Shifters

"One incredibly bad sequel"

''Shifters'' is the uninspired sequel to ''Warriors of Might and Magic'', which I found to be a very good game, but, alas, the same can not be said for this dreadful remake. This game is a step down in every respect from the original.

GRAPHICS: 7/10 The graphics are nice, with some amazing shadows, but the original game was even better. Nevertheless, if the entire game had been on this level, it could have been something, instead of the nothing it is.

SOUND/MUSIC: 7/10 The only other good thing about this game, though, again, the original was better. The music is very nice, while sound effects are decent.

CAMERA/CONTROL: 7/10 Well, okay, the camera is really pretty good as long as you don't use the right stick to look around, but even if you do, a quick push in of the right stick button gets every thing back in place. Controls are adequate, but not jumping, which is pretty bad, but not done very often.

GAMEPLAY: 2/10 Talk about boring, this game is just a simple hack and slash, period. There are quests, but they are mostly automatic, and you need not do any of them. You go from a to b and that's it, no puzzle solving, nothing like in the original. Shifting, forget about it, it is not only not required, but not worth doing. You don't even need to fight enemies, just run around them, the only ones you really have to fight are the three bosses, and they are just like the others, just hit till they die.

DIFFICULTY: Very Easy There are three levels of difficulty, but they are all very easy. On medium, you never even need to use potions or spells, and you will never have a need to spend money either.

VALUE: 1/10 I have not written a review here for a while, so let me say that I hate short games. Since this game is only $29.99, I would be more lenient with the grade if it required any length of time to finish, or had any kind of replay value. Since quests completion is not required, this game can easily be finished in under 5 hours. Supposedly there are over 30 levels, yeah right, there are actually only 5. As for replaying as different forms, you probably wouldn't want to, which is good, since you can't. When you beat the final boss, it doesn't automatically save, but takes you back to the start screen, so if you restart from the beginning by selecting new game, you will have no forms to choose from.

FINAL COMMENTS: I liked the original so much, that I heard from the game developer about my positive review. This game is by 3DO, who just cranks out Army Men games by the truck load, so I thought it a very positive thing that this game was about a year late being released. The developer told me they were really proud of this game, well I wonder why. Guess I won't be hearing from him this time. This game was released in Europe first, several months ago, and is in short supply over here, in fact, I doubt you could rent it, and you surely do not want to buy it. It really isn't that the game is so bad, but it could have been so much more.

Reviewer's Score: 3/10, Originally Posted: 07/11/02, Updated 07/11/02