Silver

Author's Rating:

Pros: Wonderful Presentation, Emersive Story line

Cons: AI Combat problems, no control of character development

Author's Review
And so we enter the realm of Silver a game with a story line that is truly an epic of good versus evil; which pitches you the heroic knight against the wicked sorcerer and his evil minions. The tale revolves around you (the hero David) trying to avenge the stealing away of the women of the town, amongst who is your beloved wife, by Silver’s son Fuge. As the plot thickens and David’s Quest expands it becomes apparent that Silver’s lust for power has led him to more sinister plans than just trying to find a new wife! I won’t go any further as I don’t what to give too much away but there is the usual combination of treachery, madness and the odd touch of humour that all add to the feel of the game
The game comes from a relatively unexplored perspective of the PC RPG genre. Developed by Spiralhouse and published by Infogrames it takes a very Japanese view of RPG. This type of game has been mainly restricted to the console previously (Final Fantasy VII being the major exception) and comes as quite a refreshing change. And without further adieu let’s have a look at it in a bit more detail.

Well how do I look sir?

The visuals in the game are based around pre-rendered 3D set pieces and the animated polygon characters you guide round them. That sounds kinda dull huh? Well you couldn’t be further from the truth, this game has to have some of the most stunning back drops I have ever seen! They really do take your breath away, and I would often find myself just staring at the backdrops while my characters were taking a good kicking. Although some of the screens take place at funny angles, which can make the combat elements sometimes a little confusing, the overall effect on the atmosphere of the game is very effective. For example the city of Rain, where surprisingly enough it always rains looks foreboding, dank and claustrophobic and has a very Gothic feel to it, while David’s home seems warm and welcoming, the game is definite eye candy. The character themselves, although not particularly detailed are extremely well animated, be it the hulking form of Jug, or the nimble martial artistry of Cagen

Ahh the Music, the Music

Likewise with the graphics, the music sits perfectly with the atmosphere. There is a wonderful musical score which reflects the particular area you are in, and the characters all have their individually, and professionally acted voices (non of the programmers getting their mates in to do the voice-overs here!) Silver and Fuge sound evil, David sounds like the young warrior he is developing to be, and the imps sound plain demented. You have to love it!



But just because it looks like a rose, and sounds like a rose does not make it a rose?

So it sounds good, it looks great, but how does it play? The answer on the hole is very well. Admittedly there are a few shortcomings that I will shortly come to, but largely it is very enjoyable to play. The combat system moves away from the typical ‘roll of dice’ play of most RPG contests and is directly controlled by the played by holding the mouse buttons and moving in accordance with the techniques taught by your Grandfather at the start of the game. At first it can be a little confusing, but with practice it becomes very intuitive, and great fun as you run around the entirety of the screen looking for that tactical advantage and at the same time blocking and attacking yourself.
However the combat AI is not all it should be for when you add new party members. Your Grandfather, who is with you at the start of the game, is controlled well by AI, but you must take personal control of the characters that can join your group later in the game. In combat situations one false click (which is where the funny angles of the landscapes come in) can end up with your supposed companions standing round like a bunch of lemons getting a pounding from Silver’s minions. It can get quite frustrating when it the heat of a close battle you’re suddenly fighting on your own, and led me to spend most of my time using magic so to avoid this occurrence which took out some of the sword swiping fun of the game.
Another potential downer is that you have no control over the advancement of your party, mainly as there are very few respawning creatures (you clear one screen of monsters at a time as you move on but they mostly will not return). This takes out a lot of the feeling of personal input in your character, but by the same thing this is not the type of character exploration game of the Baldur’s Gates of this world, but a game that is very tightly focused to the story line.

So do we get to keep her mommy?

Overall it can be said of Silver that it plays like watching a very good film, or reading a great book. It is totally enthralling and emersive. I found myself playing for countless hours on end to get a look at the next chapter (the game itself is set out into a chapter like form by the need to collect orbs to defeat Silver). If your looking for a game that allows you to control all aspects of your character, Silver is probably not the one for you, but if your looking for something that is simply good fun and enjoyable to play I would heartily recommend it for your collection.