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Platform: Xbox
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Aeon FluxScore: 6.3 / 10 |
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Pros: -
Acrobatic heroine, cool platforming segments - Unique storytelling mimics the cartoon
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Cons: -
Clumsy fighting controls - Uninspired gameplay |
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"...this is one of those titles that pieces together parts of other, better games, and somehow still comes away feeling a little bit empty." |
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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,
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 - |
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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 |
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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.
- Kurt Kalata (January 1, 2006)
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