didn’t get any smarter and by blocking, I wasn’t taking any damage anyway since I just hit the block button.

Also on a “gameplay issue” note, there are some really rough spots in collision detection and the camera angles. For example, I entered a burned down hut and was trying to explore for items, only to get stuck behind a small pile of ash which took me about 10 seconds of jumping around to get out of. Immediately afterwards, I got stuck in a doorway because the knight NPC who I had picked up somewhere along the way wouldn’t move, and I had to start pummeling him with my weapon to try and scoot him back so I could proceed forward. The camera, while it can be swung behind you with a press of the R3 button, also presents some issues here and there. Walking through doorways can sometimes result in getting hit repeatedly by an unseen assailant since it won’t automatically adjust to see what is behind it. If an enemy advances on you while you are in a corner or up against a wall… it goes somewhat haywire and it gets confusing as to what exactly is going on. All this equals out to a fun experience which can get really frustrating really fast.

Graphically, the game really shows a great improvement over the Warriors of Might and Magic title … for a while.  The story behind Shifters is an evil force which is spreading and corrupting the land, and it seems to corrupt the graphics as well as you progress. The opening stage is the interior of the castle, and it is well decorated and clean. The lighting effects look great with the exception of Alleron’s shadow which disconnects and moves to the top of walls periodically, but it’s nothing terrible. Also, nice touches like settling dust through windowpanes and sputtering torches are present throughout the castle. When you move to the second stage, which is mostly outdoors, the environment seems somewhat sparsely detailed, repetitive, and flat, even though there are still some nice features like the small billows of snow when you run. Then the third stage comes along … which is sparsely detailed, repetitive, flat, and has a severe lack of color detail or shadowing except for your character. Anyway, the interiors always look better than the exteriors as you progress, but overall it seems to fall back to Warriors of Might and Magic. Soundwise, it’s not too bad, and the music has more of an orchestrated feel than it’s predecessor, although it tends to get choppy while moving in and out of combat since it is used to set the tone of what’s happening … and also seems out of place here and there. The grunts, roars, swings, and hits of the weapons sound pretty clear and detailed overall, but different monsters tend to make the same noises when they first spot you which usually results in a flat roar.

Overall, this one definitely is a little better than the original Warriors of Might and Magic, but it still falls short of the mark. Due to overall control issues, camera issues, bad AI, boring NPC interaction which consists of a sentence or two, and side quests which tend to be somewhat nonsensical and not related to the story or objective in any way, this one isn’t going to restore my faith in 3DO anytime soon. If you enjoyed and liked the original release, you will definitely like this title since overall it looks and runs better than Warriors did.  If you didn’t like the original, don’t bother … overall it’s the same car with a fresh coat of paint slapped on. If you haven’t played the original, I strongly recommend a rental prior to making the final commitment to purchase, since you might or might not be able to overlook the issues. It’s a step in the right direction for 3DO, but they still have a long walk ahead of them in the world of console gaming.

Gameplay: 5.8
While the controls have been improved on since Warriors was released, they still feel too loose and result in some careening around while moving. Enemy AI is really bad, and regardless of difficulty setting you shouldn’t have much of a problem maneuvering through the game since you can block all hits, regardless of how many enemies attack at one time. Camera angles, while adjustable, prove to be a problem at certain times … while collision detection runs rampant through different areas.

Graphics: 6.1
The graphics rating started in more of an 8.8 scale from me, but since they deteriorated as the game progressed, so did the number. After a few stages, they almost resort back to it’s prequel’s state. The character models look nice overall, and there are some really good lighting and shadowing effects on the characters in the game.

Sound: 7.0
While it occasionally gets jittery or choppy during and going out of combat, the music has an orchestrated feel to it and sounds pretty good. The monsters all make the same grunting and roaring noises with slight variance here and there, but weapon strikes and steel clashing sounds are good.

Difficulty: Medium
While every button on the controller is utilized, it only takes an hour or so to learn where everything is. Due to the fact that the levels are huge and there are numerous side quests and things to find and do, it can become a little confusing and overwhelming from time to time.  

Concept: 6.9
While the transformation into a beast is a neat concept, and adds some variety to the gaming experience, the overall gameplay is the same as Warriors of Might and Magic. Even with some new added features … it’s not enough to make it a new game or add anything really outstanding to the whole experience.

Multiplayer: N/A

Overall: 5.9
While I definitely felt a little better off playing Shifters than I did playing Warriors of Might and Magic, I still had an overall feeling of disappointment with the whole thing in general. The control and camera bugs made it somewhat frustrating to keep trying to progress, the enemy AI made it dull and too easy to battle, the side quests were mostly silly and I didn’t want to do them. Add in some graphics that go from really good to below average, and it soon becomes time to play something else. After all the smoke cleared, it’s a step up in the console section for the Might and Magic series … but there’s still a lot of work that needs to be done. Rent before buying.