ShareThisBy JUSTIN HOEGER
("Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII." 2 stars. Publisher: Square Enix. System: Sony PlayStation 2. Price: $49.99. Age rating: Teen)
"Dirge of Cerberus" should have been a slam dunk as a continuation of the story laid down in "Final Fantasy VII" for the original PlayStation and its DVD sequel earlier this year, "Advent Children." Instead, it smells of squandered potential.
The game is effective in some ways, focusing on one of the game's most mysterious and popular characters, Vincent Valentine. He was a secret character in the original game; the player's party found him locked in a coffin in the basement of a spooky mansion. Creepy.
It was later revealed that Vincent was a henchman of the evil Shinra Co. years before, but was mutated and sealed away thanks to some spirited internal politics. "Dirge of Cerberus" fills in more of the blanks in his backstory.
And that's fine. But the parts where the story isn't happening are filled with mediocre action. Square Enix has stumbled before when it comes to action games. "The Bouncer," an early PS2 game, had great character graphics and an engaging story but suffered from middling gameplay, drab backgrounds and cookie-cutter foes. As does "Dirge."
The story picks up a year after the end of "Advent Children," which itself took place two years after the end of "Final Fantasy VII," when Vincent, Cloud Strife and company defeated the madman named Sephiroth and saved the world. They did pretty much the same thing in "Advent Children" too, but looked better doing it.
Now there are reports of strange disappearances and raids by a new force calling itself Deepground. The Deepground forces are one of Shinra's buried dirty secrets, a cadre of super-soldiers created, hidden and forgotten. But now they're out and causing trouble, and for some reason Vincent is one of their main targets.
But our red-caped hero is far from helpless. He's a crack shot with his custom-made gun, the Cerberus, which fires three bullets at a time. The Cerberus is modular, and can be fixed with various barrels, frames, scopes and other items that alter its power, range and accuracy. It can even be altered from a revolver into a machinegun. It can be equipped with elemental Materia, allowing Vincent to shoot fireballs or lightning bolts, and its various parts can be individually upgraded with enough money.
If a foe gets too close, Vincent can swipe at him with his metal claws. And if he's really in a jam he can transform via what's called a "Limit Break" into a hulking monstrosity that's a powerhouse up close and able to launch fireballs from a distance.
As Vincent defeats enemies and clears levels he'll gain more power, just as he did in his RPG days.
Vincent's foes are legion, but usually not too bright. They'll stand and shoot or give chase and attack, and the bosses tend to follow attack patterns that are easy to suss out.
None of this is especially different from a hundred other shooters out there. And that's the problem. A game with the "Final Fantasy" name is expected to reach a certain level of quality, and "Dirge" does not reach it. It's hard to get excited about revisiting decade-old characters and places when the long-delayed "Final Fantasy XII" is scheduled to come out next month.
There are positives, of course. "Dirge's" characters are well-designed, modeled and animated, the special effects are impressive, as always, and the music and voice acting are both quite good, particularly Vincent's gravelly lines. There's also a series of extra missions players can take on after beating the game.
"Dirge" could be worth a look for curious fans of "FFVII," but most other players will probably want to take a pass.
