3RRDC Maken X

Another strange game for you Dreamcast fans out there. Maken X, a
game where you play the role of an intelligent sword, who can hack
into other people brains, and control their bodies. Obviously with such
a cool premise, the Orochi one decided to check it out. Is there more
to this game then a cool idea? Will it satisfy your thirst for more M
rated violence? Will it be fun? I've sharpened my blade to get you the
scary results straight from Atlus and Sega!

The story is an interesting one, although a bit confusing. Scientific
research has led to the discovery of a human's "psi". This is kinda like
what you would call your spirit or soul. There was this research team in
Japan that made a sword with advanced A.I. that could extract a
person's psi and modify it. That sword is Maken (or whatever you want
to call it in the beginning of the game). Hiro Sagami, the leader of this
science team, is kidnapped, leaving his daughter Kay with Maken.
Maken hacks into Kay, and soon you begin an adventure spanning the
globe, hacking into various characters along the way and controlling
their bodies. Disasters are occurring all over the world, and U.S. and
China are on the brink of war. Behind all this you will find two groups.
The "good" Blademasters, and the "bad"Sangokai. Can you get to the
bottom of this psychic mystery? As I said, an interesting story with a
lot going on! Seeing how everything would unfold kept me going in the
game, so it was effective.

Ok to begin with this is a first person game. You go around killing
things. Not with a gun, but with a sword, so that makes it interesting.
Attacking is kinda limited. You can slice once, a few times, charge up
for a special attack, or jump and slash. That's it. You can lock on to
your foes as well. So basically you gotta slash your way through freaks
to get to the end of the stage. Simple gameplay, but a few puzzles are
thrown in to keep you paying attention. It's fun though, and easy
enough at the beginning. There seems to be a lot of healing capsules
at the start of the game.

The game is divided in 3 sections. Event, Action, and world map. Event
scenes are just cut scenes. In the beginning of the game they pop up
rather frequently. In some you are given choices that affect the
outcome of the story. Action scenes are the actual levels. There are
also characters you can find here that will affect the outcome of the
story. Then there's world map. Here you can choose what level you
wish to go to next, along with saving your game, viewing data on
characters, and such.

Whoa the story can branch? You betcha. Some of the levels have
skilled bladematers and other characters that you can either fight, or
just plain take over. Sometimes they give you questions that you can
answer that will affect the story. Depending on who you brainjack and
when, the story will also take different routes. (ex: someone in a cell
will only talk to you if you are a certain character. Then you will go
somewhere else in the world.) This is a very cool feature.

But you can't just take over their bodies. No you gotta have enough
psi. How you gonna get that? Simple, by killing bad guys, most of them
release little psi orbs. Touching those increases you psi meter (which
rises in levels). So if you have level 5 psi, you will be able to take over
the level 5 character. A lot of times I found myself going back to earlier
levels to kill more bad guys to get more psi. There are 13 characters in
the game you can brainjack, or control. They are in the 20 levels in this
game.

The graphics get the job done. Nothing wrong, but nothing jaw
dropping. Enemies are interesting. They range from Gangster moth
men, to axe wielding giant maniacs. The playable characters are also
very different. From schoolgirl Kay, to people from India, China, and
more, the cast truly does span the globe. The levels are hit and miss.
Some just have more detail and look better then others. But with all
the different cultural locations (Greece, America, Russia, etc.) you
know that the levels will all have their own style.

The sound. Hmm, well the voice acting was memorable. That's
because we had actors from Illbleed and Blue stinger doing voices.
(Scientist Anne and Peter I think are Jan-ice and Eliot from blue
stinger). The music is your standard techno-rock dish that like most of
the genre has nothing wrong with it, but nothing really going for it. I
wanted some scarier music but there's none here. In the cutscenes, as
in Illbleed, character's mouths do not move. Well except for the ones
with Kay in some psychic dimension. But this isn't a problem and
doesn't take much from the game. The back of the case boasts
"revolutionary sound system", but that's if you got the system. Me I
just have stereo on my TV, so I can't comment on how "revolutionary"
it is.

Replay is strong with this one. There are 7 different endings you can
come to depending on your choices you made in the game and who
you brainjacked. My first time through was about, oh 5 hours, with trial
and error. The game can get frustratingly difficult in some of the later
levels. Then you will rather just run from enemies to the exit, instead of
killing them. There are no save points in levels. Get killed by a boss and
get ready to play the whole thing over again. But honestly, I can't
remember a level that was longer then 15 minutes. The bosses can
also be cheap if you're not using a good character.

If I have one gripe, it's that I was a little disappointed in the content of
the game. When I buy an M rated game like this, I'm hoping for bloody
spills and spooky chills. I saw 1 scene of blood, and that was at the
very beginning, and the blood looked horrible (maybe there's more
depending on what path you go). I was scared only once, when I turned
around and found myself face to face with an enemy in a room where I
thought I already killed everyone. Why is this rated M? It lists animated
violence. There is only minimal swearing. But I guess the violence and
nature of the game is just too up close and personal. I just want a little
gore. All those sharp objects and not one scene of impalement. So if
you're looking for blood look elsewhere. But if you're looking for a
deeper psychological game that is story driven, this is for you.

So is Maken X a good game? With a difficulty that gets too hard to
soon, some bland levels and sound, and little gore, I still will say yes.
Above all else, it is a fun game to play mainly to see what will happen
next in the story and who you will brainjack. I bought it new at Toys R'
Us for 10 bucks, and that was a very fair price. The replay value helps
the game significantly (I still haven't seen all 20 levels). Just be ready
to die many times at the hands of cheap freaks, and you might have to
consult a guide to know what to do next. But the story and characters
are in the right place (most of the game is actually) so when you've got
some cash pick Maken X up. I mean c'mon the main character is a
sword (with eyes and mouth). Probably I'd say, the coolest sword since
the soul calibur itself. How cool is that? Answer: very cool.

Reveiw by: Orochi Sonic