We Review |
Farscape: The Game
Written by: Kage
Alan
Game
Rating:
B-
Considering that I'm still in mourning over Farscape's cancellation
from the
Sci-Fi Channel, I just couldn't help myself from reviewing the tie-in
to my
favorite show. It's also the first game I'm reviewing, so please
be patient
with me. For those of you who are familiar with the show, the
timeline for
the game falls during the first season. For those of you who
aren't, go rent
the DVDs. Now, onto the plot.
Those pesky PeaceKeepers have found Moya (the Leviathan ship) and
engaged her in combat. Crichton and Chiana escape in a Prowler
only to be shot down over a desert planet while D'Argo and Aeryn are
taken prisoner. The ever-elusive Rygel has yet to be caught, but
he's still somewhere on Moya and nobody seems to have any idea where
Zhaan is. What's the group to do? Well, grab your favorite
pulse pistol and get ready to brave the elements!
The majority of the game is played on the planet as Crichton and
Chiana must
find a settlement and arrange for their prowler to be repaired.
That's no
easy task, though, because the locals are under siege from bandits and
guess
whose job it is to help the townspeople out with every single little
task?
Yep. There's plenty of hostile wildlife in the desert as well,
but
thankfully they leave behind hides that can be traded in town for
ammunition
and additional weapons. Believe me, you'll want to upgrade.
Aside from the action on the planet, you'll help Rygel escape to the
surface
as well as guide D'Argo and Aeryn as they take on the hostile forces
invading
Moya. The characters are all voiced by the original actors and
there are a
couple of wonderful nods to the show itself, like how Crichton comes
to name
his pulse pistol Winona. Figuring out where you want to go isn't
difficult
since your target area is lit up on the radar screen or an arrow
points you
in the right direction. This may be too simple for serious
gamers, but for
people like myself, it was helpful.
Unfortunately, while you can adjust the angle by which you see your
surroundings, there are times when the view is obscured no matter how
you set
it and there are enemies shooting at you. Furthermore, even
though you are
handling up to three characters at a time, the ones you aren't
controlling
have a tendency to wander off and get the crap kicked out of them.
There are
ways to finesse this problem, but it takes time to learn. There
never seems
to be enough ammunition on hand either. The biggest problem with
Farscape:
The Game, though, is that some of the characters are barely used.
D'Argo is
seen for only one act while Aeryn is pivotal only at the very end.
The
creators of the game didn't give Zhaan much of a reason to stick
around
either, which is a true pity.
Farscape: The Game feels more like a steppingstone than an actual
finished
product. The end is fairly anti-climactic and there aren't any
truly
unexpected surprises, so perhaps the programmers will learn from this
release
and improve on it for future games. I do truly hope that this
isn't to be
the only Farscape game, especially since there is so much unexplored
territory yet to be covered. We can hope.
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