Azurik: Rise of Perathia Xbox

Read this before you think of even buying it

By Yahoo! Shopping User  Mar 22, 2005

Pros: What pros?

Cons: That's more like it. Um...probably everything

When Microsoft launched the Xbox on November 15, 2001, they had unleashed a beast of a machine into the world. The Xbox is the world's most powerful and best videogame system, and there are games on this machine that are absolutely the pinnacle o...f brilliance. Did I mention a FEW, like the Halo series, the Splinter Cell series, Ninja Gaiden, the Prince of Persia series, Top Spin, KOTOR etc? There are so many excellent games that round out the mighty console's repertoire, but then those terrific titles are outweighed by such games which deserve nothing more than a business-class ticket to the trash can. One of those games is Azurik. This utter waste of money and time on the developer's part and the consumer's part is one of the worst games ever made. If you don't have a ball at home to play catch with, you can play with the box of Azurik or use the disc as a frizbee. Don't humiliate your precious Xbox when you've got a fine lineup of some really good games. I've been a little too vague in this review, haven't I? Alright, time to get a little specific. What makes this game bad? Why was it made? And why have you bought it? Here come the answers... What makes this game bad is a combination of a zillion things. First, the uncontrollable control scheme, which makes navigation through the bland, lifeless world a chore, and a rather useless one at that. Secondly, the N64 quality graphics. Thirdly, you never get to know what the heck you're doing in the lifeless, contrived world. The environment is so generic it makes you want to dip the disc in a glass of Coke. Don't do that, it'll contaminate your drink. There is no map whatsoever, no audio cues, nothing at all. You're wandering around the "open, interactive" world, encountering enemies not fit to challenge a newborn, wondering why you wasted your dollars. And that's the difference between this and GTA. In GTA, you're in an open world, but you're exploiting that vast landscape to its fullest potential. In Azurik, you're mostly shouting at the camera. One good thing I have to say, though, and this has NOTHING to do with the gameplay. When you rotate the camera and pan on the character's front, the detail ain't bad, but it's leagues from GOOD. It's not bad, it's not good. It's simply ACCEPTABLE. REASONABLE, I should say. The presentation of the game is bad. Simply put, the manual's presentation is contrived to the point of laughing hysterically. The old man narrating the manual is very, very artificial. The in-game menu is sub-par. Nearly everything about the game is just short of complete uselessness. Trust me on this one. Read more Less