Pryzm Chapter One: The Dark Unicorn

"20 bucks? Not quite worth it."

A buddy of mine last week bought me this game for my birthday. That is my excuse.

Graphics 6.5/10 - At first the graphics seem to be a highlight of the game. Everything is bright and colorful and the monsters seem to be fairly well thought out and designed. But after about 15 minutes of playing the game it starts to become apparent that for a playstation 2 game these a little bit below par.

Sound 3/10 - In the span of the first 10 minutes if you haven't already paused the game to find and hit the mute button you are sure to do so soon. There are only about 6-7 sound effects that you constantly hear, and the music is nothing to write home about. The talking between the grumpy troll and the unicorn becomes one of the worse parts about the game. It wouldn't have been as much of a problem if they rotated between more than 2 sayings at any one time. Throughout the game you will see how their speech progresses but for the pain that it will cause your ears to hear it, it is not worth the effort.

Story 5/10 - It is not an altogether entirely unique setting, the world is in chaos and we are sending you to save it, but in the first few scenes when the game opens, and when you begin a new game, they do a good job of getting you in the thick of things. You are supposed to get the different unicorns from the different lands and then use them together to complete a final showdown. But after they seem to give up on the story. When you forced to go talk to the elder unicorns they seem all but too speechless. And the cut scenes that you will see are short and almost pointless.

Challenge 8/10 - I don't want to make this game seem to hard or too easy. The levels, I have found, were very easy. There was about 1 trouble spot in each of the 4 worlds that you explore not including the boss. And these were easily overcome since you can't run out of lives and there is always a continue point close behind where you are that you are always teleported to. The bosses on the other had proved to be a lot more difficult. It took me a while to figure out how to actually hurt them. Compared to the rest of the game the bosses were ridiculous. I'm not sure who this game is intended for, but if you aren't great at video games then the bosses will be impossible for you, and if your a game-pro then the levels will be more than a waste of time.

Control 8/10 - I can't complain too much about the controls. There were a few different types of attack and the use of both of the analog sticks was a pleasant surprise but at times it becomes hard to zap in the exactly right direction, and it was impossible to turn while staying in one spot, which proves to be death-defying when you are walking along cliff edges. But for what it was designed to do as far as actions go, it did a good job.

Gameplay 4/10 - The game starts out as being fairly fun to play, but quickly loses its flavor. The only reason I finished the game was because I had gotten halfway through it and it was the only game I had to play at the time. It becomes repetitive beyond belief and at times it becomes frustrating winding you way backtracking through a level to get to your next destination. The camera is always behind you, and it never does lose you, which is a plus. But I can't stress enough the repetitiveness of this title.

Overall 4/10 - The idea for this game is both unique and overdone. Lately a lot of companies have started to expand their horizons as far as main-character-heroes are concerned. But with great titles out there in this genre (Jak and Daxter comes to mind) passing up this game won't kill you. If you want to give it a try I definitely recommend renting before you buy, you might be able to beat it in that time. It only took me about 6-7 hours, including the times that I died and restarted. I would assume a 20-dollar ps2 game to at least rate a 6/10. With the prices of PS1 games being as low as they are now, you could pick one of those up as well.

Rent it, or don't bother.

Reviewer's Score: 4/10, Originally Posted: 11/11/02, Updated 11/11/02