I'm not much of a console player. It's been a long time since I've been able to play a console game for hours on end. I used to be able to sit down at the TV and spend hours and hours playing Final Fantasy, or just about any other RPG, but once I got into computers, my console gaming time has been reduced to the length of a quick game of NCAA 2005 on the Xbox Live network. Even then, by the end of the game, I'm ready to turn off the TV.
Enter Galleon for the XBox. Wow. Somehow this one slipped past my "cool game" radar. I'm not up to speed on the whole history of the development, but from what I've read recently it appears to have been a rough development (originally scheduled for a 1999 release, I believe). Galleon was created by the same folks that brought us the first Tomb Raider (Toby Gard and Paul Douglas), which is what initially brought it to my attention. I heard about it in passing, went to look at some screenshots, then a movie or two, and the next thing I knew was that I owned a copy in my hands.
The first thing I notice in a game is how pretty it is, and Galleon is pretty darn pretty. But, it's got a style of artwork to it that a lot of people won't like. The characters are in "hero" proportion - huge chests, muscular legs, hero smiles, and so on. The 3D models are intentionally polygonal (i.e. blocky). In fact, the artwork reminds me of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker quite a bit. It's not nearly as cartoony, but still in the same family.
The animation is on par with Prince of Persia, though it will take some time to get use to the controls. The game does have a tutorial, and they were smart enough to mix it in with the opening story of the game. I particularly like how they tell us that we aren't controlling Rhama (the main character), rather, we are controlling the camera and he will get himself there. The idea is that you 're able to give him a direction, and he'll overcome any obstacles in his way. This isn't entirely true, but if you 're new to the 3rd person genre, then it makes sense.
Speaking of controls, they are very simple to learn. Most 3rd person games have us controlling the character with the left thumbstick, and the camera with the right. That's always been overkill for me. It seems to me that the camera should be intelligent enough that I don't need a seperate control for it. Such is the case in Galleon. The left thumbstick controls the camera (i.e. the direction that Rhama faces), and while sometimes the camera gets you a bit dizzy, it does work well.
The A button jumps, whilst B puts you into a "free-look" mode. While you hold B down, the camera zooms into Rhama's head, and you control exactly what to look at. X and Y enter combat mode. X is your basic attack, and Y is your area attack, allowing you to attack more than one enemy at a time. The right trigger is used to hold onto climbable surfaces, and climbing is fun! When you grab onto a cliff, the camera changes to make it appear that the cliff is the floor (those of you prone to vertigo, watch out!), and your character scampers along like an ant! It's great!
The controls can get more complicated once you start fighting. There are combo moves that you can do once you build up enough combat points. I haven't quite mastered them yet, but it's just a matter of practice.
The moment I knew that I was going to like this game was while I was crossing a chasm on a rock bridge. This section is set at a high altitude, with wind blowing from left to right. You 're able to see Rhama's hair and clothes blowing in the wind, and the 3 other people that you 're following also reflect the wind movement with their hair, clothes, and stance – they lean into the wind. Whilst I was running across, I jumped, and was almost blown off the bridge! It's been the little touches like that that have made this game fun so far.
This has been a first impression of the game, my thoughts of it after about 4 hours of play. I still have much more to play through, so time to get back to it! I give it 18 thumbs up... ok, I'm not sure where I came up with 18... just roll with it!
I've been gaming for just about as long as I can remember. I think my first gaming experience was with an old Atari 800 (XL?). You could boot this thing up and it would allow you to type in Basic. I can't rememberif it would allow me to save it or not, but I do remember that I had a big book of Basic games. I would pick one, and spend hours typing it in, hoping that I hadn't made a type in a couple hundred lines of code.
Since then I've played on just about every platform available. I'm mostly a PC gamer now, so i fondly remember my first real gaming experience on a PC. My parents bought an Apple IIc, and it came with a mouse. But the mouse was pretty new then, so the computer had software to teach you how to use the mouse. One of the tools in that software was a fly swatting game. That was some fun stuff!!
Once I got out of high school my horizons broadened a good deal. I went to school for computer animation with the intention of going to work for a game company as an artist. However, I ended up learning more about 2d graphic and web design than I did about 3d animation. When Ultima Online was released, I started stumbling across the "network sites" (Crossroads, Stratics, etc). Finally I got around to applying for work at Crossroads. They brought me on as the Site Manager for the unnamed Starwars Online game that was in the works (now known as Star Wars Galxies).
Since that time, I handed over the reigns to the SWG site and Crossroads changed to the WarCry network. I worked with them for a few years doing site design mostly, but it was about the best learning experience I've had to date. I had the chance to get my name known in the community, and at this most recent E3 I had a developer recognize my name... woo!
So that's me. I love doing this kind of work, and one day I hope to be getting paid for it. :)
