Wild Arms 4
SCORE: 66
The Wild Arms series of role playing games have always been set in a
wild west theme. Mix in some fantasy magic, and high tech; then you have
the gist. The world that Wild Arms 4 is held in is quite a depressing
land indeed. Ten years ago the war ended in Filgaia (the fantasy world
in this game), and things have only gotten worse. Most of the people
(the few of them left anyways) live in poverty, and the environment has
gotten harsh as well. Jude Maverick is a natural born match to handle
ARMS (essentially guns), Yulie Altreide is a genetically enhanced human
to regulate ARMS, Arnaud Vasquez is the drifter who knows magic, and
Raquel Applegate is the strong swordsman type. They team up to save the
world from total annihilation.
The details are nicely done in Wild Arms 4, although some of the
graphics are recycled. The special effects for all of the different
summoned creatures, and other such attacks (or restorations) are a
visual treat. There are some disgusting looking creatures, and
enticement to lust images as well. We can do without all the cleavage
and still understand the character is a woman. In fact such exploitation
of women as sexual objects is a reason points are docked. The magic
seems more fantasy based, and not occultic. There are images of people
(and/or monsters) dying in this game.
The sounds are a real problem with Wild Arms 4. The voice acting is
decently, but there are so many profanities that I finally turned the
sound down. The problems with the language reached the offensive level
for this reviewer. Other members of the staff would catch a part of two,
and think it was way over the top. The sounds of characters dying is
also present. All of these sounds are very crisp, and clear.
There are quite a few different things to find in this game. There
are plenty of treasure chests, secret areas, etc. to give the player
their money's worth. The problem is there is so much offensive content,
which will keep most people from wanting to spend too much time with
this game. In fact this reviewer never wants to see Wild Arms 4 again.
This is one I recommend you pass on.
The hex battle system is really strange at first, however once I got
the hang of it - it is actually a really neat battle system. The
controls work well. The level design gets the player stuck in a few too
areas for my comfort since there are few clues on what to do (when
trying to solve puzzles). The save points in Wild Arms 4 are in the
strangest places. There were times two saves were five minutes apart,
and then the next one was an hour and a half later in the game.
There are some video games that make me want to sigh sadly. Wild Arms
4 is one such game. The entire story is preaching against war, but the
players are required to wade through thousands of soldiers who disagree.
There is no reasoning with them, just killing them. The game also
preaches the religion of evolution, and how that will get mankind to the
next level. The game encourages people to find their own truth, and then
stick with whatever works for them. Some of the characters even want to
be gods, and have others worship them. Since this is the direction Wild
Arms is being taken, they really don't need to make any more games,
unless they can return it to less offensive material.
- RPG Master
Graphics: 67%
Sound: 64%
Replay/Extras: 68%
Gameplay: 82%
Family Friendly Factor: 51%
System: Playstation 2
Publisher: XSeed Games
Rating: 'T' for Teen
{Fantasy Violence, Mild Language}
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