Eureka Seven Vol. 1: The New Wave

Based on a semi-popular/semi-obscure anime seen only late at night on Cartoon Network, Eureka Seven is your average, boy meets girl meets rival/friend surrounded by the pressure of an Military academy where students learn to pilot mechs called LFOs wrapped around all the teen drama of your average Laguna Beach episode. Whew! That's a mouthful, but if you think it makes any sense, then chances are you have seen the complex and sometimes over-thought show on television. I, myself, have seen some episodes, but am confused as to the way the story unfolds in the game since it didn't happen the same way in the show. I'll try and keep it simple (for my own sake) and tell you that you play the main character, Sumner Sturgeon (poor kid). Sumner dropped out of an elite officers training academy in order to become the newest recruit at "New Wave," a sort of pilots program for LFOs. Sumner comes from a prominent family so there is that slight uneasiness and resentment from some teammates who feel he was "gifted" into the program rather then earned a spot. Well, surprise, surprise, Sumner actually has the chops to pilot the LFO, now if only he can survive a major crush on his teammate Ruri and master the multiple gameplay requirements this game has, he may just be Ok.

Wow, yes the game can be as complex and over thought as the above paragraph, I hope I didn't lose you there, because there is some other interesting things happening in the game, which honestly can't be summed up in a single paragraph. First is the gameplay itself. Upon first glance one would think that a game based on giant robots would feature a lot of mech-style action, well you would be right and wrong. You see, the developers over at Bandai/Namco tried doing something not normally seen in a mech game, they mixed it up thoroughly. In Eureka Seven, players will not only pilot the giant LFO robots, but also drive the tanks that the LFOs turn into, and there is some distinct control difference between the two. But they didn't stop there, gamers will also run around as the human Sumner, talking with people, buying equipment at the store and generally stumbling through his life in full confused glory, which includes combat. But it doesn't end there, you see these LFOs also have a little Tony Hawk running through their circuits and through a new technology, ride on these giant air boards called ref-boards. These ref-boards use a particle light technology that allows them to surf the skies.

"What do you mean I can't park here!?"

The controls for all these different modes of play are a mix of good and bad. When running around as Sumner, the game seems to follow a traditional thirrd-person perspective, holstering and drawing his weapon, grabbing others and doing all sorts of martial-arts action is basically reduced to you pressing the "O" button with the exception of the L1 button for grabbing. I was unimpressed with how overly simple they made this. For clarification, you ride the ref-boards as both Sumner and when he is piloting his LFO the only difference is when you fly it as a regular human, you can do tricks and stunts which is more for fun, when you are flying on it when piloting the LFO, you can do the same tricks or engage in combat can fire weapons. They both control the same, but additional buttons are used when firing the LFO's weapons. Again, the actual action is pretty simple and while this may be fine for some, the actual tricks and movements weren't where I thought they should be in this SSX/Tony Hawk infused world.

But the biggie, and the one that left the most impact on me was the actual control of the LFOs in combat. Instead of employing a more standard third-person dynamic camera that follows you from behind automatically, the developers chose to instead have an auto lock-on button (L1), which keeps your enemy in view no matter what direction you are facing. I don't have to tell you how frustrating this can be because you are constantly aligning yourself to compensate for where your LFO is facing. Hit the L1 button and discover that your enemy is to your left, then you must control the LFO to move in the direction that your enemy is. When I would start to turn, I found myself running into objects since I could no longer see what was in front of me. And if by some miracle you manage to get off an attack, then your prey would merely transform into the vehicle form and your ranged weapon would miss completely. Now don't think I was buffooning all over the place, after a while I finally got used to the controls, but I still didn't care for them. I could see what the developers were trying to do, but it just never seemed to come together correctly.

"Yeah, I know I'm hot."

With the mighty PS3 now in play, I will give props to the design team for taking cartoon segments that look like they were lifted directly from the show in terms of visuals, this is a plus. The LFO's themselves also look rogue tough and produce some interesting lighting effects when engaging certain weapons. Overall the game has a pretty decent look to it, as the programmers had lots to produce in terms of all the different ways the game looks. One minute you're in the training arena where robots are beating the snot err, circuits out of one another, the next minute you're running around the commons area looking to buy upgrades for your LFO. The character models however, do have a somewhat blocky feel to them and that was a bit of a letdown as the anime pictures of the women in the game's cutscenes certainly show off their assets, which does not translate well to the in-game graphics. The game is rated T for teen and there is some suggestive themes going on.

The audio on the other hand was better then I thought it would be, the voice work sounded like the same folks who do the TV series and that is always a plus in my book. Strange though, in some of the game the characters speak for themselves and other times you have to do the reading. I never understood this concept. The music in the intro does a fairly good job of reminding you that you are playing a game based on a cartoon series. It also seems to wind up nicely when combat gets going. Problem is, the music does become repetitive and it's upbeat techno razzle dazzle can become cumbersome. The sound effects when fighting and riding the ref-boards fit nicely, but the whole kit and caboodle gets a minus for not having Dolby Digital surround sound.

 
"Avoiding enemy fire 101."

The game has a fairly complex storyline and even fans of the series may be scratching their heads as to why these the plot is moving the direction it is. Of course, there are several dozen other things I could talk about and make this the longest review in GameZone history, but I'm not going to do that. I will tell you that the game does deserve some credit for mixing it up with all the different types of gameplay, and that the most enjoyable part of the game for me was riding the ref-board when I was just Sumner. Die-hard fans of the series will eat this game up and probably enjoy all the nuances that an anime soap opera with robots has. Let's break it down.

Gameplay: 5.8
There are several different types of gameplay going on in this title, some control all right while others do not. I felt that I shouldn't have to work this hard so early in a game to get all the robot combat down. There is a tutorial that you can do to practice the LFO's controls. To me, anytime there is a separate tutorial rather then an in-game tutorial, it means trouble.    

Graphics: 7.0
Trying to come up with the separate "look" for all the different types of gameplay is an arduous task. And while the robots look pretty decent, there is some breakdown in character models while playing the game. Good looking anime sequences.

Sound: 7.8
The use of the voice actors from the show was good; not having them used all of the time was not. It's got an upbeat soundtrack that can get grating to those of us who are done partying, sound effects are ample if not better.

Difficulty: Medium/Hard
The controls can really be a hindrance and yes it does contribute to the difficulty. The game itself also requires a good deal of concentration, maybe more so then the average gamer wants to use.

Concept: 6.4
A game based on an anime show? Really? Ok, yes really, and while I said the developers deserve some props for trying something completely different, the end result is not as good as I would have hoped.

Multiplayer: None
At the very least they could have had a split-screen battle mode between two LFOs or a race mode on the ref-boards. There is nothing in terms of multiplayer.

Overall: 6.4
I wanted to get behind what this game was all about; clearly the license in which it is derived from is a complex and engaging one, but maybe there was just too much bitten off here. I hope they make a second game and use what they learned from the first to make things right.