Gaming Target - Xbox: Robotech: Battlecry

Written by Leigh Culpin on October 25, 2002

Full Review: Who-hoo!! A big robot game!!! Even though sometimes you're? not... that? big?

Battlecry brings the Robotech universe into the video game world, and it looks really sweet. Sounds good too. Only problem is, that's almost as far as it gets ? while the game is certainly pretty good, it isn't much more than that, and you likely aren't going to want to play through it more than once unless you're already a real fan of the show.

The game does an excellent job of making you feel like you're inside the cartoon ? the cel-shaded graphics are extraordinary, if a bit odd in places, since things like terrain aren't cel-shaded, but buildings, ships and enemies are. There are also some problems with proportions, as you'll rarely end up feeling like you're the same size as you were in the previous level. You'll go from feeling really big to really small really quick, and this is due mainly to some texture and geometry size proportions. Regardless, the game does have a nice variety of levels and they all do look fabulous.

You'll encounter two main types of levels in the game ? levels where you're up high, fighting off waves of enemies in fighter mode, and missions on the ground where you defend or assault various objectives in one of the two mech modes. The transformations are done extremely well, and are always fun to watch. All the modes are fairly well balanced too, each trading off speed and weaponry. The controls also make it easy to transform, with different modes corresponding to different directions on the D-pad (a tool on the Xbox controller which is becoming increasingly used, and rightfully so).

The graphics are easily the high point of the game, but the sound's not too shabby either; complete with well-done music, and most of the voice actors from the show. Unfortunately, the main character has maybe half a dozen one-liners, which you will hear over and over and over again throughout the game (until you're forced to hit the mute button anyways). The extras are also based around the voice actors, as they are mainly interviews with cast characters, but if you're not a fan of the show, you're probably going to be asking yourself why you care, and where the cool extras are.

Now, if I throw away any knowledge of the show whatsoever, I'd say that the fact that your Veritech fighter is the only mech you get to use for the entire game is somewhat disappointing. While you can change colors and heads (which will slightly alter your number of missile banks, armor, etc.), you're restricted to using the three transformation modes, and that's as much variety as you're going to get. While each mode is cool in its own way, you're going to get bored of them eventually.

In fact, you're going to get bored of the whole game eventually if you aren't a fan of the show. The missions lack variance, and while this isn't always a bad thing, in this case it generally is. Battlecry really does assume you know a fair bit about the show, which is a bad assumption in my opinion. Any understanding of what's going on is generally gained after the fact; as the story progresses and you can put together more pieces of the puzzle, things you'd think would be a bit more common knowledge at the beginning of the game.

Though the missions do lack variety, they are a decent length, and while sometimes a bit too long, they can be kind of cool. Unfortunately, they pop up somewhat infrequently, and aren't really worth playing through the whole game again for. You can always go back and play your favorite missions again if you like, so once you've beaten the game you'll likely just use that one profile to play any missions you liked over rather than beating the whole thing again.

The multiplayer is pretty decent, but it really isn't anything new or extraordinary. Though, having the 3 available battle modes does add a bit of depth. However, it's not a game that your friends are just going to be able to jump into and know how to play right away ? the controls are somewhat foreign, and take a good deal of getting used to. Once you do get used to them you'll be fine, but there is certainly a bit of a learning curve.