FFVII: Dirge of Cerberus (PS2)Publisher:  Square Enix Developer:  Square Enix Genre:  Action Release Date:  TBA 2006 ESRB:  Rating PendingMore Info on this Game

By Andrew Alfonso | Jan. 27, 2006
One year after Advent Children and three weeks after Kingdom Hearts II, Vincent returns in a new FFVII spin-off!

Spiffy

The graphics are some of the best on the PS2, and FFVII fans will enjoy the fan service.

Iffy

Questionable control design decisions, the music isn't up to par with the rest of the Final Fantasy games, and you have to pay for online play!

Before I commence my run-down of this eagerly anticipated game, I feel the need that I should get a few things out of the way before you, the GameSpy reader, read the rest of this article. First, Final Fantasy VII was one of my favorite RPGs ever. Secondly, and most importantly, I have a huge passion for FPS games, despite not having the best aim or reaction times.

Having said that, Square Enix's latest FFVII spin-off, Dirge of Cerberus, is a game that's been showcased twice in Japan, once at Square Enix's party in July, and once again at the Tokyo Game Show, but has faced some considerable criticism from gamers all around the world due to its stark contrast to the rest of the Final Fantasy lineage. It takes place one year after the events of Advent Children, although you don't really need to know what happened in Advent Children to enjoy this game. Enjoying some peace and rest in the small town of Kalm, Vincent's vacation is abruptly put to an end with a group of soldiers start storming the town to round up all of the villagers. When these soldiers get their sights on Vincent, it's clear why they're in Kalm to begin with; they want Vincent, dead or alive. The group calls themselves Deep Soldier, and they seem to have a connection to the SOLDIER group that was present in the original Final Fantasy VII. We don't want to spoil the entire story for you, but we will mention that every cast member of FFVII will get their spotlight in this game, with Cait and Yuffie receiving the most attention.

Those looking for an RPG experience with Dirge are definitely looking in the wrong place. If anything, similarities can be made between Dirge and Resident Evil 4. The former uses the latter's point of view perspective whenever in gun-mode, which means that the camera is settled just over Vincent's shoulder when he's shooting. From here, you can also go into first-person mode, or back into full third-person mode. Being that Vincent is the star of Dirge, the game features a lot of gunplay, and not much else. He does have a melee attack, but you'll rarely be using it since you'll have an ample supply of ammo at all times.


Vincent can carry up to three firearms at a time. These firearms can be customized to suit your liking. Early on you'll pick up attachments to shorten and lengthen the barrel of your gun, which changes the properties of your guns. For example, the long barrel attachment allows you to shoot people at longer range, but the reload speed is slower, and your foot speed also slows down, since the gun is much heavier than before. By comparison, the short barrel is only good for point blank targets, but your overall speed is increased. The body of the gun can be changed too, from the normal gun that you start off with to Gatling guns, shotguns and more. In addition to customizing your firearms, Vincent also gains experience and stats after every stage is completed, however you can actually use your experience points in two different ways. First, you can use your points to give Vincent more power, thus making him a more efficient killer. Secondly, you can use your points and transform them into Gil, allowing you to purchase more merchandise before the beginning of each stage. Finally, much like other action games, Vincent has a "berserk" mode where he transforms into a giant werewolf/monster, although he can only use melee attacks.

One of the puzzling things about this game as we barged through the first four levels was the controls. The default controls are, simply put, a complete mystery. While most action games will allow you to change perspectives on the fly with one button, it doesn't work that way in Dirge. Both the L1 and R1 triggers will put you in gun mode, but in order to cancel it, you'll have to press X instead, because R1 also doubles as the shoot button. The reason behind this is unknown, and it's an odd design decision that might make gamers a little frustrated during the opening hour of the game. Thankfully, the game's controls are fully customizable, so you won't be stuck with the default controls. Additionally, just about every mechanic is adjustable, so you can tune Vincent's turning speed as well as all of the camera controls to your liking.

Dirge is divided into several chapters, with each chapter containing missions that you must take in order to move the story forward. Most of these are painfully easy though, as you simply have to take out everything that moves.

Despite the odd control mechanics, Dirge seems to have lots going for it. Obviously, the visuals are spectacular, and are on the level of Kingdom Hearts II when real-time graphics are used, and on the same level of Advent Children when the game goes into its animated cut scenes. The motion capture during the cutscenes is top-notch, although I'm a little disappointed because the quality significantly drops when you're actually playing the game. Vincent's in-game animation in particular is nowhere near as good as the stuff you'll see in the cutscenes, real-time or CG. However, the art direction -- supervised by Yusuke Naora -- is splendid and is directly influenced by Advent Children.


Included with the Japanese version (this is not confirmed for EUR or US) is an online mode where you can play against other players in a free-for-all. Unfortunately, this feature comes at a cost, as you have to pay a whopping 800 yen ($ per month for a non-MMORPG game, and you need the PS2 HDD attachment to make it work! There's been no official word from Square Enix Japan about this feature, and quite honestly fans shouldn't be expecting one either; it seems that this was a feature that, although planned from the beginning, wasn't intended to be a major selling point of the game. Rather, it was a bonus for those who supported FFXI on the PS2, since that game also required the PS2 HDD.

Final Fantasy fan or not, it's best to approach this game with caution. This is definitely not the game where one will say "well, this part wasn't that good, but overall it was OK." No, this is definitely not one of those games. This is a game that you will either love with all your heart, or hate with all of your guts. Gamers can't ignore the fact that it's totally different from any other Final Fantasy title you've seen thus far, and that could be the deal killer for most fans. With a U.S. release still upcoming -- albeit with no release date currently confirmed -- it'll be interesting to see if Square Enix tries to push the multiplayer function on American players, or if it'll be cut completely.

[QUOTE="nightmare_cloud"]well i want to play it but tis not big on my list but its getting there, lolToucanbird

:shock: What?! :evil: How can it not be high on your list? It's Dirge of Cerberus!

its not on my list cuz im getting the games i want that have come out already and gradually get to the newer ones, there are some exceptions as in the case of KH2 and MGS3: Subsistence and FFXII but this is not one fo them, im getting DMC3: SE, WWE SD vs. Raw 06, Burnout Revenge and SOCOM 3 as well DQ8

Final Fantasy VII's coolest customer stars in this hybrid first-person shooter/action adventure. Read our first-hand account of the Japanese import and check out lots of new screens and video.

Vamp Antics That brooding FF7 antihero Vincent Valentine undertakes his first starring role in a new PS2 shooter.
Watch | Download

We were really surprised when Square Enix first unveiled Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII back in 2004. After all, this action adventure side story to the beloved 1997 role-playing classic was going to be all about one of Final Fantasy VII's least likely heroes. Vincent Valentine, with his perpetual scowl, flowing red cloak, multibarreled pistol, and clawed gauntlet, certainly was a memorable character. But you could also finish the entire game without ever encountering him.

At any rate, now he's getting his dues in what seems like an interesting and visually impressive action adventure game with first-person shooter elements and some role-playing twists. The surprises didn't stop as we delved into this game, which packs some unpredictable cameo appearances and features solid mouse-and-keyboard support for that precise PC-style shooter feel if you want it. There's also online multiplayer action to be had via Square Enix's somewhat convoluted PlayOnline service, but we couldn't resist diving headlong into the single-player story mode.

Well, actually, we tried out the tutorial first, which features an uncharacteristically well-kempt, suit-and-tie-wearing Vincent going through some training exercises. The tutorial teaches you the basics of running around, fighting hand-to-hand, and shooting at close, medium, and long ranges. You can also move from a crouched position, perform evasive tumbles, and easily use potions to restore health. You can also fire explosive shells that can damage multiple enemies at once and use various other special abilities...including Vincent's power to temporarily transform into an invincible, fire-spitting beast. Tough luck for the bad guys whenever you use this particular trick.

Vincent when he's happy.

While the visual style of Dirge of Cerberus is reminiscent of the Devil May Cry series, the gameplay itself is really quite different. The game can be played either from the default third-person viewpoint or like a first-person shooter, and you can seamlessly switch between the two perspectives. When you raise your weapon to attack by pressing R1, the third-person viewpoint changes to an over-the-shoulder angle that lets you aim pretty easily. Interestingly, the game also integrates an autoaim feature into the gameplay--you can ready your guns with a special scope that effectively widens your aim, allowing you to hit foes as long as they're anywhere near your targeting reticle. Overall, the game seems to control well, though we needed to adjust the default settings in the options menu in order to get comfortable.

The first-person-style controls work fine, but since you don't get to see your weapon onscreen that way, we opted for the more-visceral experience of seeing Vincent firing away as we fought. We also eagerly tested out the mouse-and-keyboard support, and were impressed to find that it worked very well. The default settings map movement to the WASD keys as is conventional in PC shooters, and the mouse buttons let you easily aim, fire, and pull off melee combos. Though this control scheme worked nicely, we went back to the gamepad for convenience's sake, since the standard controls are fine once you fiddle with the settings (by default, horizontal aiming is inverted for some reason, such that when you move the analog stick to the left, you look to the right).

Dirge of Cerberus features the stunning cinematic cutscenes you've come to expect from Square Enix. In the introductory cutscene, Vincent is on a mission with Final Fantasy VII's ninja girl Yuffie, and they're communicating by walkie talkie. Vincent seems on the verge of assassinating a target of opportunity, but something goes wrong and he's forced to flee--the mission apparently is a failure. Several years later, Vincent seems as sullen as ever all alone in a room while the town outside is celebrating some sort of festival.

Vincent when he's sad.

Suddenly some sort of paramilitary group swoops in and opens fire on the helpless citizens, then proceeds to capture whoever's still breathing. Vincent, a seasoned gunman, doesn't hesitate to fight back, which is where the action begins. You get to run around blasting enemy grunts and their weird robot dogs. Your foes don't put up a particularly good fight at first, but they have strength in numbers. You can take them out much more quickly if you aim for the head, and we appreciated how the shooter-style combat nevertheless had a role-playing feel to it, since damage numbers fly out whenever you blast a foe--red numbers if you score a critical hit.

Vincent's melee attacks are quite strong, but since most foes are armed, it's better to hang back and fire away. His gun emits a satisfying bang whenever you fire, and you can also customize it with different accessories and barrels that you'll find along the way. In practice, you end up with quite a variety of weapons, from a rapid-firing submachine gun to a powerful long-range rifle. And just when we started feeling a little smug about the difficulty level, the game threw a fairly tough boss fight at us in the form of a military chopper armed with a battery of rockets and heavy machine guns. There's not much cover to use against the withering hail of bullets, and the chopper doesn't have many weak points, so this fight definitely kept us on our feet.

Vincent when he's angry.

Though Dirge of Cerberus is an action game, it's got plenty of story sequences, and the story seems full of surprises. Early on, we met yet another familiar face from Final Fantasy VII (an animal face that doesn't belong to Red XIII, if you want a big hint), and the game also features an appearance by Japanese pop star Gackt (who incidentally was the inspiration for FFVIII's main character, Squall). We'll be curious to see if Gackt makes the cut for the US version of Dirge of Cerberus, which is coming this summer. The whole game looks good, so far. Cutscenes rendered using the game engine are frequent and impressively choreographed, offering up lots of shots of Vincent looking sullen or Vincent looking cool.

We're just starting to hit our stride with Dirge of Cerberus, so stay tuned for more info, without spoiling anything. For now, be sure to check out our new screens and videos showing off how Dirge of Cerberus finally shaped up. While it may sound like a strange spin-off of Final Fantasy VII, it does seem to recapture the same quasi-sci-fi feel that gave Square's role-playing classic its distinct identity and fantastic presentation.

Dragon Quest: Shounen Yangus to Fushigi no Dungeon will be coming out in Japan on the same date as FFXI's new expansion disc.

Square Enix announced today that its PlayStation 2 Dragon Quest VIII spin-off, Dragon Quest: Shounen Yangus to Fushigi no Dungeon, will be released in Japan on April 20. The game will be priced at 7,140 yen ($62). The date may look familiar to Square Enix fans--it's the same day that Final Fantasy XI's next expansion disc, Treasures of Aht Urhgan, hits stores.

Dragon Quest: Shounen Yangus to Fushigi no Dungeon follows DQVIII's Yangus through his childhood. Like previous releases in the Fushigi no Dungeon series, the game will feature randomly generated dungeon maps. Shounen Yangus to Fushigi no Dungeon has cartoonish 3D graphics, though it apparently uses a different graphics engine than Dragon Quest VIII. Trailers and screenshots can be checked out at the game's official site.

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.