Ehrgeiz

"That's pronounced...umm..."

So Square had just made Final Fantasy 7 and saw how much success its characters and story had. So why not throw out the story and have the characters kick each other's asses? That day, Ehrgeiz was born.

Ehrgeiz is pretty much what I just said. A 3D fighting game that pits Cloud, Sephiroth, and a few others against chicks that fight with yo-yos and guys with guns for arms. Sounds pretty cool, right? Meh.
NOTE: There are 3 other minigames included in Ehrgeiz. A mini-RPG that kinda sucks, and two others. I will only be reviewing the fighting aspect of the game.

Graphics: 7/10 You can tell that not much has changed from FF7. Cloud still has spiky hair and legos for arms, which isn't bad of course, I'm just used to seeing brand spankin' new graphics every time Square releases something. The fighting arenas are decent, but are way too small and not complicated enough. Sure, there is a very small ledge within jumping distance and there is a square cut out of the corner every once in a while, but those don't really affect your strategy of slicing Red XIII look-alikes with your giant sword.

Audio: 5/10 Let me say, this game has the most annoying sound I have ever heard. It is at the minigame menu and the options menu. It is long, drawn-out, and screechy. Kinda reminds me of the sound that 20-year-old parrot makes at the pet store in the mall. However, even though that particular sound was terrible, the other sounds weren't. They were average, nothing memorable. The music isn't much to call home about, either. This is odd, considering this is a game made by Squaresoft. Thereby supporting my unsaid theory of how this game was rushed to make a quick buck. None of the music tracks are memorable, except for one. This being what sounds like a remix of the FF7 boss music. (best ever)

Control: 6/10 The control is awkward. There is a button to jump, a button for your special, and two buttons for punching and kicking. Oh, and one for blocking. It's not bad, it just takes some getting used to. Otherwise, the controls are responsive and whatnot.

Gameplay: 5/10 You pick a character, kick some enemy butt, lame CG movie sequence, the end. Meh. It takes up about 45 minutes of your time. There is also a dungeon-crawler mini RPG that isn't worth your time. The other two minigames involved aren't even memorable.

So, FF7 fanboys wet themselves when they saw Cloud in a fighting game and immediately bought it. And what are they doing now? They are probably sitting on it and playing through FF7 for the 50th time, this time doing it with only two characters. Don't be like them. Leave this game in your local used gaming store priced at $20.

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 07/06/02, Updated 07/06/02