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Coming Soon > Whats New > Reviews > Staff Review | |
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Coming Soon > Whats New > Reviews > Staff Review | |
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Please note that the
views expressed in this review are those of the writer and not of A.P.I
Contrary to Mr. Fielder's at www.videogamespot.com review on Zero Divide 2: The Secret Wish, if you're a fan of 3-D fighting games you would be doing yourself a favor by picking this up as an import. Unfortunately, no one has picked this title up for a domestic release due to the fact that Mr. Fielder's opinions heavily influence the nature of the gaming industry. A negative review for a game like Zero Divide 2 and others like it means that fewer companies will be taking the necessary risks to bring them out. As with the case with Tobal 2 and Mega Man Battle and Chase. Although some may argue with my viewpoint on this, the game's character designs suit it very well. They are reminiscent of the mecha used in Japanese anime. Although, the look of the characters are an acquired taste, there is no denying the fact that they are unique. The non-humanoid characters use their other appendages for attack and are not limited to only having four limbs. Another, two characters have weapons. WILD 3 possesses a gun and CYGNUS uses daggers. Also, you can't help but love the Zoom's playable hidden mascot, NECO. (Mr. Fielder would not know that he was a playable character due to the fact that he only played it for about 10 minutes.) On top of that each character has two body types, and 8 different colors for each body type. Graphically, the game is on par with with the likes of Dynasty Warriors, and dare I say it, Tekken 2. As you may know the game runs at 60 fps and is complete with motion blurs, light sourcing, etc... The reason why I say the game is on par with these games, is the fact that the most of the arenas have depth to them and are not restricted to fighting on an infinite plane with a bitmapped background such as Tekken 2 and Dynasty Warriors. Also, some of the fighters can launch attacks using the the walls and as with the first Zero Divide, combatants can still hang on the edge of the ring to avoid a ring out. Although, As for Mr. Fielder's comments on the response time, it's the same as what you would find on Fighting Vipers and the Virtua Fighter series. When getting floored, players have the ability to roll out of the way, perform a low or a high kick, and get up the instant you hit the floor. According to Mr. Fielder's review on the game he is quite biased against games with this type of control structure. In actuality, the game is very reminiscent of Sega's Fighting Vipers and plays almost exactly like it. Almost all the characters have a counter for normal punches and kicks and throws can now be countered also. The options that are given are your typical fighting game options: Time Attack, Training, Watch, Replay, VS. etc.. As for Mr. Fielder's comments on taking damage: It would have been nice to see arms and legs get disabled with each blow, but then again, it would probably be too difficult to get the physics down. Even Square's much heralded Bushido Blade is limited in the amount of damage you can inflict. It's either one arm or one leg, never both arms and both legs. Also, not everyone has a Saturn and a Playstation, so playing a VF game would not be an alternative for Playstation owners. If everyone that owned a Playstation, owned a Saturn, Sega would not be in the predicament that it is in now... Also, fighting games were meant for two people. I have yet to see a fighting game who's AI is without a CPU that it too cheap, too easy, or too hard. Zero Divide 2 is not without it's flaws either. A greater selection of characters would have been an asset, but each of the characters contain so much variety that you shouldn't tire of them too quickly. The lack of a FMV intro and endings would have been nice too, but then again you don't play games to watch movies... Zero Divide 2 is a nice diversion for those looking for something different in their fighting games. The game borrows heavily from Fighting Vipers and for those without access to a Saturn, Zero Divide 2 would be a great game to add to your Playstation library. So...who are you going to believe? A magazine that gave Battle Arena Toshinden 3 a better score than Tobal 2, fairly high reviews for mediocre games like BAT3, War Gods, Groove On Fight and Asuka 120%. If the aforementioned games received, 6's and 7's then Zero Divide 2 definitely did not deserve a 5.5. Don't believe everything you read...