Vandal Hearts

"Nice (but short) strategy game"

Vandal Hearts is a pretty good strategy/role playing game (RPG) game,it has good challenge,decent replay value too,but the game itself is kind of on the short side.This game is set in Medieval times,and is kind of gory (You or the enemy gush out blood when they get depleted of Health.)

Graphics-7-The graphics on this game are not very well done,but they are not too bad for a Playstation game released around 1997.The game also has some CG scenes at the opening of each chapter,which is kind of good to have,the only bad part about them is that they have a extremely corny voice narration along with them.

Music-7-Some of the music is good,some of it is bad,it is like a mixed bag.The music does appropriately fit each part of the game though,but some of the music does repeat a lot,which can be kind of annoying.Some of the village music sounds like elevator music a bit too.

Sound Effects-8-The sounds in this game are pretty good,all the sounds of swords swinging,and arrows being shot all sound excellent,the explosions and spell sounds are pretty cool too.There are some corny and annoying voice acting though.

Controls-10-The controls should not be of any trouble here,since you mostly navigate menus and all.At least I didn't have any problems at all.

Challenge-8-The challenging part about this game is very unlike many other role playing games,(RPGs) you can not build up your character levels as much as you want!So you must keep everyone's levels near the same throughout the game,otherwise,you'll find yourself under defeat rather easily.Another challenging point about this game is that you must keep your people alive in battles!If you don't,you won't get very much money after battle,which,as you should know,very helpful to buy new equipment/items!Also the game kind of follows a Rock,Paper,Scissors kind of pattern-Sword is strong against magic types,magic types are strong against defender types,defenders are weak to magic,flyers are strong against swords,and so on.Some stages have unique objective to go along with them as well,some can be very hard to accomplish.

Story-7-The story in this game isn't great,but it isn't awful either,it is mostly about war/revolution in medieval times.I don't want to spoil anything,so find out for yourself.

Fun Factor-8-This game should keep you entertained for a good amount of time,even though it is short,I still liked it.

Buy or Rent?-You might as well as just buy it,considering you can find it cheap for under $20.You might be able to find it for rental,but it's just better to buy it.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 07/24/01, Updated 07/24/01