EOE: Eve of Extinction

"Eve of Excrement"

As a fan and student of bojutsu, I was very excited to see a game in which there was some real stick fighting. And I have to admit I was fairly impressed with the rod-bashing aspect of the game. However there are some very serious issues which prevent Eve of Extinction from becoming a smash-hit videogame.

STORY. 2/10
The word 'ludicrous' comes to mind. You play as Josh, ex-worker for 'bio-genetic' corporation, Wisdom. I dont know what bio-genetic is supposed to mean - its not exaclty possible for genetics to be isolated from biology - and I dont know what genetics has to do with what happens to your girlfriend; as a result of one of Wisdom's 'bio-genetic' experiments, she turns into a light-sabre like weapon. (WHAT DOES THAT HAVE TO DO WITH GENETICS?) Anyway, Wisdom wants to take over the world etc etc you have to stop them. During the game the story doesnt develop much as one might expect from this ridiculous premise and really doesnt play a part in the gameplay.

GAMEPLAY 3/10
After the first battle I questioned whether I should continue playing. There seemed to be a certain lack of gravity when the character jumped which I found quite displeasing. Fights were also repetitive and slow. Using the bo provided me with some joy, but after a while the game just got repetitive and boring... and in some places stupidly difficult. Also the camera was a nightmare which further hindered the gameplay.

One aspect I did enjoy was the semi-interactive CG cutscenes. During some of the CGs, a picture of a button would randomly appear on the screen, and the outcome of the movie would depend on you pressing the corresponding button in time. This is quite interesting and I'm sure we will start to see this exploited in time.

GRAPHICS. 6.5/10
In general, the graphics are not overly impressive in terms of PS2 capability. The environments are bare, and the characters lack attention to detail (and the chicks arent even hot). However there are some very nice Matrix style effects, especially during battles.

CONTROLS 7.5/10
The controls are a little confusing to start off with, but take no time getting used to. L1 and R1 are used to change weapons during combat, allowing some spectacular combos. Square is jump and attacks are X and circle. Used to having either the combination of triangle + circle or square + X as attacks, I found myself accidentally jumping off buildings to my death (several times) after going to attack someone but pressing square. This was fairly annoying to say the least.

SOUND. 3/10
The sound effects are very average. When the character jumps he makes a noise somewhat resembling someone dropping a sack of potatoes. And thats not when hes landing - its when hes taking off. Now, I am fairly certain that when people lift their feet off the ground in a jumping motion they dont make that noise. There also are some parts where there are no sound effects where there should be. For example, when using the bo in a fight, often the only reason you know whether you've struck someone or not is the fact that they go flying across the room. When you strike them there is no sound effect which is very dry. When I strike someone with a large stick, I expect to hear the thud of wood cracking a skull, or the muffled 'oomph' as I ram the end of the bo into their stomach (and I'm not just talking about in video games here folks). Also, every minute (or more frequently) your annoying girlfriend talks to you and tells you what to do. Her voice is really annoying and this kind of nagging is just what I play videogames to avoid. Having said these negative things, there are also some aspects of the sound that are good/not annoying. For example, the music isnt bad. It is kind of reminiscent of Devil May Cry, where the music gets more intense as you approach enemies.

OVERALL, this game demonstrates some promising and innovative signs in its gameplay, but it seems to lack a certain quality which I like to refer to as "excitement." Barely worth checking out: 3/10

Reviewer's Score: 3/10, Originally Posted: 01/17/07