| Game Reviews From a Parental Perspective! | |
|
|
|
| Home | Forums | Review Archive | Columns | Feature Articles |
|
Home >
Review Archive >
Video Games
> Results: Deep Labyrinth
Format For Printing | Tell A Friend | Digg | Slashdot | del.icio.us | Buy This Game Scroll down for our Kid Factor. 
Deep Labyrinth is a 3D dungeon crawl played from a first-person perspective. That makes it reminiscent of a couple of truly great games: the classic Wizardry and more recent The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. You control a single character in real-time combat against 3D enemies. Unfortunately, for every positive in this game there's also a negative. This striking duality provides both a fascinating experience that I gladly spent tens of hours playing and a mediocre end result in the final score.
Games of this type live and die on two thingsﾗsolid controls and a variety of loot. Loot collection is a highlight. Sprinkled through the dungeons are puzzles, secrets, trapped chests, hidden doors, secret hallways and loads of other goodies. These feed the game's greatest strength: exploration. The controls are a let down. The basic setup is solidﾗcontrol pad to move, touch an enemy to lock on, swing your sword while circling your target. Spellcasting is done by drawing symbols in a grid on the touchscreen and some sections require microphone use too. Sword controls are disappointingly imprecise, the spell recognition is inconsistent, and the microphone feature swings from cute to infuriating. For example, one door mechanism used a meter where the louder I screamed and the longer I sustained it, the more the door opened. Even after I understood this requirement, I could not get the door to open with a voice that I was comfortable using inside the house. I finally opened the door while sitting in my car in the parking lot at work. It absolutely sucked the fun out of the game. Two simple stories drive the game's mechanics. It looks good and has an absolutely wonderful soundtrack. There is plenty of replayability if you enjoy the basic game. That's its dualityﾗsome will love it and others will hate it. There is charm but there are also significant flaws. It has no multiplayer so replayability comes from repeated adventures for better items aided by the game's design. Each save slot tracks your progress and how many times you've finished the game. Each time through enemies get harder and loot gets better. Classic PC RPG fans might find much to enjoy, but those raised on Final Fantasy style RPGs probably won't enjoy it. This single-minded dungeon-crawler with difficult controls is sometimes entertaining, but when you're sitting in your car screaming at your DS, don't say I didn't warn you.  
There are two unrelated ﾑchapters' in Deep Labyrinth. The manual states that the first chapter is for those just starting out and the second chapter is for more experienced players. This is true in a couple of ways. The general difficulty level in the second chapter is higher, but the overall tone is darker and more mature. There is no blood or gore and nothing more than some light suggestive language. But since this is a dungeon crawl, violence is rampant and sword-swinging constant, meaning even the first chapter isn't for little kids.
Chapter 1 is the story of a boy named Shawn, his dog named Ace, his parents and a land of discarded memories. It's populated by the occasional purple platypus serving as save point, and various mice that spout mostly helpful wisdom. Having recently re-read the Hitchhiker's Guide books before handing them off to my nine-year old, I found having mice in that position was really funny. A portal forms attracting Ace, and Shawn's parents chase him and are sucked in as well. Shawn pursues and finds himself lost in a strange world full of unwanted memories and the creatures that tend to them. You need to find your way through the labyrinthﾗdungeons and forests alikeﾗrecover your parents and save their memories. Chapter 2 is based on a cell phone game from Japan that's been significantly retooled to use the dual screens, touch-screen and microphone of the Nintendo DS. It starts off more suspenseful with an anonymous main character on a cell phone suddenly placed in some strange place facing a giant animated skeleton. He grabs a nearby sword and thus begins his mysterious journey through the labyrinth. Along the way he meets a mysterious girl that is trapped and he needs to find a way to free her and himself. The fantasy-style enemies you face are pretty typical including the likes of dragons and golems. The environment is much darker and a stronger sense of entrapment in a dungeon provides a contrast to the strange other-worldly environments of the first chapter. Both chapters flow well. It's not deep storytelling, but it keeps the action going and motivates you to navigate the repetitious dungeons. Pay attention to everything that happensﾗfrom sights and sounds to what that mouse three areas ago told you. That need to follow along helps differentiate this game from the typical dungeon crawl. This review edited by Dave Long Comments? Chat about it in our forums! Format For Printing | Tell A Friend | Digg | Slashdot | del.icio.us | Buy This Game Home > Review Archive > Video Games > Results: Deep Labyrinth |
Read the GamerDad 2007 Holiday Guide!
|
Please Note: GamerDad is not intended to be read by anyone under 18. We stay clean, but be warned! Content Management System developed by Redbird Solutions. |
