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Medieval Moves
The latest PlayStation Move title arrives
just
in time for Christmas as players are turned into Deadmund, a skeleton
boy who has been given the quest of finding an ancient amulet that has
the power to return him to the living.
While alive, Prince Edmund was your
average boy, however as Deadmund, he now has powers and more
specifically the weapons to set things right and with every evil death,
he becomes more powerful and closer to being alive again and vanquishing
Morgrimm from his family castle.
The fun aspect about the story of Medieval
Moves is that the game has this real Tim Burton feel
to it with some parallels to A Nightmare Before Christmas, especially
with its comedic elements and touch of black humour. Remember... this
game is still for kids!
The gaming environments of Medieval Moves is quite
colourful and diverse with a variety of areas that you will explore, all
with a Medieval theme. My favourite places are the crypts which have
this foreboding nature to them with a couple of scares thrown in food
good measures.
At its core, Medieval Moves is an on-rails adventure which has a fixed
point of view from your character. As control is left up to the game,
the player must concentrate on other important activities such as
attacking enemies, finding collectibles and solving basic puzzles.
The
game is reminiscent of those on-rails shooters such as House of the Dead
which require you to use the Move controller to
dispatch your enemies. Weapons are the highlight of the combat system
which includes a sword, throwing stars, dynamite and a bow and arrow.
Add in a shield and you have all the tools you need to fight and defend.
My favourite weapon is the sword because the game allows you to swing
the Move controller just like you would a real sword.
Your bow also is ideal for taking out enemies from a distance as are your
throwing stars. Dynamite however causes you to take out several enemies.
The aiming mechanics for your bow is a little out which reminds
me of those rifles at a Theme Park with the bent barrels. Although it
is fun to mimic pulling an arrow from your virtual quiver on your back
and then cock the bow. Another aspect with your ranged weapons is that
you have an unlimited supply of arrows and throwing stars which does
assist when the enemies come hard and fast.
As mentioned, dynamite is the most powerful weapon in the game and using
this is quite fun via the Move controller. There are power-ups for your
weapons and this is engaged by moving the controller to your belt.
In order
to use dynamite, you need to cover the ball of the Move controller like
you are protecting the wick from the wind which then allows you to lite
the stick and throw it. Very cool!
BOOM! If you do become injured which you will, Deadmund needs to drink milk in order to restore his health and this
action is performed by pretending you are drinking from the controller.
Overall, the controls work in Medieval Moves, however
the gameplay does become quite repetitive midway through the game and
although enemies change, you are limited to a set number of attacks
which remains constant through the entire game.
The game even supports a
two-player competitive and cooperative mode if you want to team up or
challenge your friends. You can even play online too. It's fun but for
the most part, single-player is the winner here.
Graphics & Audio
As mentioned the game has this real Tim Burton feel to it with all the
skeletons and Medieval locations. I really enjoyed the cartoon
atmosphere behind this spooky tale for kids and all the characters and
bosses are well animated with lots of shadows, lighting and special
effects thrown in for good measures.
Cut scenes are another highlight of
the graphics which sometimes jump out at the player as they have been
exceptionally well made. Music is great with a eerie atmosphere behind
the tunes and sound effects come together rather well with the gameplay.
Final Level
Medieval Moves is a game aimed at kids, so if you're a
veteran gamer, don't expect this to be a game changer in relation to
Playstation Move games.
I did arrange for my 10-year old nephew to come
over and play this game with his dad. My nephew had a ball, although all
that swinging did make my heart race, especially with my trusty 3D TV
only metres away from his sword shenanigans as he was killing skeletons by
the dozen.
All in all Medieval Moves is not the most original game but as an
on-rails shooter type game for kid, it hits the spot. |
