"With all of the sci-fi qualities that could have been implemented, it is a shade disappointing to see that the story didn't go as far as it could have."

Platform: Playstation

Genre: Role-Playing

Publisher: Square EA

Developer: Square

ESRB: M (Mature)

Released: Q3 1998

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Parasite Eve

With both survival-horror and RPGs being quite the popular gaming genres, Square must have thought they would make for a great hybrid: take the theme from a popular novel where mitochondria have attained sentience and make it into a gory spook-fest. Sadly, it didn't turn out nearly as well as it could have, as the story spirals toward a more straightforward path. But with an interesting battle system and some very nice graphics, the game remains fairly pleasurable.

While the story could have made for some great sci-fi, it is rather unfortunate that it digresses to being little more that a "catch the bad guy" plot as the game's heroine, Aya Brea, tries to catch Eve before all of New York can be destroyed. Helping hurt the story further is the weak character development that leans heavily towards being generic. While its not so bad as to cause drowsiness, the plot just isn't very strong. Thankfully the game is very short (it shouldn't take more than 10-15 hours to complete), making the story decent for a quick little fling.

Presentation is very good, as the in-game graphics have been done marvelously, giving the appropriate creepy atmosphere that the story requires. Monster design is very well done, as all sorts of genetic abominations come after Aya. Adding to the tasty visuals are some beautiful CG cut scenes where the artwork is top-notch, giving players a chance to get an extra detailed glimpse of some of the creeping horrors of the game. The one down side to the graphics is the difficult finding hot spots, as everything blends in so well. It also doesn't help that the spots are small too. Also, Aya always looks like she's running in her evening gown that he was wearing at the onset of the game and she runs extremely slow, making traveling the maps tedious.

The battle system is by far Parasite Eve's strong suite. Staying in real time, Aya can run around the field, avoiding monsters' attacks as she waits for her real time bar to fill up, at which point she too can attack. Adding the strategy is the varying range of the firearms that she uses. It's a great change from the usual turn based norm, and quite welcome in the future.

Audio-wise things could be better. The sound quality is quite poor, only being a little better than Final Fantasy VII that came out a year earlier. However the soundtrack is very nice as it provides a pleasant mix of ambient, mood enhancing tracks, as well as some other tunes with a far more defined melody. 

While the game isn't terrible, it is a bit of a let down. With all of the sci-fi qualities that could have been implemented, it is a shade disappointing to see that the story didn't go as far as it could have. Be that as it may, the story is still strong enough to carry the game at a decent pace since it is so short. Add in the nice graphics, good tunes, and innovative battle system, and Parasite Eve is still a respectable title.

- Mr. Nash