Chronicles of the Sword
Developer - Synthetic Dimensions
Publisher - Psygnosis
Players - 1
Extras - Memory card, Mouse
The bit on the box
"Take a solemn oath to serve king,
God & country. On a valiant journey from Camelot to Lyonesse. Aid the
struggle of virtue against malignant sorcery. In a legendary tale of magic
mystery and murder!"
Graphics
Be prepared for some of the lowest resolution and most
badly animated graphics yet seen on the PlayStation. I am amazed Chronicles
of the Sword ever got past Psygnosis' quality control unit, as the
limited animation in the show Southpark appears to have more frames than
what is on offer here. The characters do look detailed close up, but as
you see them from a blurry distance most of the time the detail is somewhat
lost on the player. The backgrounds are another matter altogether, which
are just plain badly drawn and overly dark, making it far too difficult
to spot objects at times (and at least twice in the game you actually have
to pick up objects that don't appear to be on screen at all!!). The cut-scenes
don't improve on things unfortunately, with the same stuttery animation
and also the fact that all the characters shown look like they were modeled
off the same guy. Add to all this that everyone appears adorned in spandex
it all creates a very camp feel that doesn't really show King Arthur's
kingdom in a very good light. What were Psygnosis thinking?
Sounds
Do you own a television that has broken speakers? Then
you will love the sound effects and music in this game. For everyone else
get ready to turn the volume down after about 15 minutes of play. The musical
score is irritating at best, and the few sound effects you may hear are
sampled poorly and add nothing to the lackluster atmosphere. The voice
acting is average, but for some reason all the characters sound bored or
sleepy while they ramble on about nothing in particular (maybe they had
read the script beforehand and realized how tarnished their credibility
would be if anyone ever found out they took part in making this game).
What were Psygnosis thinking?
Gameplay
There is a fairly basic point and click adventure engine
behind Chronicles of the Sword, making the game controls simple
to get into, which may be it's only redeeming feature. I would liken the
game to being a courier simulation, as the puzzles in the game consist
of other characters telling you to obtain an item for them, which you must
do obediently in order to progress. Most people play games to avoid this
sort of carry on (mothers telling them to clean their rooms, wives wanting
light bulbs changed, etc) so why on earth use it as a game's main gameplay
element? Fighting breaks up the monotony here and there, although combat
is few and far between, and consists of blocking about 5 hits before your
character either automatically wins or loses the fight (for instance when
you fight a skeleton, you block about 4 or 5 hits, then the skeleton falls
apart!). What were Psygnosis thinking?
I feel a verdict coming on
At some point Psygnosis came up with an idea. "Hey you
know that game that was badly designed and got many poor reviews on the
PC? Let's convert it to PlayStation and try to rip off consumers by selling
them unadulterated rubbish, nevermind our good reputation!" To think that
good money was wasted in the design of this enormous lemon of a game is
a travesty. It utilizes none of the PlayStation's 3D power and is basically
a bad conversion of a terrible PC game. The graphics are rushed and terribly
drawn, the sound is annoying, and the gameplay and storyline is boring,
and yet Psygnosis found this game fit to be released with their name attached
to it. I have no idea what they must have been thinking at the time but
we can only hope they never think it again. Do not even waste a rental
on this game, it's certainly not worth swashing your buckle for.
Review by D.R.T.Barrett
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