Flam e on , dude !
Flam e on , dude !
Have you ever been stuck in line at the DMV for the better part of a century while the clerks perform their clerkly duties with all the expediency of dyslexic , arthritic , three-toed sloths with carpel-tunnel syndrome ? Have you ever wished you could cause their flesh to ignite into a gleeful bonfire ? No , of course you haven ' t , and you shouldn ' t , either . Yet somehow those mental excursions become a lot less threatening when you ' re pubescent and polygonal . Crave ' s hot new title , Galerians , places you in the role of Rion , a 14 year old amnesiac who enhances his psychic abilities by cultivating an unseemly familiarity with pharmaceuticals .
What sets Galerians apart from others like it is the generous amount of cinema sprinkled throughout the game . In fact , Galerians consumes three whole discs due to the impressive cinemas , which advance the grim story and are almost worth a watch on their own . However , for those who enjoy playing games rather than watching them , Galerians is a bit of a disappointment . The graphics are the appropriately dismal and gloomy pre-rendered environments we ' ve come to expect from Playstation offerings with horror or suspense themes . Although the backgrounds suffer from
lack of interactivity , they look very good .
Galerians is also flawed by poor control . Your default movement is a walk , a painfully slow , hesitant shuffle which makes Rion seem as if he ' s struggling to pass a whole pineapple through his digestive tract . In order to cause any significant damage you will have to charge your power for each attack . Although charging only takes a couple of seconds , that can be plenty of time for an enemy to run up and club you - definitely enough time for them to shoot you .
Rion ' s last defense is to allow himself to " short ." This occurs when Rion ' s psychic anger exceeds manageable levels ( it builds up every time you use a psionic attack ). While shorting , you automatically implode the heads of those witless or luckless enough to be within a certain distance . It has no effect on boss characters , and anyone with a gun can still shoot you and remain at a safe distance .
Coupled with the bad control , redundant , back and forth gameplay will have you searching for your own drugs to take the edge off . Galerians is destined to be a One Trick Pony . Once you ' ve seen the cinemas , there ' s no reason to come back for more . Not the drug of choice .
SCORE