Galleon

High jinks on the high seas breeds high expectations...

The control system is a credit to the intelligence of both protagonist and developers: the incredibly useful AI system means that Rhama won't wilfully step off high ledges or neglect to grab onto an available object if for some reason he falls, and the 'slow and safe' mode of movement (obtained simply by pushing the left thumbstick forward gently) allows the gamer to walk along thin planks without slipping off the edge and step precisely onto the top of precariously placed upright wooden cabers. Fighting anything other than the monstrous boss creatures is also reassuringly easy: button mashing is positively rewarded in this game when certain easy combinations (such as pushing X more than twice whilst moving the left thumbstick) result in Rhama's attainment of some sort of magic power that allows him to dispatch bandits with his scary glowing arms. They've made it easy for us on all these features, and although the hard-core gamer may complain about the lack of skill needed to progress (although who actually likes falling off of ledges at the end of a level?), it's a good job that they have bestowed these gifts upon us, because a big 'but' is about to interrupt the flow of our enjoyment. If anything, it is our engagement with the story, and the knowledge that the play in between the more irritating tasks will be reassuringly easy, that will keep us playing.

Because you should keep playing, because there's a lot to miss out on if you get pissed off too early and chuck away the controller in an expletive-shouting frustration. The graphics, although not quite reaching the standard that the seven-year hype had led us to expect (although realistically, what were we expecting?), are at times breathtaking, and the interactive environments offer the gamer much to explore if they want to take a break from their particular task and simply want to look around and enjoy the opulence of their locale. Underwater swimming may be one of the most frustrating elements of the game, but even so, pausing to look around and enjoy the way that they've captured the quality of light shining through water from an above surface source, or even the silt particles and marine fauna that zip past you with the current is a rewarding attraction. Even getting eaten by a giant Moray eel of the proportions exhibited in The Deep was an enjoyable surprise - even if you don't touch the controls, Rhama fights back before finally falling limply forwards in the monster's mouth. Masochistic perhaps, I know, but amusingly so.

And here it is, the bit you've all been waiting for - here's the but. Because it is good, and enjoyable, and absorbing, and easy on the eye, but there's one enormous problem: the camera. In Galleon, as I have mentioned, Rhama's AI enables him to make decisions for the sake of his health, such refusing to step off of a ledge even if you mistakenly instruct him to, and this is because the control system is set up so that the gamer is in charge of the camera, not the character. On some levels, this doesn't make sense, because the camera doesn't fight or jump, and these are things that we instruct Rhama to do directly, but it basically means that to make the character move, you point the camera in the chosen direction using left or right on the thumbstick, and then move forward. As I have mentioned, in some ways this is useful; in others however, it's more annoying than the cheeky girls turning up unannounced at your house for a marathon karaoke party. The 'left/right' directional movement of the camera doesn't allow for the gamer to look right or left or up and down - you just point it, and see what happens when you get there. In swim mode, you do have the ability to point up and down, but again, you cannot look around you before deciding where to swim. This, I feel, is a glaring oversight. Rhama's ability to scale ladders and walls made up of rough rock provides interesting and varied action, however, when you leap onto a wall, the camera and controls go crazy, swinging around presumably to whichever angle is the most detrimental to your progress. The inability to look around is particularly frustrating when faced with either a timed dash (after seven years, suddenly its all about being in a hurry), or when fighting end of level boss monsters. To defeat these, you must climb onto their backs, and stab them in the head with your pleasingly large sword. The monster's health level goes down sharply for the most part, but then the last millimetre or so will take another billion stabs to exhaust. And it is exhausting. The inability to look up or down makes it bloody hard to judge where you are supposed to jump, as only certain parts of monsters are grabable, and if you don't grab on to them (using climb mode), they unsurprisingly throw you off. The only way to look around is by using the B button (used for locking onto objects for use or to tell which rock is climbable) and moving the thumbstick around, but even then the option to look down or up is very limited. Camera faults in games are a common disappointing factor, but come on, they had seven years to sort this out. Seven years!

I like this game, a lot in fact. It's easy to pick up, entertaining, and contains a number of rewarding puzzles together with sometimes amusing combat. The dry humour evident in the cut-scenes is of a high standard not often found in games, and like me, you may find yourself actually looking forward to them. I could list the game's positive attributes all day, but unfortunately, I'd be arguing against my own desire to criticise it. Because it is good, and it is fun, but had it arrived four years ago, it'd have been amazing. Now, sadly, Galleon still has all the ideas and ingenuity, it still impresses us with its humour and panache, but now we have a host of similar talent, and it surely won't get the attention now that it deserved back then. Punctuality is essential; Galleon arrived just too late, and as it pulls up a chair mid-table, we commend a somewhat impressive achievement, but also mourn a missed opportunity for high profile celebration.

70%

By Keri Webster