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For all those who are looking for the next awesome shooter to blow your pants off .... well this isn't it. You'll have a much better time playing Gamera 2000 instead. But those who are seemingly interested, read on. Edge of Skyhigh ( henceforth be known as EOS) is a pseudo-3D polygonal shooter in which you view the game from behind your mech. As for the gameplay, its basically a poor man's Panzer Dragoon. As usual your mech's capabilities include : firing regular shots, lock-ons, and even an " Overdrive " of sorts. Its only unique feature is your ability to switch from 2 modes : a fighter mode and a mech mode. The fighter mode can fire 2 rows of regular shots but has fewer lock-ons. While the mech mode can only fire a single row of regular shots, use twice as many lock-ons, and an " Overdrive " As usual, here are the categories and my opinions to go with them.
GRAPHICS = Graphicswise, EOS comes out only " average ". The intro is not what I am expecting from a 3rd generation title. ( I almost laughed seeing your mech ripping out the head of the enemy mech, more on that later ) In fact, much of the game's graphic design seems unin- spired. Meaning, you won't be impressed with what you will see in this game. Yeah, the graphics sure move fast and some of the bosses are really huge. but all in all, it can't compete with the likes of Gamera 2000 and Raystorm or even Darius Gaiden. Oh yes, the game does move smoothly ( I reckon around 30 fps ) without any slowdown. And so far, thats the only high point of the graphics. In other words : the graphics are too plain and uninteresting for a shooter title.
Graphics : 5 out of 10. Average. Let me put this way : the graphics though well done, is definitely not up to shooter stan- dards.
MUSIC and FX = For me at least, the music in EOS is just fine. I really don't have any complaints but trust me, its no match for the music in Ace Combat 2. And besides, in the way you play the game. You won't notice the music in the first place. And also for the FX, it too is average. All the gun bursts and explosions are well done but are not impressive in the least bit. And get this, you get 7 tracks of Japanese people saying " Micronet ". ( uh - huh )
Music and FX : 6 out of 10. Good. Not much can be said about it anyway ....
CONTROL = The control in EOS is suprisingly very good. You can literally move all over the place without much effort. Shooting is also relatively simple. With the exception of your lock-ons, in which you have to aim it first ( like in Raystorm ) AND you have to press a button to fire. Also, you can't use the lock-ons while charging your " Overdrive ". Pretty irritating if you ask me. But putting all of these together, the control is not bad at all. Though you might wish the designer should have put more thought in designing the thing.
Control : 7 out of 10. Good but I expect better.
GAMEPLAY = Suprisingly, even for a shooter. EOS's gameplay lacks. Below is a very convinient list highlighting some of the gameplay's weak points :
a.) You have to move your mech to aim. Which in turn, gets you pummled by enemy fire or you'll collide with something.
b.) Due to the nature of some attacks, you can't tell whether a laser beam is going to hit you or not.
c.) The fact that you have to manually aim and shoot your lock-ons makes your job unne- cessarily hard.
d.) There are no powerups. ( sheesh ... )
e.) Drones and sub-bosses are ridiculously easy in the initial stages then it gets very hard very quick on the last 2 stages.
f.) Your mech is easily damaged by enemy fire. Too easily. ( a far cry from what you may have saw from the intro )
g.) The last boss is extremely cheap. All of its attacks are homing lasers or missles. All of which can grab around 60% of your health bar in one go. And to top it all off, you'll have to fight its second form with all of its health bar full.
h.) All your attacks do very little damage, although it really isn't a problem with simple drones, it becomes apparent in the later stages. In fact the only REAL attack in EOS worth using is the " Overdrive ".
As shooters go, this is one of the worst gameplay mechanics I have ever found on shooter games. Die hard shooter fans may disagree with me on this but considering there are many BETTER shooter titles out there, I would seriously consider this review before spending any money on this one.
Gameplay : 3 out of 10. Lacking. Sure its playable but chances are, you won't like it.
After several hours of play. I would give EOS the score of : 3 out of 10. ( almost total trash ) It would be okay to borrow the game to see for yourself if its worth your time. But basing on this review alone, I would not recommend this one. Especially since imports are very expensive and considering that there are better shooter games out there for your money.