Galerians: Ash

"Welcome to Hell."

When comes to strange games that try to blend a mixture of role-playing elements and action into one title, you have something of a quandary as to which of the two that it’s going to turn out to be. In Galerians: Ash, you have neither of those things and end up tilting your head at the screen as to wonder why you just waste a few hours of your life on a game with no purpose. The presentation of the game is top notch in the way that it looks and sounds, but there is something missing from the overall experience in the way of fun and actual game play. Once you’ve driven yourself to brink of madness and look to your left you’ll read a sign that says you’re leaving reality to play a game with no meaning and that game is Galerians.

The story that unfolds before you actually takes place in another game previous to this sequel and that story really didn’t make all that much sense to begin with. You find yourself in a military complex, the product of scientific experiments and a mishandling of scientific knowledge. Your character, Rion, is not your standard hero, but rather has an inane ability to do things with his mind that can cause serious harm and damage to those he projects these skills on. As the story progresses, you go from strange to non-sensical in the way that the plot keeps twisting and turning, ultimately leaving you to wonder just what in the hell was happening during the entire time you’ve been playing.

What you find as far as game play mechanics is something that might make you wonder why a game is pushing the use of mind-altering drugs on your character. In the case of Rion, the only way to get his powers to work is to inject himself with drugs that allow him to take full advantage of his psionic powers to attack his enemies. In the process though, you have to watch a meter that tells you when the addiction to the drug is getting a little too much for the poor boy to handle. What you’ll find is that these powers are used in strange ways and there are very few points to really use them at, which might lead you to think that there is hardly anything to the game other than to finish it.

For the most part, you’ll do plenty of aimless wandering in between floors and look for enemies to go up against. As you progress through the stages, you’ll find the occasional enemy that you can use your powers against and hopefully you won’t get your ass kicked in the process. There are boss characters in the game, but the twist about this title is that it seems your only purpose is to solve a few of the minor puzzles in the game and then fight a large boss that requires a little bit of pattern strategy. When I think of an action game, I think of games that allow you to hurt as many things on the screen as possible, but with a wide array of weapons instead of just a few scattered enemies and then your mind powers to make them hurt.

Moving Rion through his little world doesn’t require a masters in physics, but rather a good understanding of how to work with the item selection and the movement of the character on the screen. While most of the item management is menu driven, there are points where you might have search a little bit to find the item that you’re looking for. One of the key elements to the game that is both a blessing and a curse is that you don’t have a ton of weapons to fiddle with and it requires only a button press and a lock on in order to attack your enemies. Aside from that, anyone can pick the game up and play with little or no instruction aside from knowing what buttons perform what functions.

The best part of the game is the only part of the game that is well worth taking note of. You’ll find that Rion has a world that is very large and very dark, but also well detailed and designed to give you a type of Tech-Noir feel to it that makes it slightly unique. Some of the special effects from you using your mind powers is really done quite well and there isn’t much that you can gripe about other than the lack of enemies. The camera angle also works in your favor for the most part and there aren’t too many problems with the battles as the camera scrolls for you in the right way. Considering that you’re weighing the lack of game play against the excellent visuals, it seems to turn out to be a pleasant looking experience anyway.

While I really can’t comment on the musical score that Galerians had to offer, I can say that the sound effects and voice clips were average for the duration of the game. Each of the attacks that you perform had a certain sound to them and really did bring the theme of your powers to life in various ways. However, there was one problem that I found in the voice acting and that was that the characters in the game seemed to be extremely upbeat about their situation, no matter what was going on. To sum it up, why in the hell would you be so happy about being trapped in a large building with monsters and having to shoot up with drugs in order to kill them?

Galerians: Ash isn’t your normal action game and it could almost be considered a survival horror game if you’re looking at it from that point of view. With a lack of true weapons and even enemies that have no real reason for being there other than having to occupy space to make your life hell, the only horror you’ll have to survive is constant boredom. If you’re looking for a game that is off the beaten track, then you need not look any further than this title. A weekend rental will more than likely suit your needs however, because the game is only about ten or so hours long and there isn’t anything new to see once you’ve been through it the first time.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 03/19/03, Updated 03/19/03