Ehrgeiz

"Excellent graphics, but not much else..."

Introduction:

The world's most brutal tournament has as its trophy the legendary weapon 'Ehrgeiz'. Now, fighters from around the world assemble to claim this prize and it's mysterious power.

Good Features:
-Extremely well done graphics
-Many moves for each character
-Several mini-games
-Final Fantasy VII characters

Bad Features:
-Sound is rather poor
-Very hard to perform moves
-Lack of camera angle movement

Ehrgeiz is a 3D fighting game. I never was a fan of fighting games, especially after SNES. After I bought this game, strangely enough, I still didn't like fighting games much.

Storyline-1

I would give this game a zero in this catagory, but since it had a story, I couldn't. In the game, there is a tournament where all the elite fighters go to compete for the ''Sword of Ehrgeiz''. Most of the characters have no reason to be fighting except to become a god. The quest mode's story is almost non-existent. In fact, I didn't even know what I was going through that long dungeon for until I beat it! Even then it didn't look like much thought was put into the story. This is the game's weakest point.

Gameplay-5

The gameplay is average compared to many other games I've played. You basically just fight like in most fighting games except in a 3D environent. You have more characters to choose from than in any other fighting game that I know of, with many that you have to meet certain requirements to unlock. My favorite part of this game is Final Fantasy VII characters you can choose from. If you haven't played Final Fantasy VII though, you may not find this part quite as exciting. Each character has a large number of unique moves that they can do. This game offers a totally separate quest mode which is kind of addictive at first. You fight your way through a 21 level random dungeon with your choice between two characters. The quest mode could be greatly improved if you had a larger choice of characters, but there isn't. You can collect a whole load of weapons and armors, which keeps the game interesting. Your character even changes his/her looks when you equip a different weapon or armor, very neat. There are so many items to collect, that I'm not even sure that I've found them all! One other thing that adds a little to the game is the mini-games. There are four to chose from, with the first being infinity battle where you battle one after another gaining life and points after each fight. Then there is battle runner, which you can verse the computer or another person. You race around a ring beating each other up along the way, since whoever has the higher health runs faster. Next comes battle beach in which you jam the buttons as fast as you can to win all three races. Finally, battle panel, which is comparable to Othello, with no turn taking. Two characters run around fighting each other for the squares that they need to win. This game is very unique in this catagory, but not exactly great.

Graphics-9.5

Wow, the graphics in this game are nothing but spectacular! When you first turn it on you will be greeted by a very sweet FMV. Even in the battles everything looks very sharp. Every fighter is beautifully done, with perfect shading, color, and body shape. What's more is that the movement of the fighters is very fluid and natural looking. There is even more FMVs that you can view over and over once you get them, along with a neat FF7 FMV. I would have given this game a ten in this department, but the lack of changing camera angles to fully show off the excellent graphics prevented me from doing so. I don't think that Square spared anything in this department!

Sound-2

The music is just plain bad or non-existent. All of the music sounds the same after you play it for half an hour. It looks as if absolutely no effort was put into the music. When you verse a Final Fantasy character, you hear a horrible remix of one of the Final Fantasy songs. There is no rhythm or beat to get you into the battle either. The sound FX are the same story too. You will hear punches, kickes, and grunts in the battle that will blend in with the already doomed battle music. If you ever play this game, you should save yourself from the horror and put the TV on mute.

Control-2

The control in this game are harder than in any other game I have ever played. They give you some buttons for punching, kicking, guarding, and one for jumping. To get a medium punch, you have to press two buttons at the same time. Then to throw, you have to press three buttons. That's not the toughest of it though. There are these ''timed hits'' where you have to press a button or buttons at the exact right moment to get the move out right. It is so hard to do the moves that I don't even try to get them any more because I get whooped just trying to do them. The controls could have been greatly simplified, but too bad they're like this. You can change the control configurations to simplify it some, but it will still be very hard. Chances are, by the time you get good at the controls, there will probably be flying cars and moon colonies.

Replayability-4

You may want to replay the arcade mode several times with all of the characters. Getting everything in the arcade mode will take a little while, with a lot of frustration in getting some things. Two player mode is fun for a short time, but the battle arenas just aren't large or interactive enough to keep it interesting. The quest mode is fun-the first time, but playing it again is boring and just about the same as the first time, despite the random dungeon feature. If you like games that you can play over and over again, don't get this game.

Final thoughts:

I bought this game for $20 and now it's is just collecting dust along with Army Men 3D. This game is fun at first which would make it a solid rental, but anything more would be a waste of money. If you're looking for eye-candy, you may want to get this game. Just remember, looks aren't everything.

Ehrgeiz Score-5

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 12/16/00, Updated 12/16/00