Final Fantasy VII: Dirge of Cerberus [PS2]

Dirge of Cerberus is the latest in a series of spin-offs from Final Fantasy VII, the PlayStation RPG that's considered by many to be one of the finest games ever made. It sees the return of FFVII bit-part player Vincent Valentine, famous for shooting guns, sulking, and hanging around in coffins. If that doesn't sound familiar to you, it's quite possible you missed him when playing through the original game -- he was an optional character. But now it's his turn in the limelight. He's back with his own game, a disappointingly pedestrian third/first-person shooter with strong Devil May Cry influences.

Dirge of Cerberus takes place three years after the conclusion of Final Fantasy VII, and you'll see many returning characters besides Vincent, all voiced by their respective actors from the Advent Children movie spin-off. The plot doesn't rival a Final Fantasy RPG, but does manage to haul itself above the usual standard we expect from action games -- we'll leave the details for you to discover.

Much as you'd expect from a Final Fantasy game, Cerberus's cutscenes are outstandingly good, bringing Vincent's flamboyant fighting style to life with real panache. It's sad, then, that this flair doesn't carry over to the actual game, and Vincent's in-game range of attacks and tactics is just the same as any other shooter -- circle-strafing, dodging behind cover, and so on -- rather than the exciting, acrobatic moves he pulls out in the cinematic. Vincent deserves a better treatment than this.

Pointing to one aspect of Cerberus' combat as the weak spot is difficult - it's a combination of factors that work together to bring it down. The auto-aiming system is vague, the close-up combat is awkward, and the game relies too often on sheer weight of numbers for its challenge rather than, you know, making you fight something with brains. Its remote-feeling controls and often-muddy graphics don't help. It's not just generic or uninspired; it's downright shoddy.

And then there's the staid level design. Again, it's not so disastrous that a strong battle system wouldn't have saved it, but the dull streets, cramped canyons, and sewers are hardly inspiring. Plodding around levels hunting for keycards is a gameplay mechanic that ought to have been abandoned by now, but it's alive and well in Cerberus. Looking back on FFVII's outstandingly imaginative sequences -- who can forget the scene where Cloud must dress up as a woman to get into a brothel? -- it's doubly disappointing Cerberus displays such little imagination.

Still, there's a vague, mechanical pleasure in cutting through the game's levels, and that's the only thing keeping it from a lower score. Most stages keep the objectives coming regularly, interspersing the combat and exploration with simple extra tasks -- protecting civilians, say -- and the occasional all-too-easy boss fight. The friendly save and item systems make dying a remote possibility, keeping the tone of the game fairly approachable, although it's likely action pros will find it a little too easy for their preferences.