Vexx

"I waited a year for this..."

Vexx was a game that was released on February 10th, 2003. It was supposed to be a "revolutionary new franchise", but unfortunately failed at being any of these three words.

Sometime early in 2002, I was just browsing the Nintendo web-site and I happened upon this really cool looking advertisement for the game Vexx. I did some research and found it was to come out in November. I was obsessed. I needed the game. Finally, on whatever day it was in November I went to Best Buy to get myself a copy of the game that it seemed I had waited forever for. I feverishly searched the shelves to no avail. I gave up and asked an employee about the game, his reply was "Vexx?? Never heard of it. Let me check the computer." At this point I still had a small amount of hope left in my person. That hope was crushed about 30 seconds later.

When I got home I searched the release date, "FEBRUARY 10TH" I yelled at the top of my tiny lungs. I was disappointed, but I had this gut instinct that Vexx would be worth the wait. I was wrong.

Graphics-7
I decided to start with the game's greatest strength. The graphics were the reason that I was attracted to Vexx in the first place. The stages were pretty and the characters well done, for the time, they were pretty spectacular. The monsters are kind of bland, they were not remarkably well done now that I think about it. But by today's standards, the graphics are not all that great.

Controls-1
Now don't get me wrong here, the controls in general were just fine, but the camera was a different story. The angles are horrible, and it handles almost as well as a tank. In fact it's kind of like trying to steer Jell-O. It is so bad, that it hinders your progress in the game sometimes, as once I was trying to go across a narrow bridge and it was nearly impossible to get across because the camera angle was so bad.

Story-2
The story was trite at best, "Dark Yabu", the game's main baddie, kills your grandfather and you're out for revenge. No plot twists or anything else to make it memorable.

Gameplay-3
The gameplay was just like Mario 64, which is why the game was not revolutionary or new. You go, do different challenges in different settings and get "Wraith Hearts" rather than Stars when you win. One thing that was somewhat cool and different than Mario 64 was that when you filled up the meter on the top of your screen you could do a power move.

Sound-4
The music kind of sucked but it was better than some of the game's other features (like the camera), some spots it was good some it was really bad. Nothing's so bad though that you would want to shut the game off or anything, but still, I waited a year for this game.

Replayability-2
Why you would replay this game, I don't know. You play through once and you've seen it all, no new challenges, no further understanding of the game, just bragging rights.

Now some of the scores in this review were pretty low. I know. But, really I made this review was to make a point. If you are a hardcore platformer, there is a chance you'll like the game. But for a normal gamer I'd recommend shying away. For my year's wait, I felt ripped off.

Reviewer's Score: 2/10, Originally Posted: 11/22/06