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By Contributing Writer Jimmy Payne Rating: Average Maken X is a very polished game with great graphics and control, but this alone isn't enough to make it worth $50. The game just isn't that fun for a variety of reasons, including its high difficulty level and repetitive missions. There's no doubt that Maken X has excellent graphics. The overall look of the game is distinctive because it's much more colorful than most action games. Overall, Maken X is more detailed and smooth than the vast majority of action games on the market. Many of the levels are also interactive, with simple but welcome things like collapsing bridges. The only other major strength of Maken X is its control. The commands are logically laid out on the controller, making it easy to get used to pressing the right buttons at the right times. The control set-up always feels natural, even when you're doing some of the game's more complicated tasks. The Zelda-like lock-on feature lets you keep enemies in your sight no matter how hectic the action is. This feature is particularly useful for people who hate circle-strafing because no matter how much an enemy circle- strafes, you can't lose sight of it. It's also cool to be able to lock on to an enemy, jump over it, and then hit it from behind. The main thing that differentiates Maken X from other action games is that the typical battle in Maken X consists of you frantically trying to kill enemies with your sword rather than shooting at them from a distance. This variation on the norm is refreshingly fun at first, it gets old before too long because it makes the game more difficult than most action games. Half the struggle of any confrontation in Maken X is making it to the enemy in one piece. It can get pretty frustrating to have to run up to enemies who are shooting at you with rocket launchers and other long-range weapons. There are quite a lot of health power-ups scattered throughout the levels, but there are often long gaps between them. Your immediate goal throughout most of the game will be trying to stay alive long enough to reach the next health item. Most of Maken X's levels are pretty big, and your actions in certain areas affect how you progress through the game. The large levels would have been a welcome addition to the game if it weren't for the fact that you have to start over at the beginning of the level every time you die. There are no save points or regeneration areas anywhere, and death is often just a matter of meeting up with the wrong enemy or not being able to find enough health items. Just having to constantly start over from the beginning of the level would make this a very repetitive game, but it's made even more repetitive by the scripted nature of the enemy attacks. Rather than giving the enemies dynamic Artificial Intelligence that reacts differently to different situations, the developers of this game programmed the enemies to do the same things every time. Beating the game will test your memorization skills a lot more than your gaming skills. The joke of a story line has too many twists for its own good. There are so many moments that are supposed to be climactic that none of them end up meaning anything. Did Vince Russo write this story? The cut scenes themselves are weird and choppy, like something out of a dream. Finally, the sound consists mainly of techno tunes and poorly-translated voice-overs that will make you want to mute the volume. Good graphics and control don't make a game on their own. Good gameplay is also needed, and Maken X's gameplay is way too unbalanced and repetitive to be considered good. Send your thoughts on this review to jimmy@mastergamer.com
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