Galleon

[JibberX]

Is there a naked patch for this one?.....hold on.

[John Beaulieu]

to block you can't be pressing any attack button, you can only block in the direction the camera is facing. sounds all good until you realise that you can be getting attacked from numerous points of the compass, all at the same time, and you can only block the opponent you are facing

Also you have 2 attack buttons (not counting grapple button - L trigger) and some moves require a combination of the 2 plus direction plus R trigger...... so basically its move camera, move character into position, hold direction of attack and carry out 'stick movement' to activate move....all on the same stick

[James Harvey]

I met a bloke who knows Toby Gard once. I did an impression of Toby for him. He laughed. Toby Gard is a muppet.

[edandersen]

Why do all the guys in this run like Jack Skellington?

[PeteJ]

I'm an hour and a half into this, and...it isn't very good. I actually quite like the graphics; the characters have a nice style and are well acted, the landscapes are large, bright and colourful and the animation is fairly extensive. I thought the training mode was quite well implimented, and I especially liked the last bit when you had to run up to the house along the cliff - it wasn't anywhere near as spectacular as it should have been, but since the characters run at such a speed it was quite a nice moment regardless.

After various naff stuff in this house, including a really frustrating section where you have to find 'clues', you are given three minutes to get back to your boat. Well, I managed it in one minute after falling off the side of the cliff, landing in the water and swimming part way around the island. The problem was my boat wasn't actually where it should have been...the time ran out, as the plot required it too, when suddenly a cutscene popped up and...hey, that's my boat! Wayhey consistency.

One nice feature is the ability to climb on "rough" rocks (rather than "smooth" rocks, which you slide down), as you can climb in any direction. Unfortunately the camera goes crazy and it becomes hell trying to find where you need to get too, though climbing up high does create a good sense of scale, as it did with Tomb Raider. In fact, scale is probably the best thing about the game, and the underwater sections I think are really imperssive, extremely vast.

I gave up when the game forced me to climb across loads of really thin platforms, before eventually reaching a switch that opened a door apparently 10 seconds away, as I was given this time to find the door. Well, I didn't make it and fell off thanks to the unresponsive controls. I really couldn't be bothered to go through it all again.

Although the game isn't that good, it isn't all that bad either. There is something strangely likeable about it, which is probably linked into the likeable characters and the peroid setting. Some of the ideas are quite neat too, such as having to climb up a boss in order to stab them in the head - although doing this is a lot more frustrating and random that it should be.

A bit 'meh' over all, but it does have some interesting moments to make me want to see some more.

[bish]

Puzzles seem well thought out? You mean the 'get item A to go in Object B' (both miles away so mucho backtracking), 'pull level C to open Door D - sometimes intermingled with 'get to Door D before the timer counts down', or surely the 'swim in direction F, whilst your air supply runs out so make sure no wrong turns or you miss the 'airhole' on the way'

riviting stuff indeed

Toby Gard is stuck in Tombraider mode - from the camera work, to the movement (complete with sliding down slopes, diving off cliffs into water etc etc), this game is showing its age AND ITS NOT EVEN ON GENERAL RELEASE YET! its a dc-era game released this gen, with none of the advancements that games released in the past few years have brought to the genre......

it justs seems that you are slating this game because it is not the best looking game on the planet, and also that the controls are different and requires you to have a bit of practise.

i'm really enjoying this game.

[John Beaulieu]

yes i am slating the game due to being a graphics whore and not enjoying different controls, which is why i just hate to play 2d games and text adventures (with ascii-type graphical interfaces) and cannot adapt to new control systems like the analogue swing in golf games or the total control system in fight night


or maybe, just maybe, I am slating it because its a poorly thought out control system, combined with subpar 1998 design issues (generic puzzles, sections (see swimming, sliding down slopes, escaping from fire, doors opening to time limits etc etc etc (have a ton more but i don't want to shoot my wad early if you know what i mean (will become more apparent soon)), poorly thought out combat, sub-par graphics (dc era-ish), same-same enemies, simplistic enemy AI routines (bosses facing away from you and doing their 'special' attacks cos you moved out of the way and they ain't clicked onto that fact yet), game AI that tries to be clever but fails miserably (the auto-pickup system fails if you approach an item from the wrong (routined) direction), glitches galore (running through rope ladders,rocks etc... arms going through walls, ponytail going through arms etc etc)

this game has taken 7 years to develop.......and guess what, yep you guessed it, its been released WITHOUT BEING BLOODY FINISHED.

some people might find it 'fashionable' to slate certain games, but trust me when i say i am not one of these people.....i will play any game and judge it solely on its merits and it pains me to say that this game has minimum meritable qualities. I would even go so far as to say Angel of Darkness was a better game than Galleon is (and we all know just how good that one was )

[EvilBoris]

why is everyone slagging this off?

I've been playing it for a few hours and am enjoying it, its nice and smooth, and its fun to play, the story seems fine too.

and as for all the things about the camera being hard to control, it seems fine and pretty natural to play.

[bish]

i agree with you EvilBoris

and as for your Toby Gard is stuck in tombraider mode, Toby Gard was the lead artist and animator at Core Design, nothing to do with the camera work there.

[Hodge]

I`ve rented it out and have managed to get through the tutorial and onto the next island. My impressions so far are it`s not a bad game upto yet. Graphically while not the greatest, it ain`t to bad either and has a certain quirk to it. The animation is pretty good and i find the controls quite good. To be honest with most 3d platfomers i tend to use the camera to move the character anyway so this aint anything new to me and as for moving across narrow platforms, not to much hassle either. Just as long as you don`t push to hard on the analog stick it is impossible to fall of them. There are niggles with this game i have noticed with the locking onto objects can be abit dodgy at times and the combat aint the greatest but upto yet i`ve seen more good than bad and am enjoying it atm. Even though it doesn`t offer anything new it`s still a solid platformer which there hasn`t been many of lately (the last decent one being jax and daxter) I definately recommend a rent before you buy with this one as opinions seem to be split down the middle. As for me i think i`ll finish of my 2 day rent and try and finish of ninja gaiden and wait to pick this up cheap 2nd hand which i`m sure there will be plenty of in the coming weeks.

[huxley]

But it`s not as bad as the last Tomb raider is it.
Toby 1 Eidos 0

[EvilBoris]

I like the floatyness of the jumping and the way you never seem to jump too far / not far enough. also, in a stroke of genious, I like the way you can pull back mid jump and stop your forward momentum.

I got to one level where I had to work my way up to the top of a large area, and there didn't seem to be any specific path, I really liked the way I scooted up the walls, jump off platforms and ran up to the top of the level without being guided along a set route.

the combat is pretty rubbish though, no worse that anything else really, I think its probably comparable to grabbed by the ghoulies and spiderman.

[Leon Retro]

" Edge have backed me from day one, they love my game. Why don`t you ungrateful bastards appreciate my masterpiece? "




The King of the piss take.

[Bru]

I've just finished Ninja Gaiden and jumped straight into Galleon. After reading some of the posts here I thought I'd be spitting at my TV within minutes.... but to be honest, I'm really enjoying the game.

The fact that Galleon was originally meant for the Dreamcast does show in the graphics department, resulting in a Skies of Arcadia / Tomb Raider flavour (which is dated but something I find quite appealing). Sure, some puzzles are straight out of the late nineties book of adventuring but hey, only hours ago I was also swapping ke..y *cough* elemental symbols to open doors with Ryu Hayabusa. As for control issues? After yesterday's final level torture that was Tecmo's cruel reward, I haven't an issue. The combat system IS damned clunky though (but I'm hoping to get to grips with that).

For all the trouble Toby and his team have had over the years, I'm pleasantly surprised with their finished product. Obviously, Galleon can't hope to stand toe to toe with the modern polished epics that are Gaiden and Sands of Time - but I for one am glad that I never cancelled my order. IMHO the boys at Confounding Factor have done good, despite their lengthy trip through development hell.

[Wools]

Picked this up over the weekend and have to say im really supprised with it.

It's got massive intresting worlds with characters that are quite unique. I admit that the fighting is not polished and there are some little flaws such as the quite sketchy climbing, but im very impressed so far and hoping the quality continues.

One of my favourite genre's apart from first person shooters are adventure games with some of the best including Ocarina of time, Sonic Adventure and Resident Evil. Also I absloutly hate intrusive, small worlds in video games and ever since Mario 64 have adored the great outdoors.

Galleon has all these elements in place. If the game continues like this, I think we'll have a very underated; great adventure game.

Also Galleon has a voice actress by the name of Jennifier Hale. I think she played Olga in Metal Gear Solid 2 but im not sure.