Source: ign.com
Vincent returns! Hands-on impressions and videos from the final Japanese build.by Anoop Gantayat
January 25, 2006 - The third entry in Square Enix's Compilation of Final Fantasy VII project has been unleashed across the Pacific. Final Fantasy VII: Dirge of Cerberus lets us explore a latter part of the FFVII saga as we take control of Vincent a few years following the events of the game that started the RPG craze in America.
Dirge of Cerberus actually starts off immediately following the events of Advent Children, but you only see this time period for a short opening cinema sequence. Before you take control, things jump three years into the future as an unknown army invades the town of Kalm, which Vincent is visiting at the request of his friend, Reeve, formerly of the Shinra Company. Vincent goes out to explore the ruckus and comes under attack himself. It seems that whoever has attacked the town is searching for him.
From the moment you start playing, it's pretty clear that this is a markedly different take on the Final Fantasy series. Dirge of Cerberus combines first person shooting with third person exploration and combat. Moving around as Vincent, you beat down attacking enemy soldiers using a combo attack, or switch to gun mode and take your enemies out from afar.
I played through the first level without making use of Vincent's melee attack, as most of the soldiers that populate the stage have guns. Vincent's pretty swift with his kicks, though, so put me in a room with a bunch of unarmed beasts and I wouldn't be afraid of taking them on like a man (or vampire). But that chopper that serves as the first level's boss -- that's another story (see our video clips for a glimpse).
The gun mode seems to be where the action is at. Vincent can equip three fully customizable guns simultaneously. As you work through the game, you collect parts and "materia" elementals which can be equipped to the guns in any combination of your liking, changing the gun's properties. In my play time of the first level and part of the second level, I managed to collect fire materia which, when equipped to a gun, allows Vincent to shoot out fire magic at enemies. I also got my hands on a set of barrels, one long and one short. The long barrel makes Vincent's shots stronger, but slows him down considerably, both in terms of walking speed and recover time following a shot.
One particularly troubling area of Dirge of Cerberus from previous play tests was control in first person mode, which you enter when readying your gun. Square Enix seems to have addressed the problems by allowing players to fully adjust viewing speed and direction (normal or reverse) in the configuration menu. You can now make Vincent look around super quick, giving the game more of an FPS feel than the earlier demos suggested.
And if Dual Shock control doesn't cut it, you'll be pleased to know that the game includes keyboard and mouse support. The left mouse button is used to fire, initially toggling between first person and third person views. The right button is used to switch out of first person mode and engage in hand-to-hand combat. The scroll wheel can be pressed to open the configuration menu and spun to toggle weapons. This is all customizable in the configuration menu.
My PSX only has one USB port (grrrr!), so I'm attempting to play the game with a combination of the Dual Shock and mouse. The buttons on the Dual Shock can be freely assigned, and by playing around with the settings (assign crouching to L3, jumping to L1 and materia to L2) I was able to get a playable combination for this setup. Despite occasional choppy movement, I find playing with the mouse much better than attempting to go the pure Dual Shock route.
You'll want the best control scheme possible when playing Dirge of Cerberus, especially if you play the game Online. Dirge includes a networked multiplayer mode through Square Enix's Play Online service. The catch is that the network mode requires a hard disk, making this an option limited to the FFXI (and, to a lesser extent, the Nobunaga's Ambition) crowd. The Japanese also have to pay a 800 yen monthly fee. Square Enix hasn't announced details on the network mode in America, but as soon as we hear something, we'll pass it on to you.
The action-oriented gameplay of Dirge of Cerberus may take some getting-used-to for die-hard Final Fantasy VII fans, but there seems to be a good reason to do so: story. FFVII fans who just can't get enough of Cloud, Tifa and the rest of the classic cast will be pleased to learn that, while Vincent, Cait Sith and Yuffie have the biggest roles in Dirge of Cerberus, pretty much every cast member returns in some capacity. The game has lots of story between its blasting sequences, all presented in full voice, with frequent use of Advent Children quality CG. Those who just want to get to the story sequences will appreciate the three difficulty settings, with easy being designed for non-FPS players in mind (a category that includes 99% of the Japanese population).
Vincent will make his way across the Pacific for a stateside release some time later this year, so the non English speaking FFVII fans out there can get up to speed on what should be, chronologically, the final Final Fantasy VII. While waiting for Square Enix to announce further plans for the US version of the game check out our new gameplay clips and start polishing up on your FPS skills.
Log in to comment