Vampire Chronicle: Chaos Tower
- December 30, 2004 00:00 AM PST
Clunky controls, but nevertheless a stunning eye-opener.
Akin to the Street Fighter Anniversary Collection except with the Vampire franchise (or Darkstalkers in U.S.), Vampire Chronicle: The Chaos Tower is a Wi-Fi compatible fighting game that's visually stunning, but lacking in control precision.Offering the typical modes found in most fighting games, there is the arcade mode, network, training, and tower mode, the last of which is an endurance setup that opens up bonus illustrations, sounds and movies. Each character has over three different types of fighting styles from the different Vampire installments, tweaking the moves and strengths of the characters.
Visually the game does not disappoint, and screenshots don't do the platform justice--frame rate and animations are silky smooth, and the crisp LCD brings out the rich art style that's unmistakably Capcom. The only downside is the characters seem a bit scrunched from the widescreen ratio, but a negligible foible when seeing the crisp and clear graphics. Unlike many other handhelds, the fast motions never seem to blur, allowing you to concentrate on the action without straining the eyes.
Controls are the biggest drawback for this game, with the moves being more difficult to execute than Street Fighter titles on the GBA. Since the PSP is still so new, the issue remains unknown of whether or not it's a software or hardware issue. Even quarter-circle moves take getting used to, and half-circle movements seem to spurt out with bouts of luck. The difficulty in executing the moves was surprising, especially considering the d-pad is the biggest of any major handheld to date.
Another minor setback are the load times, which sometimes can be long enough to wonder if the machine froze (and at times it did, once forcing us to take out the batteries to restart).
Even with these issues, however, the most jaded gamer will be mesmerized by the capabilities of the handheld--while still in its infant stages, the PSP exceeds expectations from those set in the 2004 E3.
