Malice, a girl mysteriously caught up in a struggle to save the universe, which is not something the average teenager comes across every day let alone in a lifetime but Malice’s predicament all the same. You see Malice’s world has been destroyed and the whole universe is soon to follow if Dog God, (the game’s loopy evil protagonist) gets his way.

Gameplay:

Malice starts off with a promising introductory FMV scene that looks pretty good, telling the tale of how Malice was killed and then brought back to life only to realise that its up to her to now save the universe (life’s a bitch at times)! Malice’s task is not an easy one either as she will have to defeat Dog God if she is to have any chance of saving the universe. However she is not alone as she is guided by the Metal Guardian (the game’s token Good guy) who is on hand to assist Malice along her adventure. Metal Guardian can lead her to Dog God but only once she has found 8 logic keys from 8 areas of the universe. The keys are being held by Dog God’s minions and once all 8 are collected Malice will be able to stop Dog God and prevent the Universe from being destroyed.

The game starts off at a relatively slow pace allowing you to get used to the controls and such then gradually gets tougher as the game progresses. The gameplay throughout follows the general rules of a traditional platform gave, move, jump attack, and special. Followed by working out a puzzle, beating up some bad guys, recover some important artifact then move to the next level.

That said Malice does have some variation between levels as each one is themed differently. You’ll come across many various enemies on your travels as you battle crows, mushrooms and all kinds of weird strange animals and creatures. To combat this Malice is given a variety of ‘club’ styled weapons ranging from a wooden club to a hammer which looks like it belongs in the middle of a boiler system! Malice is also pretty nifty with magic as she has many variations of magic to use throughout the game by entering button combos. Magic usually has only one function so is more like a power up such as a glide enhancement for long jumping or super strength for extra attack power.

Characters in the game are reminiscent of some of the characters in Conkers Bad Fur Day; however they aren’t quite as funny. Overall the game has been made simple, the controls are simple, the story is simple and even the content seems short lived.

Graphics:

Malice boasts some nice graphics in the FMV scenes and some great visuals in game, although it seems no extra effort was spared to push the Xbox’s hardware, which developers should be doing by now. There are a couple of effects which make the screen very pretty but it’s not the standard of graphics we expect from the Xbox. Camera angles are dynamic and are very smooth for a 3D platform game, but the game does suffer from slowdown now and then.

Sound:

No specialties here, sound effects are standard as is the orchestrated music used most of the way through the game which gets quite repetitive and boring. I’m not saying orchestrated music is rubbish in general it’s just overused in this game. Considering this is an action/adventure game you would have thought the music would become really lively to enhance the gameplay, sadly it feels very static and doesn’t become dynamic as you play through the game which would have been nice. Quite frankly - disappointing.

Longevity:

This is where the game really lets down the gamer. All Malice will give you as far as longevity goes is a single player mode and nothing but a single player mode. All you get is the ability to play a new game, load a game or fiddle with very few options. There’s no multiplayer mode and nothing from the Xbox Live end either. The main game itself does have a reasonable amount of content to keep it going even though the first 2 keys out of the 8 can be picked up in 5 minutes. The game does get harder as the tasks to get each key takes longer and is generally more challenging. Malice has a easy learning curve at least plus a reasonable amount of longevity for the first play through. But once the main game is passed it will probably be left on the shelf to collect dust.

Round Up:

Malice has a fairly basic storyline that isn’t padded out very well. The only things that make the game worthwhile are the nice look of the graphics and the sheer bash and move onto the next stage fun. The story isn’t gripping at all which has been replaced with repetitiveness. However I felt the game did tend to sway towards the younger gaming audience with its cutesy female lead, along with the way characters acted in the game. This would seem like Argonauts attempt to open the Xbox’s audience. Overall not a bad game but really lacks anything worth making it a purchase: definitely a rent it before you buy title!

Pros:

• Opens up Xboxes audience a bit
  
• Graphics aren’t bad
  

  Cons:
  

  • No longevity to the game
    
  • Too basic and frequently repetitive
    
  • Same genre, different game – not exactly ground breaking