Fullmetal Alchemist and the Broken Angel

"Equivalent Exchange: A good finale -- hours of plodding gameplay"

By now, if you've followed any anime at all you know what FullMetal Alchemist is. A hit series on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim, FullMetal Alchemist is loved by critics and fans alike. FullMetal Alchemist tells the tale of Edward and Alphonse Elric, brothers who are working to correct the grave mistake they made when they tried to resurrect their mother from the dead. In search of a way to create the legendary Philosopher's Stone, a powerful alchemic catalyst capable of giving Ed the power he needs to right his mistakes, Edward joins the military and receives the title of FullMetal Alchemist.

FullMetal Alchemist and the Broken Angel begins with Ed and Al on a train heading to Central. Accompanying the Elric Brothers is Major Alex Louis Armstrong, the Strong Arm Alchemist. The trainride is soon interrupted when terrorists attempt to take control of the train. Ed, Al, and Major Armstrong make short work of the terrorists, who strangely enough seem to be working for the military. When Ed tries to question their leader however, the train is derailed and the journey to Central is temporarily halted.

While Major Armstrong takes it upon himself to repair the damage to the train, Ed and Al head out into the surrounding lands. What they find surprises them. Unnatural creatures born of alchemy called chimeras, literally infesting the landscape. It's clear that something is going on, but for what purpose remains a mystery.

FullMetal Alchemist and the Broken Angel isn't by any means a horrible game, nor is it the worst anime based game to ever come out. What it is however, is simply a bland game. The gameplay is easy enough to learn, and easy to master. Alchemy is a cinch, merely hold circle to allow your alchemy meter to charge, and then select between using that energy for either a defensive shield, an offensive attack, or for changing something around you into a usable weapon. While in theory this all sounds quite unique and entertaining, in practice it becomes trite due to too much repetition. Most enemies in the game require little more than a fling of the typical melee weapon created through alchemy in order to be defeated.

To make up for this in some way, the game is filled with plenty of enemies filling every walkway, area, and room. Sadly, few of these enemies or chimeras have any discernible intelligence, and the only method needed to defeat the majority of these enemies is a simple combination of multiple square buttons pressed in a row. Aside from bosses, enemies that couldn't be defeated with the simple hack and slash technique were almost nonexistent.

Although the basic methods of alchemy do become boring after repeated use, it is still the game's greatest draw. Luckily for the gamer, there is a vast amount of different items to choose from when transmuting regular scenery into bizarre weapons for Ed and Al to combat with. Weapons range from basic melee weapons, such as a small knife or a spear, to much more colorful objects like the massive damage katana, or the small red hammer that Ed does minor damage with in major droves. Even more devastating, Ed can transmute some objects into weapons capable of firing volleys of various kinds of ammunition upon his enemies. These range from cannons to machine guns and even a massive arrow shooting device. My favorite transmutated objects, however, are the vehicles Ed creates through alchemy. Using a random object, Ed can create and drive around in a mini-tank or even a steam roller. Plowing over enemies is one of the most entertaining aspects of the game!

I came away from FullMetal Alchemist and the Broken Angel undecided about the various Boss Fights of the game. Most of the fights came off as two bland and cliched, and it isn't until the last quarter of the game did any of the Bosses pose any kind of challenge or net any entertainment value. While I did find myself having some fun with the later bosses in the game, it is entirely too long of a wait for the more interesting fights to appear. I feel that if I didn't already want to beat the game on basic premise, I may have given up long before I ever had the chance to fight any of the boss creatures worth fighting.

The story of the game came off in much the same way that I felt the boss fights did. Far too weak early, and finishing strong. Unlike the last quarter, mildly entertaining bosses though, I felt that the story finished extremely well. Although there are several rough spots in the storyline whose answer simply isn't even attempted at, there was a clear difference in the slow, cumbersome pace at the beginning and middle of the game, and energetic, dramatic, and in comparison to my expectations - amazing ending to FullMetal Alchemist and the Broken Angel. As noted with the bosses once again, the game simply waits too long to grow strong, and most casual gamers likely would have given up before reaching the climatic finish.

All together, FullMetal Alchemist and the Broken Angel seems to be a game that is too long for it's own good. Even when considering that the game isn't especially long at it's current standing, too much of the game's zigzagging quests seem to have only been inserted to add another hour of gameplay at the expense of fun. Had the game been shortened, even to only include a quarter of the size it currently is, FullMetal Alchemist and the Broken Angel would receive high marks on all fronts. As it stands however, the game simply wasn't interesting enough or innovative enough to stand out.

Graphics ~ 3/10 Very average character and level design, and too much overuse of cut out characters on a bland background used for dialogue scenes. The occasional animated scene is nice, but far too short and sparse.

Sound ~ 5/10 Nothing flashy. The dub is solid enough, although coming off as a bit tinny at times. The music is altogether forgettable.

Gameplay ~ 5/10 Repetitive and bland. Alchemy is fun at first, but grows boring all too soon.

Story ~ 7/10 I give FMA it's highest score for it's storyline, but with in mind that had it not been for the last quarter of the game, the score would have likely been a 4/10.

Replay Value ~ Not much. I can't imagine wanting to go back through the various boring quests that made up too much of the game for any reason.

Overall ~ 5/10 This FullMetal Alchemist incarnation doesn't live up to it's anime counterpart.

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 01/16/06