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| Game: |
Sudeki |
| Genre: |
RPG |
| Developer: |
Climax Development |
| Publisher: |
Microsoft Games |
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| Related Links: |
Coming Soon. |
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Sudeki Preview: |
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Hands On Preview:
Welcome to the world of Sudeki. Climax Studios have created a beautiful and mystical world where nothing is as it appears. It seems our four playable characters must become heroes, combining their individual strengths to battle against evil whilst following a twisting path of betrayal. Players will be able to utilize a unique real time combat system with unbelievable might and magic.
Our journey into the world of Sudeki begins with a stunning FMV sequence introducing you to the main characters; Tal (character profile), Ailish (character profile), Buki (character profile) and Elco (character profile) within the castle of Illumina. Seamless control is passed over to the player where you take the lead of Tal as he starts to show off the basic combat skills of the Elite Guard to Buki, a diplomatic envoy from a far away place called Shadani-Mo. This also acts as a training program for you as the player get to grips with the basic art of swordsmanship and the first of many combo moves that become available as the game progress.
After completing your training, your first quest begins with the retrieval of Princess Ailish from a nearby coastal town. Whilst travelling through the wilderness, you will encounter numerous monsters to fight where you can now apply your new found combat skills. During a battle, some of the creatures might drop items which will aid your character either in restoring lost health or perhaps an item that can be sold at a later time, but all of the defeated monsters will give you valuable experience points. You will encounter more than 65 enemies to battle against ranging from the ‘Accursed Undead’ to a 90ft ‘Serpentine Siren’
Combat is true to the traditional RPG genre with a twist. Climax has also introduced a method where players can instantly switch between characters mid battle in real time, to take advantage of each of their individual abilities. Never seen before in a RPG is the use of the first person perspective when using a ranged weapon character, similar to that seen in games such as Halo, Rainbow Six and Unreal Tournament. Another feature that has been added is the use of ‘Bullet Time’ when accessing items during a battle. Unlike previous RPG, no longer does the game simply pause whilst you decide which item you require, Sudeki simply slows down to ¼ speed and can be seen when making that vital selection.
An essential part of any Role Playing Game (RPG) is the continual character development. Sudeki integrates a unique user friendly interface with simple explanation concerning each of the four attributes; Health, Skill, Power and Essence. As each character advances a level, you are rewarded with the option to purchase one of the four main attributes or an additional skill strike. Health reflects the amount of hit points you have available, naturally the more hit points you have the more damage you can take. Skill is the ability to cast skill strikes which are unique to each character, the higher the skill points, the more skills strikes become available. An example is Allish’s ‘Permaforce’ which allows her to summon a spiral of ice that blasts enemies around her. The higher her Essence, the more damage she inflicts on her foes. Power reflects the amount of damage you inflict using a standard attack with a ranged or melee weapon. Essence is similar to Power but this increases the amount of damage caused with skill strikes. It’s up to the player to decide on how they develop the strengths and weaknesses of each character. Each of the characters also has their own unique weapons and powers. Tal, a man at arms and Buki the dark huntress can only use melee weapons whereas Ailish, the beautiful deadly sorceress and Elco, the steampunk gunslinger can only utilise ranged weapons. All equipped items can be purchased and upgraded with special abilities to aid them in their quest.
Throughout the immense dual worlds fraught with danger, deception and a storyline full of twist and turns, you will need to interact with non player characters (NPC) both friendly and cunning enemies. The landscapes and environments are colourful, highly detailed and partially interactive creating a visually stunning and immersive atmosphere. The sound throughout the game compliments every scene and changes the tempo accordingly when the action starts to heat up. Being Xbox exclusive, Climax have been able to develop a game equal to their original high ambitions for this project, incorporating graphical advancements such as highly detailed facial animation and lip synching, bump mapping, fully dynamic shadows and complex lighting effects.
From this hands-on experience, the game will appeal to the avid RPG fan as well as the more action oriented gamers. Sudeki perfectly blends action and fantasy by not using the standard turn based battle system and keeping the game free flowing using real time combat. In our opinion, this is a must buy and a very welcomed distraction from the many sport, shooters and racing titles which currently dominate the Xbox.
Sudeki Character Profiles:
• Tal (character profile)
• Buki (character profile)
• Elco (character profile)
• Ailish (character profile)
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