Panzer Dragoon Orta

"What? A rail shooter in this day and age? I thought this genre died out in the 90s..."

Most people don't know that Panzer Dragoon Orta is actually the fourth addition in the Panzer Dragoon series. Panzer Dragoon was the first of the series, a fun rail shooter available only on the Sega Saturn, and arguably one of the best games of it's time. However, because of the bad sales of the Saturn, it was all but unrecognized for the great game that it was. Two sequels were made on the Saturn, Panzer Dragoon II Zwei, a rail shooter much like the first, and Panzer Dragoon Saga, one of the greatest RPGs ever. However, even the mighty Panzer Dragoon Saga could not save the Saturn, and did not receive the attention it deserved. Afterwards, Team Andromeda, the original developer, became no more and the Panzer Dragoon series was thought to be finished, until now. Sega gave the Panzer Dragoon series over to Smilebit, which happened to include a few people from Team Andromeda, and had them make a rail-shooter sequel to Panzer Dragoon Saga.

Smilebit is known, at least to me, as a highly talented development team, responsible for the first 3D cel-shaded game ever, and a great many other quirky titles that you may or may not have heard of like Gun Valkyrie. They are not afraid to be original, and that's what gamers need now more than ever. But enough about the developer, onto the review!

Gameplay - Panzer Dragoon Orta's gameplay has been nothing but genius from its beginning. I like to imagine it akin to a 2D scrolling shooter, except now you're behind the dragon rather than above it. It's a rail shooter, meaning you are on a set course with minimal movement, and you shoot any enemies/moving objects that you see. You use the "A" button to shoot, either tapping it rapidly to shoot a volley of energy blasts at your enemies, or holding down the "A" button to lock on to several enemies at once, then releasing to fire off missiles. You can also rotate the camera 360 degrees, so, as well as firing at what is in front of you, you can also fire to your right, left, or behind you. Knowing that you can be attacked from any direction at any moment keeps you on your toes, and thanks to the inclusion of a handy radar, you have a little warning before you're attacked. Of course, they kept the berserk feature from the previous two games and there is also another feature included in this game, following the trend of adding something original to every Panzer Dragoon game that has been successively released since the original. Now for a small history lesson. The first game introduced a rotating camera of 360 degrees. Panzer Dragoon II Zwei added multiple routes to take in one episode and the berserk attack. And, besides being an RPG, Panzer Dragoon Saga introduced morphing your dragon in mid-battle. Obviously not wanting to create the same boring game (that's an exaggeration), Smilebit went ahead and added the Glide ability. You can use Glide to either speed up or slow down your dragon to avoid enemy attacks. However, you can only use Glide when enough of your Glide meter is filled, adding a strategic element of when you should use it.

Although morphing was technically introduced into the series in Panzer Dragoon Saga, it was not part of the rail-shooting games that were made before PDS. Panzer Dragoon Orta added this neat twist to the game, allowing you to morph instantly into any of three upgradeable forms. I will now go into detail about each form's weaknesses and strengths.

Base Wing- This form is designed to be the mid-form with more power than the Glide wing but with compromised mobility and two Glides rather than three. With this form you can lock-on to multiple targets and shoot them with lasers as well as use your regular gun. Its berserk attack sends a volley of lasers onto your enemies, and when I say volley I mean hundreds, filling the screen with mayhem. I only used this berserk once or twice when I thought the time was right and it was a real joy.

Glide Wing- this is the smallest, and therefore, most agile form. You'll use this form mostly when you need to do some quick dodging or just need to clear up a mess of weak enemies. When in this form you have a max of three Glides with a full Glide meter, which is the most out of all three forms, however, when in this form you no longer have the ability to lock onto targets meaning it has the weakest attack. That's not to say its attack in completely useless; in fact, you'll find that it's quite useful in the right situation. You see, in order to balance things out, the player has been given a much bigger reticle when in Glide Wing form, meaning that you don't have to be near as accurate. This form's berserk attack sends a whole bunch of “ghost” dragons against the enemy and replenishes you're health depending on how many enemies you hit with it. In my adventures I definitely used this berserk attack the most because I was hit so much, although, on my second time around I found myself using it a lot less.

Heavy Wing- the Heavy Wing is by for the slowest and most vulnerable to attack, but in return for making yourself a sitting duck, you pack quite a punch. This form can lock-on to enemies just like the Base Wing, however, in this form you can only lock onto three targets no matter how many upgrades you acquire, which pretty much makes this THE form for boss battles. Its lasers hit so hard you can almost feel it. To top it off, its berserk attack is incredibly powerful. It's just one red beam, but when you use it, especially on bosses, you'll see the effect it has. I watched the boss of the 4th episode lose about one fifth of its life from this berserk attack alone, which is quite a feat.

Story – the first time I played this game I barely understood what was going on in the story department, mainly because I had not played the previous three games that were released on the Sega Saturn, however, the second time through, after reading through the in-game encyclopaedia; I found the game to have a very compelling story. You know those few games that keep you up all night just because you want to know what's going happen next? That's what happened for me with this game… the second time through. You could almost say it's an acquired taste if you're completely new to the series like I was, but if you've been a fan of the series from the beginning, or even just played the other three games, you'll appreciate this game from the get-go. If you're new like I was, don't worry, the gameplay makes up for any confusion in the story department, and once you get your facts straight, you'll find the story is very interesting.

Graphics/Sound – Even today, which is about two years after this game was released, Panzer Dragoon Orta has some of the best graphics to be seen on the XBOX, and could easily make the top 15 best-looking games list on the XBOX, if not top 10. Its art direction is absolutely insane. On most of the levels you'll find yourself in a very diverse and original setting, varying from jungles to cities to barren wastelands. The only complaint here is that some of the later levels are not quite as eye pleasing as the levels in the beginning. This is a very small complaint because the levels that ARE a little on the plain side are that way because there was pretty much no other way to present them and keep the story tied to the levels. Besides, you don't have much time to admire or criticize the landscape when you're fighting to keep yourself alive while being chased by dragonmares.

As for the sound, it's a very good soundtrack with a few inspirational parts. Everything in this department is at least good if not great. I still have dreams about that eerie sound from Sestren. Perhaps I'm not giving this soundtrack enough credit, but I'm not the best critic when it comes to soundtracks. I do know this however, the original soundtrack from the first Panzer Dragoon was definitely better than this one. I personally think they should just bring back the orchestra. The music compliment's the game very well, and how many other games can claim that much? (If you're wondering what I mean, try playing Kingdom Under Fire for the XBOX… heavy metal + medieval game = bleh.)

Play Time/Replayability – People who review this game usually say something about how short it is, but when you look at it, for its genre, it is quite long with loads of unlockables to sweeten the deal. If you actually try to explore everything this game has to offer thoroughly, it should take no less than 20 hours and even then, it is fun to go back and have a little fun with the levels. One of the most interesting features added to improve the replayability of this game is the Box Game. You unlock the Box Game after 20 hours of play or beating the game on hard. After unlocking the Box Game you can use it to replay any of the ten episodes while messing around with the game, such as riding on the Blue Dragon as Azel from Panzer Dragoon Saga with unlimited berserk attack through the 2nd episode on hard difficulty while setting your health so low that one hit kills you. That's just one example and there are hundreds of ways to customize your experience.

Final Recommendation – This game is a steal at the price it is going for right now. You get one of the greatest experiences on the XBOX for a mere $20, what more could you ask for? Now, it isn't the longest game in the world, but if you look at the price compared to the amount of time you are going to put into this game, it's only a buck an hour, which is good considering I've bought games at full price and only put two or three hours into them (I know you have too, don't deny it). So, in short, BUY IT!

Final Score- 9/10

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 03/07/05