Project Sylpheed
Score: 75% ESRB: Teen Publisher: Square Enix Developer: Game Arts Media: DVD/1 Players: 1 Genre: Shooter/ Flight
Graphics & Sound: There was a time in the 90's where space shooters made up an impressive sized chunk of the games being released. A majority of these games showed up on the PC, though one or two found their way on consoles in one form or another. Since then, the genre has remained rather dormant, with a few sometimes finding their way to the PC. Project Sylpheed is Square Enix and Game Art's attempt at bringing the genre to consoles and a new audience. As far as presentation, Project Sylpheed has a real anime feel. Story sequences have a quick pacing and manage to squeeze in a fair amount of character detail and story in a short amount of time. The story is pretty standard and filled with cookie-cutter characters, though both are entertaining and keep things moving forward. Ships and characters share a number of these same anime influences. The large capital ships and space stations you come across have an almost impractical feel, yet they fit within the game world perfectly. The same goes for the smaller ships; although the most you are likely to see of these ships is a small blip designated by a targeting box or the smoke trail of a missile. Musical themes are just as big as the capital ships and space stations, though the voicework has issues. Like the story, it does a serviceable job, though it doesn't shine.
Gameplay: Project Sylpheed is a space-based shooter in the vein of Wing Commander. Playing as a rookie pilot, you are thrown into missions set against the backdrop of a galactic civil war. Your space fighter is equipped with a number of weapons that can be upgraded with points earned during missions. You begin with a light assortment of basic weapons, though you can research and purchase new weapons between missions. Light machine guns can be upgraded to heavy machine guns or lasers while various missile upgrades include tracking and power upgrades. The ability to purchase upgrades and the upgrades themselves share a bit of a circular relationship. Your performance in missions determines how many points you earn to spend on upgrades; at the same time, your performance in some missions depends on the types of weapons you've equipped - so expect to replay missions if you want to max out your ship's weapon capabilities. Although weapon types alter how you tackle missions, the impact isn't quite as big if you're just playing to complete missions and not earn every weapon or earn all of the available Achievements. I typically stuck with a swivel-mounted machine gun that made it easy to target close-by targets while I relied mostly on my multi-targeting missiles to clear out groups of fighters (which is an oddly rewarding experience). In addition to missiles, lasers and other standard weapons, your ship can also pull off a variety of special attacks, like raising your shields or charging through ships at high speed.
Difficulty: Mission structure is one of Project Sylpheed's two major weaknesses. Every mission revolves around one or two primary goals, but also features a few secondary ones. Although your primary goal is spelled out clearly in a pre-mission briefing, it is often difficult to discern what your goal is once in mission. Secondary goals are even harder to figure out and will sometimes require that you quickly run from one area to another with no direction. A small HUD gives you a basic idea of where things are, though it is hard to discern where you should focus your attention. The HUD can be enlarged, though it doesn't become any more useful.
Game Mechanics: During battles, you can also issue orders to your wingmen by using the D-pad. The A.I. is generally pretty good about doing what they are told, though there were times where I really couldn't tell how much of a help they were. In fact, there were a number of missions where I completely forgot about the ability to order wingmen - so it really isn't something you have to do. The same goes for restocking weapons. At any time, you can fly back to a friendly carrier and reload your supply of weapons, though I only remember needing to do so in a handful of missions. Despite the number of control schemes available, controls are a shaky area for Project Sylpheed. Every scheme has its own issues, though the most common one is due to our lack of fingers or an extra hand. Even when using the basic setup (which is the one I used) I found it hard to reach and hit all of the buttons I needed to. Although it isn't something that will make the game impossible to play, there are times where missions are harder than they should be because of the controls. Project Sylpheed is impressive if only because it is a rarity. Games like this don't come around often, especially on consoles, so if you are a fan of the genre, you'll be able to overlook the game's major flaws. If you don't count yourself among this group, much of the appeal is lost, making Project Sylpheed something to pass on.
-Starscream, GameVortex Communications AKA Ricky Tucker
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