E3: Silver impressions

[05.17.00] » Nintendo may have Pokemon Gold, but the Dreamcast has Silver.

   Silver, the corrupt sorcerer, rules the land of Jarrah and has seen to it that all of the women in his kingdom were abducted so he may live up to his part of a pact made with the evil god Apocalypse. Among those apprehended includes the wife of David, the title's main character. Naturally, David then vows to track down his beloved at any cost. Obviously, the storyline is nothing particularly groundbreaking. In fact, much of the title has a more traditional feel to it. Character models are squat and deformed, and in a nod to many PC RPGs, your potential allies are drawn from a pool of warriors practicing the standard selection of fighting forms -- these include Cagen, the martial artist, Sekune the archer, and Jug, who relies fully on his brute strength.

   Borrowing another element that has become a common staple in many recent RPGs, the environment in which the game takes place is made up of pre-rendered images over which the three-dimensional characters are superimposed. Battles themselves also take place atop these backgrounds, rather than switching to a battle scene, and these are handled in true real-time. You control David, the lead character, using a selection of sword strokes intermixed with the appropriate utilization of the shield for defense. Different strokes have differing range and can be pulled off at mixed speeds, so choosing the proper attack for the moment is crucial. As for the rest of characters currently aiding in your endeavors, these are controlled by the computer. Thankfully, from what was shown, your computer party members also do a fairly admirable job of dispatching opponents, which is a relief in light of other titles that have tried something similar, only to stick you with allies with the battle sense of a liver fluke.

   In the form shown, Silver is more a combination of tried-and-true RPG elements than anything else. The pre-rendered backgrounds look fairly sharp and pleasing to the eye, and although comparatively low in polygon count, characters themselves are smoothly animated and certainly get the job done. Whether Silver will be able to stand up to the likes of such peers as Eternal Arcadia remains to be seen, but RPG fans who couldn't resist grabbing the latest hardware should be glad to see more companies trying to represent the RPG genre on the Dreamcast.