Parasite Eve

"Short 'n' sweet"

Parasite Eve is no ordinary RPG. Billed as a "Cinematic RPG" by developers Square, this description is indeed a quite suitable one. In its most basic form, the game is an RPG, but with a few differences. I will try to elaborate on this as the review goes on.

First and foremost, a brief outline of the game's plot. Parasite Eve is set over six days, in New York, during Christmas 1997. Taking control of a female NYPD officer, Aya Brea, you must investigate the strange events that occur during this period. A woman known as Eve who seems to be able to manipulate the mitochondria of humans and other creatures, turning them into blobs of red goo and mutating them into strange monsters, is on the loose and the only person who seems unaffected is Aya. Together with your colleague Daniel Dollis and Japanese scientist Kunihiko Maeda you are thrown into an intriguing tale of biological disaster.

The thing that will strike everyone seeing the game in action is the graphics. They are of excellent quality. Using a similar style to Final Fantasy VII, with the pre-rendered backdrops taking centre stage, the game conveys a real sense of being in New York, with all the famous landmarks such as the Statue of Liberty. In this sense it has a much less fantasy-orientated story than other Square RPGs which I think makes a refreshing change. The main characters are all made up of polygons and this game forms the basis for the Final Fantasy VIII engine, due out later this year. Of course, the flashy FMVs are always going to be a major talking point. There is a LOT of FMV interspersed throughout the adventure, some of the best seen on the PlayStation, with the mutation of a certain dog being one of the best examples. The game is certainly not too lacking on the graphical side.

Sound is a different matter. A lot of the time an atmospheric silence is used to good effect. Other times there are some decent pieces of music playing softly in the background. They all combine to produce a rather spooky atmosphere for the game. Nothing too special, and no real tunes that will stick in the memory (not like the ones from Final Fantasy VII you subconsciously hum to yourself in your mind). Sound effects are the usual fare, gunshots, footsteps, etc. and these are all done well, but there is a surprising amount of silence overall in the game.

The battle system was a brave departure for Square. Based on the long-established Active Time Battle system (ATB), Parasite Eve differs in one major way: you can control Aya in battle in-between turns, avoiding attacks until your ATB bar fills up again and you are ready to attack. This system is certainly innovative and is only made possible by the fact that you only have one character under your control. It adds an element of real-time to turn-based battles. Personally I don't like this new system but others may do - it's a matter of taste. I suppose it depends whether you prefer Action-RPGs or not. Aya's main weapon is a gun and there are several different types of these. Some have long range, others more power. This is another strategic element to the gameplay. Do you use a powerful gun machine gun and risk taking hits or use a long-range rifle and keep well away? The guns form one of the main plus-points in the game - the customizable weapons. You can use "tools" to adjust your favourite weapon, stripping other weapons of their attributes and adding them to your main gun. This way, you can extend the range, strength, and number of bullets in your gun, amongst other special features you may find on some weapons, such as poison bullets and the like. Aya also learns new magic over time, both healing and destructive powers.

The fact, as mentioned before, that you only control Aya, marks a major difference from the party-based idea of most RPGs. In this respect, it would not be too much of a mistake to label Parasite Eve as "Resident Evil 2 with an RPG battle system", although there are fewer puzzles to solve and more of a story.

Ah yes, the story. It's a really interesting one, to say the least. Not like, the usual "rescue the princess" or "save the world" themes, Parasite Eve has more of a sci-fi plot, not dissimilar to an episode of the X-Files. I certainly enjoyed it.

However, the game has one major stumbling block - the length. Most accomplished gamers should finish it in little over ten hours. Not, you might think, sufficiently long for an RPG. There is a little extra incentive to play through again, in the form of the EX mode. This is more or less the same game, but just before going off into the final day, fighting the final boss again, you make a departure into the newly-accessible Chrysler Building which is basically a long, boring maze with every major boss thrown in at regular intervals. Whether you would want to play the game through again just to do this is questionable. However, the choice is there.

Overall Parasite Eve is definitely a good deal of fun, while it lasts. If you fancy an RPG which offers something different, then go for it. Just don't expect much lifespan out of it, that's all.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 11/01/99, Updated 04/26/01