New RPG on DS Brings Astounding Graphics and More
The Nintendo DS is not at all synonymous with games that have good 3D graphics. Buzzwords like Frames Per Second, Dynamic Lighting, and Draw Distance are seemingly foreign to the DS. However, one new title for the platform coming out this Fall is poised to smash that stereotype; Fighting Fantasy: The Warlock of Firetop Mountain is possibly the best looking game to grace the DS to-date, and better yet, it's like Bethesda's Oblivion, but in your pocket.
Fighting Fantasy is a first-person RPG on DS by developer Big Blue Bubble, being published by Aspyr Media. Big Blue Bubble has teamed up with authors Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone and their 14 million selling book series, Fighting Fantasy, to bring the mega-selling story of The Warlock of Firetop Mountain to the DS. As luck would have it, Gaming Union had the opportunity to trek over to Big Blue Bubbles' studios for some hands-on time with the game.
With award winning authors behind its source material, Fighting Fantasy on DS is very well written. The game opens with a series of seemingly unrelated questions directed at the player, which range from ethics, to bragging, to power versus wisdom. The player has several options for answering each question, with it all adding up to Fighting Fantasy figuring out what sort of person the player is, and in turn, what class of character best suits them. For more advance players though, character attributes are customizable.
The game is set in yee olde age, of sorcery, swords and bows. The story opens with a short but concise premise (which is completely skippable) about the fabled riches of Zagor, the warlock of firetop mountain. At the beginning of the game the player-character sets out to find the fabled riches, with gameplay beginning at a town dock, where the wow begins.
During the hands-on, we ended up being a Silent Assassin. As a Silent Assassin, players start off with a bow and (unlimited) arrows. Gameplay runs on the top screen of the DS, entirely in first-person, with your weapon visible in front of you when in-use. The graphics are astounding as they run at a fluid 60 Frames Per Second, in full-3D environments. Players can run and look in any direction, high and low, and the level design certainly takes advantage of this as there are vertical elements to each environment. While this would normally seem standard, it's all quite impressive to witness running on the DS.
Controls are simple as the D-Pad controls walking/running, direction and strafing, while using the stylus on the touch screen controls aiming on the top screen. The touch screen also handles the menu system via touch controls and icons. With the "Quick Button Programming Menu" items and weapons can be assigned to numerous quick-use slots on the touch screen as well. The center quick-use slot is best suited for weapons, as clicking the L or R button will use whatever is assigned to that slot.
The only graphical down-side is that enemies and other characters are large 2D sprites, rather than animated 3D models. However it works well and looks fine in tandem with the environments and size of the DS's screen. The game also features impressive dynamic lighting and draw distance. Jumping ahead somewhat, later into the game, while walking through a forest, all the elements of the graphics worked together to truly impress. Trees were fully rendered, and looking out into a water filled quarry more trees could be seen in the distance past an island. The lighting looked great as there was a morning fog in the forest that became thicker into the distance. Environment textures were also good, with even scribbles of text on the surface of a book on a table.
Going into town from the dock, the player-character learns more and more of the legendary warlock of firetop mountain. Stories vary, and pieces don't line up much between each town-person's claims, adding to the mystery of what's inevitably ahead in the game. As a Silent Assassin, the player-character had to first prove their skill in combat before acquiring a key to progress out of the town towards the mountain, which essentially was the combat tutorial. With a bow and arrows, combat was quite straight forward, as players use the stylus to accurately aim the bow, and click the L or R button to shoot an arrow. Aiming was extremely precise with the stylus, even with the small screen of the DS. Bare firsts are also available for some close-quarters combat.
Also at players disposal is a compass, way-point indicator, and map (that can be drawn on), which are definitely essential for this type of game, and are put to good use in Fighting Fantasy. The game is quite text heavy, most times characters have quite a lot to say. However, the quality of writing keeps it bearable, and not to mention it is kept quite concise with each interaction. Clicking through text with the stylus did lead to some accidental double-tapping past a screen-full of text from time to time though, so use of the A button for progressing through dialogue was optimal.
Going from the town, through the forest, the player-character wound up walking through a cavern with multiple paths. Lighting in the caverns and detail in environmental objects, such as those in a cathedral inside the caverns, continued to astound, especially with the use of shadows and light source. In the cavern was the first time the player-character encountered enemies, mostly troll-like beasts. The enemies dealt quite a lot of damage, but also walked quite slow. Whether all enemies are as slow as those seen during our hands-on time, or eventually become faster throughout the game, was unclear. However, thanks to realistic environment proportions, being cornered by an advancing monster was common, and so was being beaten by them, to death. Thank goodness for auto-save.
There are also three types of items to acquire: weapons, armor, and consumables. Armor and weapons can be mixed and matched, and items can be used generally at any time.
Overall Fighting Fantasy impressed as the story was intriguing, dialogue was good, and at times some chatter was honestly funny. Gameplay worked great in 3D with well-thought-out controls, and combat proved engaging and challenging. Much credit is due to the title for not only bringing possibly the best graphics to the DS, but also the gameplay, story, and pacing to round out the game as one formidable title. Fighting Fantasy: The Warlock of Firetop Mountain, is due out October 26th, and Gaming Union is certainly looking forward to really digging into the game in our forthcoming review.
