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Game Title: RWBY Grimm Eclipse
Platform: PlayStation 4
Developer: Rooster Teeth Games
Publisher: Rooster Teeth
Genre: Action Hack N Slash
Age Rating: PEGI: 12+
Release Date: 17th January 2017
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Game Score: 5.4/10
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Summery:
Justice wasn't swift enough, the game was kind of painful to go through and it wasn't delicious.
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So recently I have been watching an anime called RWBY and so far I am really enjoying the incredible fights and comical humour. I really enjoy the setting and the show's characters as well. Made by Rooster Teeth the same company that brought us Red VS Blue it is a really entertaining anime series from start to finish and gets more fun the more you watch it. This brings me on to a RWBY video game called RWBY Grimm Eclipse which originally came out as a fan made game which is then turned into a full release game. It came out originally for PC last year and now we see it for the PS4 and XBox One game consoles. With a concept that has melee weapons that can also be used as guns, plenty of impact explosions and plenty of comical moments would make for a brilliant game but sadly makes a poor transition.
RWBY's storyline featured characters who took on dozens of monsters called Grimm which overtake humanity. RWBY Grimm Eclipse supposedly takes place in between season 2 and season 3 where the Grimm are still wreaking havoc all over Beacon and there is a scientist named Merlot who is using the Grimm for his own deeds. The storyline doesn't do anything with the material aside from maybe a few funny lines from the characters but instead of any proper story build up the main game has players going through 10 chapters which involve going through some of the series known locations like Emerald Forest and Mountain Glen alone or online with friends. It does retain all the voices of the characters and they are enjoyable to listen to but however the campaign lasts only 2 hours which involve fighting dozens of enemies and picking up artifacts. There are a few decent sections like defending a control center and also delivering dust crystals to the cart in order to take down a bomb but the rest of the game is very repetitive and doesn't offer much in terms of gameplay.
RWBY Grimm Eclipse is a very average looking game, most of the details go to the main characters and enemy designs which all great just like they did in the show where as everything else looks bland and inconstant. Most of the areas are forests, mountains and a destroyed city disguised as generic corridors. The game has a minor RMG aspect where you get a set of enemies to fight against and get a different set if you that part again and one where the game wants you to go but it is not that interesting. The attack animations are decent and the explosions are alright but however explosions don't seem to play out if an enemy is at long ranges which is rather odd. There are some graphical glitches where shading textures seem to flicker and you will see plenty of graphical pop in here and there which is very off putting. The soundtrack features tunes obviously from the show and it does suit the game really well as well as the sound effects.
Of all the modes in the game Horde Mode is the best thing that this game has going for it. In Horde Mode you and 3 other players defend the control stations for a set number of waves. You use Lien earned from defeating enemies to build turrets to help you defend the control stations and later waves will force you to defend multiple stations. It's a decent mode if you learn to utilise team work with other players.
The combat is also decent I guess, each of the characters has their own Light, Heavy and Range attack cause to quote Ruby Rose for a moment “It's also a gun!” Light and Heavy attacks can be combined together and some attacks work well against certain enemies. Range attacks are useful against enemies at long ranges and you can hold the heavy attack button to increase the power of a heavy attack. You can also stun enemies which can also at times set up for a team attack which can deal massive damage if not kill all the weak enemies instantly. You can also use a counter attack if timed well which can be useful against larger crowds of enemies and you do also have the ultimate attack which can attack multiple enemies. The combat has some decent depth but however there are some things that does hold it back, for starters is the enemy AI where plenty of times they would block and easily counter you and also some enemies don't get staggered with they actually take damage. This can often cause the enemies to easily get the drop on you and it wouldn't be bad if it wasn't for the hit detection where I swear some of the special attacks literally pass through enemies and deal no damage even though that they are within the attack range.
Defeating enemies and collecting artifacts earns experience points and level ups and when levelled up you can use an upgrade point to upgrade one of your character's abilities. Like I said every character has their own abilities and some of the abilities or skills either has a requirement for unlocking or has a point limit. These could be improved attacks, larger health bar and also allowing you to use ultimate attack multiple times. Only thing though is that the max level you can have for a character is 10 and there is no real actual RPG advancement what-so-ever. Also because of it that you only have a certain amount of upgrade to upgrade your character's abilities with which does lead to hard decisions.
Once you do unlock your character's levels the game does become easier but you will still die quite a bit against some of the tough enemies if you are playing solo. The game uses a Health system similar to Halo and Gears of War where your Health or Aura as it is called in RWBY recharges if you avoid taking damage for a few seconds and this will happen because some of the enemy attacks can deplete the Aura meter within only a few hits.
Once you beat the main campaign there is harder settings if you want to punish yourself and of course go online with friends on the Story or Horde Modes. You can play the game one of Team RWBY or as Team JNPR by downloading the DLC and lastly you can do some of the various challenges and unlock some of the achievements. Even with that the content for RWBY Grimm Eclipse is light and you can see what the game has to offer in only a few hours which makes the game difficult to recommend at it's price on PlayStation Store. There some enjoyable moments in the game but the campaign is short and the game suffers with some graphical and gameplay glitches. I should point out that the game was made by one man before being taken by Rooster Teeth but they should have had more time to polish the game and give the game improved content. As it is Justice wasn't swift enough, the game was kind of painful to go through and it wasn't delicious but at the very least it's better then a few Anime licensed games that have come out recently and at least it is better then the PSOne Beyblade video game.
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The Good Points:
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1. Horde Mode is entertaining with friends
2. Combat has some decent depth
The Bad Points:
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1. Short Campaign and weak storyline
2. Plenty of graphical and gameplay glitches
3. Very minimal levelling
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Reviewed by: Anthony Hayball (AQWBlaZer91)
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