Orochinagi: The King of Fighters

I remember playing the first Silent Hill on the Playstation, thinking the graphics were amazing.  Heck, I remember seeing IK+ on the Amiga and thinking the graphics were amazing.  Same game as on the lower spec Commodore 64, just with better graphics.  Looking at Heavy Rain, I am certainly impressed by the level of detail, the scenery and the textures of the character’s faces.  However, great graphics don’t guarantee a good game.

I started the game off, and did as I was asked, inputting the motions such as QCF and shaking the controller up and down, which was novel, if only for about five minutes.  Walking around, I felt the urge to punch someone in the face, or at least look down some alleyways for lost daughters, but that freedom was denied.  You walk until you find the option to move on.

When I did get to punch, kick, block and pick up an iron pole, it was again dictated.  This suddenly brought back memories of Dragon’s Lair, an interactive movie game where you simply pressed the right controls at the right time to get through.  While exciting, I like to be creative, not dictated.  It’s not dissimilar to God of War’s finishers, but remember the finisher normally comes after a combo of your choice, not the game’s.

Still, the graphics are lovely, mesmerising even, and the voice acting seems high quality, although I’m a bit picky over the prostitute’s, although that might more because of her skanky looking face.  Milf she is not, I warn you.

Then we have the character switch, and we learn about their storylines.  The private investigator has skills of persuasion,while  the FBI agent has a neat dna scanner.  As you play, action choices become available but there seems to be, so far, only one way to complete a scene (two, if you include dying).  These scenes, where you have to do a certain number of tasks, seems to make up the puzzle factor for this game, which is interesting, but as you’re forced to finish everything required before completing the scene, you get another feeling of being trapped – far worse than Silent Hill 4.  Plus, you can’t run, you can’t drive, you just… play along.

It is only a demo, and I’ve heard of multiple endings and perhaps there is more freedom in the full game, but this taster just puts me off.  Detective thrillers are nice but I prefer horror.  Movie games are fun, but limited.  I want to be free, don’t you?