Sabtu, 23 April 2011

Combat of Giants: Dinosaurs 3D (3DS)

If you thought a fighting game in which you play as mighty dinosaurs couldn't possibly be a tedious slog, brace yourself for bad news. Combat of Giants: Dinosaurs 3D is a tedious slog padded out with recycled content. The fights are repetitive and unchallenging, linked by short jogs down corridors of jungle or rock. The visuals, at least, are appealing, enlivened by stereoscopic depth, and there's modest fun to be had in naming and customizing your chosen dinosaur, if a purple T. rex with stars on it gives you a giggle. But you won't be pitting Barney against your friend's creations; this is a multiplayer-free affair, with only item trading to show for the 3DS's wireless connectivity.
Combat of Giants: Dinosaurs 3Dscreenshot
Clever girl.
Set in an age when dinosaurs not only ruled the Earth, but also when Cretaceous and Jurassic creatures mingled and did battle (sorry, paleontologists), Combat of Giants: Dinosaurs 3D has you pick a dinosaur from four types: predator, hunter, charger, or defender, then run it through a series of linear, walled-in levels, punctuated with fights against other terrible lizards. These guys are the henchmen of the evil Arkosaurus, toward whose destruction you are working. The fights aren't random battles but a clearly signposted sequence of brawls; while you stomp along on the top screen, there is a track along the lower screen with markers to indicate exactly when you'll encounter your next dino rumble.
Within each level, bouts occur against a single class of dinosaur, amounting to similar fights against similar foes. In these, you have few offensive options (an attack, a push) and fewer defensive ones (dodge). The closest thing to a combo is a multi-hit frenzy assault, in which you dodge your enemy's one attack and then hammer a button while he is confused by how you managed to dodge his one attack. He shouldn't be confused because his one attack--two, in the toughest cases--is telegraphed by his whole enormous dinosaur body flashing bright red. Sometimes, he'll flash bright blue--not to signal an attack, just for fun--and then you can thump him to gain dino strike power which, when activated, delivers an automatic flurry of blows. The end-of-level fights are only the most challenging because you might have to dodge left or right to avoid getting bashed.
Then, once you've ploughed through the campaign and your chosen dinosaur has become a champion, you can pick another dinosaur with which to repeat the process. You must do so four times in total, with one dinosaur from each class, because you need four champions to take on Arkosaurus. That's four near-identical grinds through a near-identical series of levels (jungle, canyon, volcano) before you can hit the endgame and take on the boss. The only significant difference in your second, third and fourth runs is the ability to summon the previous champion to temporarily take your place in a battle. It is small comfort that by the end of the fourth time around, you will have unlocked a lot of "fun facts" and funky alternative colors, as well as markings for your champion. These are earned by collecting bones, which are in turn acquired by breaking branches and smashing rocks in your path.



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