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Aeon
Flux
Score: 6.8 / 10
At the beginning of Aeon Flux, the Terminal
Reality logo pops up, and everything makes sense, Terminal Reality is
the development team behind the BloodRayne games, so it seems
appropriate that they'd take the helm behind Peter Chung's
animated-turned-real-life hottie. Even though they have experience
working with deadly women, unfortunately, they still don't have much
luck constructing a particularly compelling game.
Aeon Flux begins with a montage of clips from the original cartoon,
followed by a computer rendered Charlize Theron pulling off some crazy
action maneuvers. The game blends concepts from both the original MTV
cartoon and the recent movie -- while the look and feel is borrowed from
the flick, the structure is based on the
cartoon. Each chapter focuses on a
different "reincarnation" of Aeon, and most of them end tragically.
Almost all of them involve Aeon's counterpart Trevor Goodchild, usually
portrayed as a nemesis, always portrayed as a love interest. Also
joining in on the action are several other characters: Una, Aeon's
sister, Sithandra, a crazy woman with arms for feet, and Freya, Trevor's
assistant. There's also a bit of optional back story,
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which
can be accessed in the option screen after picking up various entries
sprinkled through the level. It's pretty clear that the developers had
the fans in mind when they made this game, so keeping close to the
source material not only pleases the old school, but helps keep the
newcomers comfortable. The atmosphere is undoubtedly cheesy - this is a
futuristic dystopia where supermodels not only prance down the catwalk
but also engage in mortal combat - but it's unique, even when it can't
tell the difference between "post-modern" and "goofy".
The actual game plays much like BloodRayne 2, which should come as no
surprise. Aeon is just a bit more acrobatic than Rayne, and the levels
feature a decent blend of gunplay, platforming, and hand-to-hand combat.
The fighting is somewhat simplistic, and is a bit unwieldy due to the
lack of a target lock-on. However, there are a handful of fancy
finishing movies that lend a bit of style to the otherwise standard
proceedings. Aeon can snap the neck of her foes, drain their life or
toss them at other attackers. In one of the coolest maneuvers, you can
plant a bomb on them, leap straight into the air and watch as your
helpless foe meets an explosive end. Although there are a handful of
weapons, the ammunition is fairly limited, so you'll usually be focused
more on close encounters. The lack of an efficient target switching
options hampers things further. Most of the enemies are also armed with
weapons, so ultimately the combat can get rather frustrating, but the
constant checkpoints and health pick-ups ensure that it never gets too
difficult.
The developers were clearly fans of the recent Prince of Persia games
when designing some of the platforming challenges. Aeon can dash along
walls, run alongside ledges, hang on designated blowing poles or bounce
back and forth between enclosures. It's all rather simplistic -- just
point in the direction of the ledge, then jump -- but it looks and feels
impressive, especially when the camera work shows off some of the more
impressive environments. If you do manage to screw up and fall do your
doom, you're resurrected nearby, so falls are never really dangerous.
Aeon is also equipped with a grappling hook, which lets you scale up
walls or bungee jump off certain spots. Leaping down a huge chasms while
firing off shots at attacking bad guys comprise some of the few moments
of the game that are genuinely impressive. The rest of the game is
fairly standard - follow the onscreen directions, beat up some guys,
maybe take control of a gun turret or two. It's all stuff you've done
before, although it's never terribly executed.
Aeon Flux also has a rather bizarre obsession with ball-rolling, perhaps
inspired by Metroid's Samus Aran. Aeon can send little orbs to dodge
obstacles and disable traps. Similarly, there are segments where Aeon
herself enters into a huge ball to roll around in, slamming into guards
and running off ramps. It certainly fits in with the avant-garde
atmosphere of the game.
While the visual style is based off the movie, the graphics feel a lot
like Capcom's sci-fi action shooter P.N. 03 -- you'll run through
stylish, metallic environments, although they're imbued with a healthy
variety of color. The music is completely unmemorable, but Ms. Theron
provides the purring (if somewhat deadpan) voice of Aeon, lending a
feeling of authenticity for those into the movie. Although there is some
occasional screen tearing and slowdown, the action moves quickly most of
the time.
Aeon Flux fans have been waiting for a game for years. They've been
teased with a PSOne game years ago, until it was cancelled (and
eventually stripped of its license and released as the underwhelming "PAX
Corpus" in Europe.) These are the type of people that will really,
really like Terminal Reality's take on the Aeon Flux universe. To
everyone else, this is one of those titles that pieces together parts of
other, better games, and somehow still comes away feeling a little bit
empty. It is neither particularly offensive nor particularly engrossing,
but for a licensed property, one could certainly do far worse.
