From the Manufacturer
---------------------
In this strategic action game, players fight supernatural
battles in a postapocalyptic era. Phantom Dust takes you from the
safety of the underground to explore the surface with your unique
abilities.
Play online or offline as one of the "gifted ones." Use your
psychic skills to defeat nents as you search for your lost
memories. Then, take the secrets youve learned and crush your
competition on Xbox Live.
Features
* Get ready for fast-paced action: Use more than 300 skills to
damage nents, steal their skills, and neutralize their
psychic abilities. Special multiplayer game modes throw you
straight into the action with prebuilt arsenals.
* Battle online with Xbox Live: Enjoy one-versus-three,
two-versus-two co-op, and free-for-all multiplayer modes. Earn
points in Xbox Live battles and use them to buy new skills only
available online. Play in tournaments, ban together to create
clans, track your progress on the online score boards, swap
skills, and download new abilities and s.
* Play through more than 200 single-player missions: Build your
skill inventory as you work your way through the game. Interact
with nonplayable characters to learn more about your world, your
skills, and yourself.
* Instantly change the world with destructible environments: Use
the environment to your advantage. Cast a psychic skill against a
wall to have it smash onto your nent. Blast the floor under
enemies to send them falling to their doom.
* Try your hand at hundreds of skills: Win more than 300 skills
by playing through the single-player missions and winning battles
on Xbox Live.
* Use countless strategies: Choose your strategy based on the
environment, the battle mode, your nents and allies
abilities, and your personal style.
Review
------
Developed by Microsoft's Japanese division and published in the
U.S. by Majesco, Phantom Dust was ed to be an odd duck.
Corporate nonsense aside, this game is one that shows a huge
a of potential and delivers only superficially. It seems to
shoot itself in the foot whenever it's poised to really take off
and achieve something, but there's still some enjoyment to be had
here.
Single-player suffers from this syndrome far more than the online
modes. Crippled by a marginal localization and dreadful
structure, the original and interesting story never has a chance
to take hold, while laughable AI makes the battles
one-dimensional. It's admittedly fun for a while to laugh at the
character designs that look like Queen starring in a remake of
Blade Runner, but in the end, the offline offering serves merely
as a training session for the hectic online matches.
Phantom Dust takes place in bite-sized servings of explosive
combat for up to four players (or AI nents), with the object
being to obliterate your foes with psychic powers acquired on the
battlefield. There are plenty of nuances to pick up on, like
which defensive skills work against which offensive powers, and
this multifaceted gameplay introduced in single-player mode seems
amazing at first, but ultimately fails to provide enough strategy
meat to really sink your teeth into. Unparalleled environmental
destruction will make your jaw drop, only to frustrate and annoy
when you figure out that there's no reliable way to turn it to
your advantage in a fight. Customizing your skill set would seem
to add a level of needed depth to the combat, but the randomness
in which you gain access to them recalls blackjack more than
Diablo. And with no mini , cycling through targets (which you
don't need a line of to lock on to) is your only resort to
keeping tabs on the situation. The final nail in the coffin is
that there is absolutely no way to possibly defend yourself if
more than one player decides to for you expect to die in a
matter of seconds, without exception.
Unleashing beautiful hell on your nents is certainly fun for
a while, as this is one of the more visually pleasing games in
recent memory. The combat provides some thrills that you won't
find in other games, given the unique nature of Phantom Dust's
premise. And if the soundtrack were available commercially, I'd
buy it without a second thought. However, I can't believe that
anyone is going to stick with this rather than go back to Halo 2
or Rainbow Six 3 for their online needs once the new game glow
wears off.
Concept:
Trade civilization and your memories for psionic powers and
post-apocalyptic ruin! Valid at participating stores only
Graphics:
Any way you slice it, this is a treat for the eyes
Sound:
One of the coolest soundtracks ever. Orchestral instrumentation
with a twist
Playability:
The lack of a mini severely hampers battle awareness
Entertainment:
The thrills end up being short-lived, as combat proves too
shallow to hold interest for long
Replay:
Moderate
Rated: 7 out of 10
Editor: Adam Biessener
Issue: March 2005
2nd Opinion:
I'm happy to see this game finally get a U.S. release, because
it really does bring something different to the world of Xbox
Live. I do quite enjoy the core psychic combat at the heart of
this game, but it does grow a little stale after all strategic
options have been explored. The story mode is pretty unimpressive
(most worthless system ever!), but multiplayer should offer
some thrills for those looking for a different way to get an
online fix.
Rated: 7.5 out of 10
Editor: Jeremy Zoss
Subscribe to Game Informer ( /exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000AN45D/ ) --
.com
- 100 single player missions.
- Face strange, glowing nents in weird, post-apocalypse setting that are as dangerous as your enemy.
- Earn points by winning battles, then spend them on new skills -- over 300 in all.
- Amazing graphics and control combine the look & feel of classic sci-fi and the best anime.
- 2-player head-to-head offline play & 4-person offline multiplayer.