Platform: Xbox

Genre: Platformer

Publisher: Acclaim

Developer: Acclaim Studios Austin

ESRB: T (Teen)

Released: Q1 2003

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Vexx

Score: 8.2 / 10

Pros: 

- Overall solid game
- Monster butts to kick. Astani war talons fused on Vexx's hands: Need I say more?
- Has plenty of challenging hours of gameplay

Cons:

- Nothing innovative in gameplay
- Sometimes hard to figure out cryptic objective hints
- Twitchy camera

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"Vexx ain't no Mario, but then not many games are."

Your morning starts by you discovering most of your friends and family (save yourself and your grandpa) has been brutally murdered, the peaceful planet Astara you call home has been overtaken, and you are forced to become a slave to an evil tyrant, who then eventually kills your grandpa right in front of your eyes. Makes you wonder exactly how good your afternoon is going to wind up. This is the beginning of the storyline of Vexx, a new 3D platformer for the Xbox. Isn't exactly your run-of-the-mill "gotta rescue the princess" plot that so many games fall back on ever since Mario 64 basically created the genre seven years ago, is it?

The basic blueprints of the 3D platformer mapped out by Mario are present in Vexx. There's your hero, items to collect, and plenty of puzzles to solve as you make your way adventuring to a final showdown with an evil nemesis, Yabu. Unlike many Mario-esque titles, however, there's a darker tone to the story and no cute little characters running around. Murderous revenge is all that is on our hero Vexx's Astaraian mind, and he plans to hack and slash his way to it to the ultimate end.

Helping out in your vengeful plans is the ancient Astani war talons that have become fused to Vexx's hands. These are some sweet weapons, shredding monsters and other no-good-doers to a pulp. Vexx's fighting ability is almost unfair against the more rudimentary adversaries with the help of the impressive talons. Against tougher competition, though, you have to be more diligent and careful in your fighting technique to avoid an untimely death. The war talons also double-up as handy climbing gear, although they aren't much help in the many areas of the game where Vexx must swim or sink to his peril. Control-wise, Vexx isn't bad, and in fact, it's one of the best-developed features of the game. Vexx generally does what you want him to do and there's plenty of fighting moves to pull off, although jumping (especially from tall precipices) can be a minor aggravation. Maneuvering the game's altogether twitchy and mind-of-its-own camera is one of Vexx's most vexing undertakings.

Vexx has good graphics, but visually it's not overly spectacular. This was a multiplatform title, so it's obvious that the game wasn't designed to take advantage graphics-wise of the Xbox hardware. Instead, the developers created a game that fits easily within the more-limited capabilities of the PS2 and GameCube. That's a shame for Xboxers, because if this was an Xbox-only title, it's clear that we would have seen a much better Vexx presentation. The characters, including the hero Vexx, are rendered with a
cartoonish quality, but not any cutesy Disney-style cartoon. 

Graphically, Vexx, the other Astaraians, and Yabu's minions are perfectly fitting in the more dark tone of the gameplay. The environments also aren't bad, with some nice touches, especially the beautiful night skies that stealthily starglow overhead when the oncoming twilight hits, but they do have a certain washed-out look to them not seen in the better-rendered Xbox games, again indicative of being a multi-console title.

Sound doesn't really play a big part in the Vexx experience, but nonetheless the score flowing throughout the game could have been stronger. Sound effects play a bigger role in the auditory facet of playing Vexx, but again, don't really stand out much and could have been much better done. Unlike a lot of 3D plarformer titles (such as Mario on any system), you won't be humming Vexx's largely forgettable tunes once you stop playing.

The Vexx adventure is spread out over nine levels, and initially many don't seem too large at all. But there's many a hidden area that more than makes up for the smaller main areas that comprise each of Vexx's levels. There are 70 individual challenges spread out over Vexx's nine levels. These challenges are the toughest aspect of the game, because they aren't always easy to meet and even worse, aren't always easy to figure out what the exact challenge is. Each challenge met gives Vexx one of the shadowraith hearts he needs for the chance to exact his revenge on Yabu.

That's because the clues to understand what's necessary to achieve on each level are given as cryptically confusing messages that seem to be written in with the language of good old Willie Shakespeare himself. Try this: "A reward is concealed somewhere 'twixt pitch and knoll; for it to be revealed just keep in mind your goal." That refers to the Timberdale challenge where you must kick an Astaraian soccer ball into a makeshift net to reveal the shadowraith heart that is the challenge's prize. Not exactly Mensa-hard to
figure out what these phrases are requiring your to do, but may give gamers a few "huh?" moments the first time they read it.

In most platformers, many of the level goals will be the same, and in Vexx that holds true. On all levels you must collect 100 shards, similar to Mario's coins. While that may sound easy enough, many of the shards are well hidden and take some scouting around to discover. Other items crucial to completing challenges are placed in vertigo-inducing areas elevated atop the highest reaches of the Astaraian sky. This can lead to some severely frustrating gameplay, because one mistake attempting to meet the particular
challenge, and it's a long drop down for Vexx, who will then have to try (and sometimes try again and again) to complete the challenge all over once more. One thing's for sure, Vexx isn't easy and nobody can beat this title in a rental's worth of time. This is true despite the fact that just like Mario, the enemies such as the Krunks, Puggles, Grimkins, Skinx, and Flemblossoms (who comes up with these names?) aren't too tough to defeat,
although some of the latter opponents and some of the level "bosses" can be taxing to take down.

When you look at the whole of Vexx, what you come up with is a decent platformer that meets the standards established by Mario 64 of what it takes to be a quality game in the 3D platformer genre. But its biggest flaw is the same as many 3D platformer games that are released today: there's nothing new or innovative in Vexx to make it stand out over many similar type of games. Vexx is exactly what you would expect it to be if you've ever played Mario 64 or the many imitators that have followed it. Still, if you are a fan of the genre and are sick of sugary-coated princess-rescuing and have been searching for a solid 3D platformer Xbox game with a more serious edge, Vexx is a worthy purchase for your gaming collection. Vexx ain't no Mario, but then not many games are. Not a classic, but Xbox gamers will enjoy their Astaraian adventure.

- Lee Cieniawa
lcieniawa@armchairempire.com

(May 18, 2003)

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