Phantasy Star Online Episode III: C.A.R.D. Revolution

"A game of C.A.R.D.s? Sure, I'm game..."

Phantasy Star Online Episode III: C.A.R.D. Revolution. It's cool, this game is FAR more than I expected it to be. It has lots of action and combat, which is exactly my style. Although fun and enjoyable for hours on end, it wasn't really addictive as the truly good games are. PSO Ep. 1 and 2 was REALLY addictive. It was able to keep me up 2 nights straight trying to get past every trial thrown at me. This one? Not quite. Still great, but it doesn't quite measure up to its predecessor.

Game play- This game is easy to pick up and is lots of fun from start to finish. It's an enjoyable experience both on and offline. The P2P interaction is the best on the 'cube(though that really isn't saying much). The controls are a bit awkward at first, they were to me. But they are very easy to get used to. It can get a bit repetitive after a while, for example, in every game hearing that deep, droning voice..."Mooove." "Act." "Roll." Put those words in a boring voice. It can get bad. But in the big picture, it's not that hard to deal with.

Story- Now the story is about the size of the one in the previous game. It's very small and irrelevant. The story has very little impact on the actual game at all. Sad really, because the little bit of story that is in there could be broadened to such great widths and could become a dramatic epic tale of war, victory, conquering, defeat, and power. Really, though, the story line couldn't be any more pathetic.

Graphics and Sound Effects- The graphics and sound effects really did not impress me at all. There was no improvement at all from the previous game. In fact, I think that it was even worse than the other. Probably the only good point is the music where you are selecting your character, that violin-sounding theme. That's about as good as it gets with this. In fact, this portion alone may outline the entire overall rating of the game.

Play time/ replayability- Now, this being an online RPG, you really can't 'beat' the game, so it's replayability level is endless. Note the use of the word 'beat' is very flexible in this paragraph. The Play time could be whatever you make it. If you play online all the time you may never beat it at all, but playing offline you might be able to beat it in 3 hours, maybe a bit more if you really try hard. But when you finally do beat it, per say, it kind of loses its touch, and you may want to consider getting rid of it. Selling it, burning it, playing frisbee with it, using it for a paperweight, whatever. But it IS worth playing through at least once.

OVERALL...I'd say this game IS worth the money, but I think that if you can't play online you should just borrow it from a friend or get it used or something, because offline it really loses its fun fast. Online though, it's a whole world of challenge and entertainment. Go for it!

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 06/12/04