Platform: Xbox 360
Publisher: Sega Of America, Inc.
Genre: Adventure
Release: Oct 2008 Rated: Mature
Features: Quest for vengeance and engage in vicious melee combat in fantasy world
Unleash barbaric killing moves and dismembering attacks
Explore huge, ravaged, destructible landscape
Weapon upgrades and powerful unlockable elemental-based spells and magic
Features never-before seen character skills and abilities
Summary: Sega's Golden Axe series was once a revered franchise in the 16-bit days, then just seemed to die off as new generations of consoles came and went. Golden Axe: Beast Rider attempts to put a new spin on Sega's classic series, and utterly fails. Playing as returning heroine Tyris Flare, you are on a journey of revenge against the evil Death Adder. There are hordes of enemies to duke it out with and dismember, but the game is pretty much a bore from beginning to end. Not because of the gameplay itself per se, but just how the game is designed. There are some good looking environments and effects, but much of what you see in Golden Axe just looks bland. It doesn't help that the game's controls are awkward (and occasionally unresponsive) during combat, and especially when trying to handle the game's assortment of beasts. The few high points of Golden Axe are that the game is quite brutal in terms of bloody violence, and there is a decently lengthed quest as well. Getting through it however is a different story all together. One last thing though: where is the co-op mode? I seem to remember half the fun of the old Golden Axe games was teaming up with a pal, and there is no such thing to be found here. All in all, no matter how much of a fan you may be of the original, classic Golden Axe, Golden Axe: Beast Rider is an ultimate failure that doesn't live up to the pedigree of the original in the least, and in the end is best left on the shelf.
Publisher: Sega Of America, Inc.
Genre: Adventure
Release: Oct 2008 Rated: Mature
Features: Quest for vengeance and engage in vicious melee combat in fantasy world
Unleash barbaric killing moves and dismembering attacks
Explore huge, ravaged, destructible landscape
Weapon upgrades and powerful unlockable elemental-based spells and magic
Features never-before seen character skills and abilities
Summary: Sega's Golden Axe series was once a revered franchise in the 16-bit days, then just seemed to die off as new generations of consoles came and went. Golden Axe: Beast Rider attempts to put a new spin on Sega's classic series, and utterly fails. Playing as returning heroine Tyris Flare, you are on a journey of revenge against the evil Death Adder. There are hordes of enemies to duke it out with and dismember, but the game is pretty much a bore from beginning to end. Not because of the gameplay itself per se, but just how the game is designed. There are some good looking environments and effects, but much of what you see in Golden Axe just looks bland. It doesn't help that the game's controls are awkward (and occasionally unresponsive) during combat, and especially when trying to handle the game's assortment of beasts. The few high points of Golden Axe are that the game is quite brutal in terms of bloody violence, and there is a decently lengthed quest as well. Getting through it however is a different story all together. One last thing though: where is the co-op mode? I seem to remember half the fun of the old Golden Axe games was teaming up with a pal, and there is no such thing to be found here. All in all, no matter how much of a fan you may be of the original, classic Golden Axe, Golden Axe: Beast Rider is an ultimate failure that doesn't live up to the pedigree of the original in the least, and in the end is best left on the shelf.