Rise of the Kasai
- April 06, 2005 00:00 AM PST
Ah, the memories of The Mark of Kri. What you don't emember it? Don't worry you'll get a good idea of what it was by playing Rise of the Kasai, the sequel to Sony's warrior action adventure.
The way of the warrior can easily be summed up in Rise of the Kasai: Its a life of tragic misadventures that can be at times inspiring to watch, but difficult to experience first hand (or in this case, both hands). In essence, the warrior in Rise of the Kasai offers the same experience that he did in his first outinga tale of innovative design mixed with uneven gameplay.Sticking with It
You do remember The Mark of Kri, dont you? It was one of those unique adventures that creatively blended a Disney-like cartoony atmosphere with a brutal warrior who had a penchant for decapitating others. His name was Rau, and when you rotated the right analog stick, he could select surrounding adversaries and then attack them separately with devastating combinations that usually left bloodied results. In Rise of the Kasai, this unique control scheme remains as does the tale of Rau. New, however, is the ability to play not only as Rau, but also as his sister and as two other fierce warriors. You dont, though, go it alone on your assigned tasks: The game plays as a simplified co-op mode where you and a computer-controlled character fight together through each level. Its certainly a different way to play a game, but the computer can sometimes be really, really dumb. It wont pick up health when it really needs to and you cant coordinate attacks effectively with each other. The fighting also starts to feel like it did in The Mark of Kri as you progress: repetitious without any diversity in the battles.
The Voice of the Kasai
But like in The Mark of Kri, the art and sound direction in Rise of the Kasai should be praised. The story is told through hand-drawn sketches that animate with life and beautifully leads right into the actual gameplay. And although the levels are displayed with simple architecture and environmental elements, the stylized coloring brings a lot of character to what could have been an otherwise drab experience if the design went another direction. The music may be off-cue at times, but the narrators voice speaks with authority and conviction, making this tale even more engaging, too.
Still, the lack of new and innovative gameplay elements doesnt give Rise of the Kasai superstar-sequel status. Its instead, a mild-mannered blood-spattered adventure thats worth a one-time run through, and doesnt have a warriors tenacity for a long-term fight to the legendary halls of action gods.
