Todd Mcfarlane is a genius, the man is arguably the most famous modern comics creator and innovative enough to expand into film, TV, toys and video games.  Hitching his mega-popular Spawn character to the Soul Caliber series was just one of Mr. Mcfarlane's decisive victories.  However, I'm not sure using Todd's "Monsters" line of toys was the best move. 

Evil Prophecy can best be described as a modern version of the classic game "Gauntlet."  Player(s) play as one of four monster hunters who are charged with stopping the seemingly unexplained appearances that are plaguing 1900's Europe.  The game uses Mcfarlane's re-imagining of classic monsters like Dracula, the Werewolf, Frankenstein, The Mummy, etc.

If you think this game feels like the recent movie Van Helsing, then you would be fairly correct.  You see, the monster hunters (Pirate, Shaman, Scientist, Hunter) are completely original characters that were created solely for the game by the developers, not Mcfarlane.  Now, at this point, the game seems to be tapping into a genre that could certainly use some fresh ideas, and using a toy line like Monsters is a good start, but here's an idea... what if they used the popular toy line and you actually got to play as these freakish new versions? 

OK, enough blathering about what could have been, how does the game play, Mike?  Well, for starters you can play either solo or with other friends, since I did not have three others players handy, I played it single player.  And wouldn't you know it, the game actually allows you to play as all of the hunters, switching from one to another with the press of the D-pad as the game's A.I. automatically makes the other hunters fight along side of you.  Of course, the hunters must complete the various stages running from one end of the map to another finding items, opening doors and doing other menial tasks the game throws at you to make you feel like you are playing a game with legitimate depth instead of a button-mashing mess.  OK, that's not fair of me, the game isn't a complete mess, it's just for every clever idea or unique aspect the game has, there is a negative that completely turns me off.  For instance, where I really enjoyed the ease of switching characters, the horrible camera angles made it difficult for the game to move as fluidly as I would have liked.  Where the game provides an ample amount of varying nasties, the game menu pops up at seemingly random times while in the midst of battle, making it incredibly frustrating.

Each of the hunters ends up having an elemental ability that allows for more powerful attacks and in a bit of a surprise; weapons can be found as you play along, but unless you have the correct hunter pick up the weapon, it's usefulness is greatly reduced.  Imagine a African Shaman picking up a machine gun... the horror of it all!  And in a bit of nostalgic gameplay, players can do moves where they combine their attacks (visions of Homer picking up Bart and smacking aliens dance through my head). 

The opening cartoon segment is a slick little production that reminded me of the old HBO adult cartoon of Todd Mcfarlane's Spawn, I really dug it and it got me pumped up about the game the first time I watched it.  Likewise, the translation from toy-to-boss character the actual Monsters are every bit the sick deformations that they were intended to be.  The other grunt-type monsters that attack you every ten feet were not done quite as well, but the monster overall looked pretty good.  The hunters themselves were not as good as the monsters, the lightning effects that Dr. Jaeger uses to flay his enemies are bright and clean, but it's nothing we haven't seen before.  

I was even more disappointed in the game's almost nonexistent audio.  The scenes that play out between missions must be read instead of heard, which in this day and age is practically a prerequisite.  Sure there are grunts and other explosion-type noises, but the game is practically devoid of any real quality audio.

While continuing to play, my opinion of the game became lower and lower.  Again, I really wanted to like this game and was even afraid that my want would force me to review this game favorably when it did not deserve it. Well trust me, that didn't happen.    

The game also features a couple other playing modes like Dungeon mode (bad guys keep coming till yer dead), a battle mode (players go at it tooth and nail) and time attack mode (how quick can you take out the baddies).  Extras yes, but not much to sink your teeth into.
 

Gameplay: 6.1

The foul camera controls and seemingly insane glitches leave a bad gameplay taste.  Which makes it even more sad considering that the game has some interesting things to offer like the seamless character switching and clever combinations you can execute.

Graphics: 6.3

Really well done intro and the boss characters are pretty spot on, but the other visuals seem flat and uninspired.  A lot of "been there, done that" kind of graphics.  The lay of the land is fairly bland and there does not appear to be smooth shading in regards to the characters.  When a lot of action is taking place, the screen does bog down at times.  There is an option to have the game be bloody or non-bloody, choose wisely.

Sound: 4.3

Pretty much a no-brainer here.  There is no voice acting and the in-game action is lost in the blandness.  Explosions aren't all that crisp and the hum of electricity doesn't really hum if you know what I mean.   

Difficulty: Medium

There are several scenes that get pretty hairy and the sheer number of bad guys make things interesting.  The game gives you grade scores after every scene and getting those "A's" is pretty tough.  Not to mention that if you do not assist one of the A.I.-controlled hunters that is calling for help, your teamwork will decrease and when you find yourself in need of assistance, the chances of that hunter helping you becomes less likely.

Concept: 5.7

1900's, monsters, monster hunters, based on a toy line, while this is all cool, it feels like were in familiar territory here.  

Multiplayer: 6.0

Sure you can play with four people, but it's overly cumbersome with the poor camera angles, making it an almost fist-throwing experience.  

Overall: 5.5

I'm not happy about this game, I had high hopes and the execution is just flawed.  The cool elements that the game does possess are completely overshadowed by the glaring gameplay issues and non-existent audio.  Rent it if you are a Mcfarlane fan, but even then you probably won't play it more then an hour.