Vexx
Score: 65% ESRB: Teen Publisher: Acclaim Developer: Acclaim Media: DVD/1 Players: 1 Genre: Miscellaneous
Graphics & Sound: 2002 saw an explosion in platformers. So much so that many members of the game community named it the 'Year of the Platformer'. While it still remains to be seen if 2003 will see an even bigger boost, it's already clear that last year wasn't just a freak accident. Vexx is the first of 2003's crop of platformers, and while it doesn't break any new ground for the genre, it still manages to provide a fun adventure. Visually, Vexx looks great - but at the same time doesn't offer anything new. Colors are used really well and do an excellent job of conveying that particular level's mood. However, there are a few instances where the 'mood lighting' is a little too good, resulting in areas that are too dark, and hard to see in. I was particularly impressed by the sky effects, which showed neat transition between day and night. The individual character animations are very good, but I did notice a few minor drops in the frame rate. The texture work is nice and lends themselves well to the game's quirky character designs and levels. The sound effects are generally good, even if they are a little sparse at times. Ambient sounds are present, but kept to a minimum at times and, just like Vexx's voice work, are kept straight and too the point. Even though the game doesn't waste time with fluff, what's here is good and blends well with the game. The soundtrack is good, although I personally found a few of the tracks a tad annoying.
Gameplay: The game opens in the happy land of Astara. The people of Astara begin dabbling in technology and unlock the Shadow Realm - a clear invitation for trouble. This opens Astara to attack from the Shadow Wraiths, and were it not for Trevyn and the Ashanti War Talons, all would have been lost. Knowing that the Wraiths may return, and wanting to keep the Talons from falling into the wrong hands, Trevyn seals them in the Stone of Astara. One hundred years later the last of the Shadow Wraiths, Dark Yabu, appears again to finish what he started. After the death of his grandfather during Yabu's attacks, Vexx - armed with the Talons - sets out for revenge. To be perfectly honest, this is one of the few times that the story makes any coherent sense. During the rest of the game, the story unfolds during cut scenes, which happen without warning, and at the strangest times. The short and long of Vexx is that it's a platformer - there's really no other way to say it. As I played though Vexx's adventure, I couldn't help but to be reminded of nearly every other platformer I have ever played. While this may seem like a good thing on paper, the execution isn't as well developed. >From a gameplay perspective, Vexx owes much of its design to Super Mario Sunshine. You begin the game in a Rift Hub, which leads to different levels. Each level contains 8-10 challenges which must be completed in order to collect hearts. Each of the game's levels is varied, although they seem to lack the fluidity found in recent platformers such as Ratchet and Clank. The large part of this disorganization of level layout can be seen in the game's use of an overhead arrow to show players where to go. Had the game's worlds been larger I could see this being useful, but then again, the large worlds of Jakk and Daxter didn't use an arrow for navigation.
Difficulty: Vexx offers a nice challenge, but never seems to give players enough time to get used to the game's mechanics. Within the first ten to twenty minutes of the game, I died numerous times simply because the game ramped the difficulty level beyond my understanding of the game. I also found that a few technical glitches made Vexx harder than it had to be - such as the previously mentioned 'too dark' areas where I simply couldn't see anything around me.
Game Mechanics: I'll give Vexx one thing - he certainly has a lot of moves. Of course, they aren't the most well executed, but there's still a lot to learn. Aside from the standard attacks, jumps, and climbing - Vexx also has the ability to juggle enemies via a pretty neat little uppercut move. The added bonus of using this move is that juggling enemies long enough rewards you with an extra life as well as a nice boost to your 'Frenzy Meter' - which not only boost Vexx's basic attacks, but also gives him access to the Talon Blast and Talon Dash techniques. Overall Vexx is an enjoyable platformer, but when compared to the number of already excellent platformers out there, Vexx doesn't offer much.
-Starscream, GameVortex Communications AKA Ricky Tucker
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