Video Game Review: CIMA: The Enemy, The RPG Sleeper Hit of 2003
The game basically takes place on a world where humans are at war with aliens, called CIMA in this case. You play the role of Ark J., a ‘gate guardian’ who’s job is to protect the gates that act as a pathway between the human and alien world. The CIMA basically feed off human hope and they have builders who design dungeons to trap people in. Here, the people serve as food for the CIMA to feed hope off as they battle monsters and obstacles to try reach the exits.
At the start of the game, you, along with your partner Ivy, are sent aboard a train transporting 14 passengers to the west. The train gets sucked into a CIMA portal, and everyone aboard is taken to a lone piece of land floating in alien space. After a quick tutorial, the 14 passengers get split up by the CIMA into 14 separate dungeons, and it is your role as an honor-bound gate guardian to explore each dungeon, find the passengers, and get them back home.
Game Play – 9/10
This is what makes CIMA stand out of the RPG crowd the most. There are basically 14 dungeons you have to navigate through, each holding one passenger. You encounter many obstacles along the way, some of which involve hitting a switch or killing a special enemy, and at the end of each dungeon there is a (pretty difficult) boss fight. The catch is, after rescuing a passenger, you have to take them along with you throughout each dungeon. While this may seem easy, each civilian is significantly weaker than you, and you’ll have to direct them to move (ala Lemmings), exposing them to dangers as CIMA spawn nests are littered all around the dungeons.
Because of the sadistic nature of your enemy, the obstacles often require you to direct individual passengers into hostile areas to activate switches or get across bridges only they can access. It’s an instant game over if either Ark, Ivy or any passenger gets killed. This gets pretty tedious as the game progresses, when you have to control more than 4 people, as you can only direct them in groups of max. 4. Recovery items are scarce in the game, and you will be constantly checking each person to make sure they are not in danger.
The passengers however, aren’t entirely useless, as some can upgrade your weapons, create potions and items, or access treasure chests in places Ark normally can’t. The trust system works pretty well, as your various actions in the game determine whether or not the passengers trust you. The person may be able to produce special powerups or items if you get their trust levels high. Some stages require you to control a passenger in place of Ark to get through that portion of the dungeon.
CIMA: The Enemy is pretty much a generic hack and slash RPG with a many additional strategic elements added in. The gameplay is hard to describe if you haven’t played it, so think of it as a mixture of Sword Of Mana, Lemmings and Zelda put together.
Control – 6.5/10
This is probably where the game has most flaws in. The passengers move in a very robotic like way, as they walk to the points you select in the fastest way possible. This means they often have difficulty turning corners, and they are prone to walking straight into enemies. They’re pretty much like helpless Lemmings, as they rarely defend themselves and stand still unless you tell them to move. Your partner Ivy is also sluggish in moving, as she gets stuck behind turns and blocks if you walk ahead to fast. It’s all pretty frustrating especially when the game is orientated around keeping your passengers alive.
Apart from the poorly done AI, the button controls are smooth and easy to remember. You use the A button to attack, and the B button brings up your quick inventory, where you can hold only 5 items. The Start button brings up your menu, where you can access your full inventory, check passenger stats, talk to them and change your game options. Pressing Select displays a map showing each passenger and where they are.
The R button is what you will use to move people with, as you can either choose to move everyone in a group or an individual person. You get to assign 3 arrival points at one time, and the people you select will walk to each point in the order you select them. You can also choose the groups in which the passengers are held in with the L button. The controls are very basic, and easy to master.
Story – 8/10
I won’t go into much detail here as I’ve explained most of it in the Introduction. All I’ll say is that CIMA’s storyline is more open ended and less linear, so you can expect more interaction with the passengers (who are more or less all main characters). The actual CIMA bosses are all colorful and have varied personalities, so you won’t be facing the generic ‘evil’ bosses most RPGs throw you with.
Sound – 7.5/10
I can’t say much here either as I’m not much of a fan of GBA soundtracks. Each dungeon has a very different background soundtrack, so you won’t get bored easily.
Graphics – 7.5/10
Fairly decent graphics for (what appears to be) a semi-low budget game. The ground textures look the same throughout each stage, although the characters have nice sprites. Ark’s sprite however, needs some serious tweaking as he always appears to be gliding along the ground with his un-coordinated footsteps. There are quite a few spelling errors in the speeches though, but it’s nothing unreadable (*cough* *cough* Harvest Moon).
Replay Value – 5/10
There are no secret characters or areas to be unlocked from replaying the game, so it’s pretty much a one-run-through RPG. I didn’t really feel like playing it again, mainly because there was nothing extra to be gained. The whole game doesn’t take long to finish (It took me 14-15 hours), and hardcore RPG gamers will probably be disappointed after they finish in 4-5 sittings.
Final Score – 7/10
This is a fairly decent game with an original concept. It won’t be like any RPG you’ve played before, and I promise you won’t be let down. The game does take a lot of patience and retries to get through as it is pretty difficult, with 14 other lives to watch as well as your own. Keep in mind this is probably the first game where you’ve had to fight for someone other than yourself, and I think it’s a nice addition to an otherwise boring hack and slash RPG.
You might have trouble finding this game even in well known stores, so be prepared to order it online (through Epinions and my review of course!). I would recommend this game to both fans and non-fans of the genre, and if you’re someone who’s looking for an original game unlike any other, CIMA: The Enemy is definitely your pick.
