Drakengard [PS2]

Here's the deal. You hate dragons. You also hate the empire that's been sacking your kingdom. In particular, you hate the chump who's brought you to the brink of death with a sword in the back, forcing you to make a pact with a dragon (who you hate, remember) in order to survive. Such is the tale of a boy and his dragon in Square Enix's action epic Drakengard. It builds on what should have been a no-loss proposition, grafting the endless melee of Dynasty Warriors to the majestic dragon-flight of Panzer Dragoon. Too bad the resulting beast is more Frankenstein monster than anything else.

The buzzword is combat, and lots of it. The hero, Caim, splits time between riding dragons and surfing Birkenstocks, but fighting is essentially the same no matter where it happens. Chain basic attacks together to rack up huge combo numbers and bonuses. Special attacks are available based on weapon selection or experience level. In any case, the specials provide a typical burst of extra firepower to clear the air.

That said, most of Drakengard is played in Caim's blood-soaked shoes. Roam large levels packed with Empire forces, none of which seem to come alive except when Caim is near. Hack through squad after squad to reach targeted leaders, who conveniently bear large identifying markers. The weapon selection is impressive, with swords long and short, axes and varied pole arms, all of which are fairly well balanced for speed and damage. Equip eight at once, and as each blade soaks up kills it becomes more powerful. Improvements include longer combos, heavier damage ratios, and more powerful special attacks.

Don't be worried if the Dynasty Warriors flashbacks have already begun -- you're not alone. But Drakengard doesn't bring anything new to the table, and in fact represents a step back from the considerable polish of Koei's series.

Though Caim is a nice enough model, the graphics are rudimentary by PlayStation 2 standards, even with a horde of onscreen combatants. Bonuses and special attacks have little of the glory typically found in Square's titles, and dense fog obscures the environments, which don't look good even when the mist clears. Any aesthetic issues pale next to the lack of variation in combat; the endless skirmishes will please only the most experience point-addled players.

Things start to perk up when Caim is between the bony shoulders of his dragon. Combat is the basic standard/special attack plan, but an auto-target option makes room for a fire-and-forget mentality. Enemies come from all directions, swirling around in great formations and the screen lights up with flame and weapons fire. But that auto-target, which seems so nice at first, reduces every fight to mindless tedium. Anyone can win a dogfight by simply circling and strafing long enough for every attacker to pass through those auto-lock sights. Skill rarely comes into play, and you'll have more fun firing up a Jane's flight simulation from 1997.

As an inspired go-between linking the otherwise disparate halves, strafing missions see Caim cruising at low altitude, urging the dragon to fling fire at all those Empire ground troops. Dismount at the push of a button to personally tackle a few crews, and then get back on the lizard for more armored hors d'ourves. But here the PS2's insides finally start to smoke, and framerate slowdown badly hampers some of the flybys. Still, it's a great idea that could be refined into something much better.

Though many story breaks are dropped between skirmishes, Drakengard wears out its welcome quickly. The story is convoluted but not particularly interesting, and the spoken dialogue gets irritating quickly. Straight progression isn't really possible, either, because moving forward proves difficult without re-tackling missions in the exploration mode to beef up your weapons.

It's easy to see how Drakengard could have gone over really well, which makes the effort even more disappointing. The formula has merit, but if Square expects to launch a dynasty, it should have escorted the game out the door armed with more than a white belt and Etch-A-Sketch graphics engine. It's a common first time mistake that you just don't expect from Square. Perhaps everyone needs one failed dragon game on the resume, but we definitely don't want to play them.