Final Fantasy 7 : Dirge of Cerberus on Playstation 2

Do you remember “Final Fantasy 7“? How defeating Sephiroth at the end just left us craving for more?
Well, sit back, pull out your Cerberus pistol and have some fun! The ‘Final Fantasy 7″ world is back
again, in Square-Enix’s new action game, “Final Fantasy 7: Dirge of Cerberus”

You play the game as Vincent Valentine, that lovable vampire who still seems to be angry he was awoken by Cloud. For many years, people have been asking for spin-off games from “FF7” featuring other characters and that is exactly what you get here. The game is set three years after the events of “FF7” as conflict still rages, a band of powerful soldiers appears from under the ruins of Midgar, having been trapped there since the climax of “FF7”.

Obviously a little peeved, this group (known as the Deepground Solders) sets about finishing the work Shinra started and Vincent is one of their main targets. Pursued by members of the Deepground Soldiers (come on, they were underground three years and that’s the best name they could come up with??) Vincent finds himself on a mission to survive long enough to save the world again and along the way, discovers the truth to the secrets that cloud his past.

So is this an RPG, like Final Fantasy games past, or a shooter? Well, almost both. The RPG elements include leveling up and customizing Vincent, from weapons to magic. The shooter elements of the game are also very evident and seems to try hard to be like that of the “Devil May Cry” series, with fast blasting 3D platform action. One of the coolest things is the ability to customize and upgrade your weapons, and although the actual selection of weapons is a little disappointing, adding the much loved materia to create different effects for different enemies gives more depth.

The shooting elements of the game can be played in 1st of 3rd person, which creates good value if, like me, you have a preference. I preferred 3rd person when playing “Dirge” as it allows jumps and double jumps to be more effective. Also, look out for a few old friends, such as Yufi and Cait Sith who appear up in cameo roles, accentuating the story line. Aside from the shooter elements, the game does also feature some stealth modes where you actually get to play as Cait Sith which helps balance out the game play nicely and add a refreshing change of pace.

The graphics in the game are well rendered and with a good frame rate, powers the game into beautiful looking fare. Some aliasing problems take away from this but not nearly enough to severely effect the well rendered characters and beautiful cut scenes. The cut scenes can, however, be too long (Noooooo! Not another 10 minute long ‘planet smashing meteor’ attack cut scene!) Anyone who’s played the Final Fantasy series will be pleased with this game, lapping up yet more information on the most loved Final Fantasy story.

But what could have been an amazing addition to the series, comes off as more of a generic shooter title, with not a lot of depth given to the actual area of shooting bad guys. As said before though, the game does excel in it’s storyline and has great character development throughout, allowing us to go into areas of understanding on the FF7 world only previously dreamed of.

No online features also takes a little away from the game but it does have around 45 bonus missions which can be unlocked by beating the game on one of its multiple difficulty settings.

The makers of the acclaimed “FF7” game took a risk with this game, adding the action real-time shooter element to the game and taking from the role play parts. Unfortunately, it didn’t pay off. What we are left with is a an ‘a’ typical run and gun shooter with some interesting RPG features. If you’re a huge “Final Fantasy” fan, there will be more than enough to satisfy here. Though not a bad game, if you’re looking for another “Devil May Cry“, you may want to look elsewhere.

GRAPHICS : 8/10 –

• Beautifully rendered characters and cut scenes make you think at points your watching “Final Fantasy Advent Children” again.

SOUND : 8/10 –

• Nice soundtrack that brings back memories of older final Fantasy games and good voice acting throughout.

GAME PLAY : 5/10 –

• Ouch. The game play is almost like getting pistol-whipped with Cerberus itself! Weak shooting and aiming structure, simple run-and gun fare with a stripped RPG element.

OVERALL : 7/10 –

• Find almost everything out about one of “Final Fantasy’s” most loved characters (No, we don’t get to see if he wears boxers or briefs!) whilst immersing yourself once again in the fabled world of “Final Fantasy 7”

Title: Final Fantasy 7: Dirge of Cerberus
Price : $49.99
Release date : August 15th, 2006
ESRB Rating : “T” for “Teen”: Mild Language, Use of Tobacco, Violence
Published by : Square-Enix
Developed by : Square-Enix