When most gamers think back to 1995, the first generation 32-bit games, they think of WarHawk, Destruction Derby, and Ridge Racer. But for many Sega loyalists, the early 32-bit era was a time of Clockwork Knight, Daytona U.S.A., and more importantly, Panzer Dragoon.
At a time when stores were littered with shooters and action games, Panzer Dragoon stood apart by offering a world filled with style and personality. It was an action game, but also had a deep story, and some amazing visual effects. It was easily the most impressive first generation Sega Saturn game.
While it didn't do especially well stateside, Sega had enough confidence to stick behind the product and create an impressive sequel, Panzer Dragoon Zwei. And if that wasn't enough, the Saturn was once against blessed with a role playing game modeled after the series, called Panzer Dragoon Saga.
Even after all that, the Panzer Dragoon series was not a hit, if anything it had more of a cult following. But I'm one of those rare gamers who hangs on to games like this, and have been engrossed in the series for many years now. Not only were they fun adventures, but they also offered imaginative visuals, great music, and a grade A story.
I could probably reminisce about past Panzer Dragoon games all day given the chance, but I would be forgetting about the reason I started talking about Sega's legendary series in the first place. It is, after all, the newest title in the franchise, Panzer Dragoon Orta, which gives us reason to remember Sega's past exploits.
In many ways Orta stays true to the Panzer Dragoon legacy, it's a shooting game set on a specific track, one that you, generally speaking, have no control over. But unlike a light gun game, like House of the Dead III, Panzer Dragoon Orta offers much more interaction with the surroundings.
Unique to the genre, Panzer Dragoon has always offered gamers a complete 360-degree view of the action. Of course, you could only look at a quarter of that at a time, but still, it made you use both your skills and reflexes in a way no other shooting game has ever done. For the first time you ever, you had to not only pay attention to what was ahead of you, but also what was behind and on each side of your flying creature.
While you have the ability to look around in every direction, it does need to be made clear that when it comes down to where you go, you are mostly at the whim of your trusty dragon. You can move around the screen to avoid on-coming attacks, but outside of a few choice moments, the game plays like a roller coaster ride.
This is not a bad thing. In fact, it's done so well that you hardly notice. After all, you almost always have your hands full with enemies and obstructions to dodge. And when you aren't fighting other flying dragons, you have some of the most awe-inspiring background visuals every made to look at. Not only are they highly detailed, but also artistic, bordering on fine art. It's a shame you fly by them so quickly, and have to look away so frequently, most gamers will miss out on most of it, and frankly my words cannot express how amazing the level of designs are.
The game is extremely easy to get into, as well. It starts as a simple story of a caged girl, Orta (who looks like a cross between folk/rock singer Aimee Mann and Daryl Hannah in Blade Runner), who in her most vulnerable moment, is saved by a mysterious dragon. You see, Orta has lived her entire life a prisoner, until one day she is attacked by a bunch of Dragonmares. This, and other finer details, are all explained in one of the most exciting cinemas I have seen recently. It's hard to imagine an opening that will better prepare you for what's in store for the rest of your adventure.
Once escaped, Orta finds she has enough time to ponder the importance of her being, and more perhaps more pressing, whether or not she is a manufactured war machine. Told through impressive, and non-intrusive cinemas, Orta's story twists and turns back and forth in epic fashion. Even gamers new to the series should have no problem seeing how this franchise could be made into a Role Playing Game.
The tale of Orta is split into ten different levels, each getting crazier as you go along. And while the action might not change much throughout the game, the level designs certainly do. In one level you may be running through a blizzard, while in another you are flying over a desert. Yet, in another stage you will be taking out an entire on-coming air force, complete with wacky technology, bioengineer dragons, and extremely large airships. And the backgrounds don't just change from level to level; sometimes you take a turn to something completely unexpected right in the middle of the level. You never really know what you are going to see next.
Most of the levels offer at least one multiple path you can take, though a lot of the time you won't even know you took one until the level ends. These cleverly hidden path changes add some depth to the game play, even if they are few and far between. In some levels, especially towards the end, you can change paths several times before getting to the level boss.
Much of Panzer Dragoon's game play has remained the same, but there are quite a few changes that have been made to improve the feel of Orta. Like the past games, players control a crosshair-style icon all over the screen to indicate where you want to shoot. The dragon you ride moves to correspond with where your icon is, and thus gives you limited, but manageable control over yourself.
Like the original Panzer Dragoon, you can shoot enemies one at a time, or hold the button down to target a number of baddies all at the same time to get the job done faster. Yet, this game isn't really about shooting everything on the screen. Instead it forces you to cycle through three different types of Wings, each with their own strengths and weaknesses.
For example, the standard form, Base Wing, allows you to aim at quite a few different attackers as well as speed up and slow down. The Heavy Wing, in contrast, does not allow you to adjust your speeds, and limits your aiming to three people at a time, but its attack is much more aggressive, and takes quite a bit more life off the enemy.
There is also a rather interesting form called the Glide Wing, which allows riders to dodge enemy fire with ease, as well as not worry about aiming, since it does that for you. This form also allows you to speed up and slow down more than either two other forms, making it the most useful defensive Wing your dragon can take. Figuring out when to use each of these different forms is paramount in becoming good at Panzer Dragoon Orta.
It's also vital you learn how to properly speed up and slow down. Early in the game this aspect doesn't play much of a role, but after level three or four all of the bosses require you to figure out when you need to speed up and when you should slow down. This feature of the game is presented extremely well, and once you have mastered it you shouldn't have much of a problem implementing it into your regular game play.
As you progress through the game the attacking enemies and bosses become much more challenging, but that's not a problem, since you can upgrade each of your Wings a number of times. These upgrades allow for faster attacking, stronger hits, and better defense, and they improve the overall look of your dragon.
There is also a power-up meter that once filled, triggers a rather impressive special attack that is Wing specific. These special attacks are both damaging and fun to look at; no matter if it's the first time or hundredth time you've seen them. Like everything else in the game, this attack should be used strategically, making this one of the deepest action games of all time.
Oh, and did I mention that the game looks phenomenal? Outside of Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell, Orta is by far the best looking game on the Xbox. The backgrounds are rich with detail, and will amaze you every step of the way. This game is overflowing with personality, and looks like nothing you've ever seen
But it's not just the backgrounds and the worlds you visit that look outstanding, the dragon Orta rides is one of the most beautiful beasts ever seen in a video game. The way the wings reflect the Sun that beats down on the world is unbelievable, and has to be seen to be believed. Depending on the type of Wing you are using, different colors glow as the light hits it, it's yet another one of those effects that is almost impossible to properly explain.
And as great as the game looks, the audio is on par, if not better. Like a well-crafted movie, the incidental music fits perfectly, and adds to every scene in the game. And best of all, there are times you completely forget the music is there, because it feels like such a natural fit. There's even a theme song that plays over the closing credits that is by far one of the best songs I have ever heard in a video game.
While the sounds effects sound good, and are convincing in all their Dolby Digital 5.1 glory, it's the games vocals that should be pointed out. Like the games before it, this Panzer Dragoon is filled with a language all its own. Needless to say, all of the story elements are subtitled, though there is a surprisingly small amount of actual dialogue in the game.
This new language may sound funny at first, but after playing through the game, I found myself warming up to the sounds they made. Not only does it actually start to sound cool after awhile, but I bet it was a cinch to port from Japanese to English. It adds a lot to the overall atmosphere of the game.
A few months ago I complained that Sega's Xbox shooter, House of the Dead III, was too short and simply didn't offer enough replay to warrant to purchase. Thankfully Sega has decided to pack Panzer Dragoon Orta with hours worth of extra features, games, and levels to play through. It may not have the replay of, say, Unreal Championship or MechAssault, but it does offer about 20 hours worth of good fun gaming.
Among the numerous extras you can unlock, the original version of Panzer Dragoon is by far the most impressive. Since most gamers likely never played the first adventure, this is a great way to get those people up to date with the mythology. There are also a fair amount of conceptual drawings to look at, as well as a few mission based levels that remind me of the VR stages in Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance.
In all, there is enough here to not only warrant the purchase of Panzer Dragoon Orta, but also highly recommend. It's one of those games that I have found myself playing over and over, not only to get the extra goodies Sega has tucked away, but also to show off the stages, story, and excitement to all my friends.
This is an action gamers dream come true, and if it doesn't make it on the Xbox, then perhaps this franchise was never meant to make it big. Regardless of how it does in the stores, this Panzer Dragoon is one heck of a game, and is hopefully the start to a very good year of video games. This game is a pure masterpiece.
