Phantom Dust: interesting little game

[YoshiM]

On my quest to find a game I find fun playing on Xbox Live, I heard a lot of positive things about Phantom Dust. As one person said: "It's kinda like playing Tetsuo from Akira, using psychic powers and blasting the hell out of opponents and the environment alike." Then I found out the price: 20 bones. So I figured I'd give it a shot.

I'm pretty early into the mission mode but so far the game's hooking me. Basically the world was exposed to a strange dust which wiped people's memories and ushered in the arrival of strange "demons", forcing humanity to escape to the bowels of the Earth to survive as the cities became ravaged. The only people on the surface are these creatures and humans called "espers" (yeah, original I know) who have been blessed with ability to manifest their will into psionic power. They scout the world trying to find the reason to why humanity's memories were wiped and a group runs into two "life pods" where the player's avatar is found. From there it's meander about the underground world, talking to people and learning what's going on.

The game is presented in a 3rd person view with the right stick turning the viewpoint around your character. The left stick moves you about (and seems to be a bit touchy with running/walking) and pressing the stick in makes you jump. The main face buttons are used to assign powers. Find an orb then press a button to assign it. Right trigger creates an enemy lock and the left trigger allows you to cycle through targets. Press the face buttons to invoke the power assigned to them. From what I've seen and heard there are things like small fire balls, powerful lasers that slice through creature and structures alike, surrounding defensive shields and tons more.

What makes this game interesting and sets it apart is that it's not really a run n' gun game but one that requires strategy. As I discovered in the training mode, the powers don't guarantee you a direct hit. If you have the power you can use the environment as a weapon. Someone from the IGN boards said he played against another IGN'er. The one was up high, standing underneath some sort of bridge or overpass. The person writing the post said he was tossing green lasers up at the other and missing. The blasts, however, were blasting chunks out of the overpass and caused a large section of it to fall onto the target, crushing them. Another said their intended target ducked behind a structure. Because they had the power, the writer caused the structure to collapse and uncover a very shocked opponent.

This weekend I should have time to play the game on Live so I'll give any impressions afterward. Just thought I'd give a "heads up" so people can check this out.

[Dobie]

I ordered this from Gamestop through their "Buy Phantom Dust get $20 towards another game" redemption. It hasn't arrived yet (should be this weekend), but I can't wait to play this game! The environment interactivity could have some REAL interesting possibilites online if its as good as it sounds.

[E Nice]

The demo they had of this game in the OXM months back was fun to play online. But with the actual game it seems you have to play through single player to collect an aresenal in order to play the different multiplayer modes with. Without an arsenal of your own you can only play a quick match game mode online, or something. which gives you some random ones to use for the match.

[LiquidX01]

I just picked this up tonight along with Worms 3D. I wont start playing it for a few days...I'm gonna get started on Worms 3D first since it's been awhile since I last played any Worms game.

[shai hulud]

i have wanted this one for awhile but figured i was going to wait for a price drop, but since it has been mentioned that its only $20 i think i will pick it up tomorrow. I doubt i will play it much, but it looks kinda cool.

[spoon]

I am so glad they finally brought this over. I was ready to import this game. It is a pretty good game so far. Multi player is where it is at.

I am not very far into the game but, I have a few gripes.

The levels are too small, and, the orbs only appear in one part of the level, from what I can tell.

Although the orbs only appearing in one part of the level makes the game a bit more strategic, It sucks ass when an enemy is on your behind and you don't happen to have any powers to use.

With that said, this game is still smoking. Can't wait to finish it up. May be the first game I finished up quickly since Halo 2. Here's hoping for a sequel.

I never thought I would say this, but, thank you Majesco. I am looking forward to Psychonauts also.

[Half Japanese]

I picked this up based on the reviews it's been getting and its' pricepoint. Great deal, and finally a good way to use the $20 coupon I got during Gamestop.com's component switch snafu a few months ago. Strange bedmate though, to get it to amount to over $20 (so I could use the coupon code) I had to also get a Pac Man pen...

[Ninjafingers]

Is it $20 everywhere or just at Gamestop?

[LiquidX01]

Is it $20 everywhere or just at Gamestop?

Everywhere.

[YoshiM]

I put a little time into it this weekend. Maybe it's because I'm still in the early stages with discovering powers but the randomness of the orbs is starting to get to me along with other niggling things:

-Orbs: There are times when the orb you need just doesn't appear, forcing you to run around like an idiot dodging blasts until what you need appears. This could be mission specific so this gripe might be eliminated.

-Partner AI: the partners I've received thus far are morons. Running into my shots or blasting me by mistake, not going toe-to-toe with a particular enemy or not giving help if I'm being overrun. I understand the concept the characters convey to double team an enemy but I've run into different scenarios where my partner will not leave a particular enemy alone while the other baddie is taking pot shots at us.

-Powers and aiming: it seems as though you can really direct where your shots go as accurately as I'd like. For example: my target is running but when I let loose a fire bullet it typically strikes where he was. I turn the lock off and try to redirect using the camera and my character position. The bullet arcs and doesn't go in the direction I want it by smacking into the ground or veering off many feet to the side of where I'm looking. Or sometimes I think the path to the target is clear but my attack blasts something that shouldn't have been an obstacle like the lip of an overpass or a lamp post.

-Camera: it's hard to move around a multitiered environment while locking onto a bad guy. If you don't lock on, you can't see attacks coming (making it hard to deflect) but if you stay locked on you tend to bump into obstacles. It'd be nice if I could adjust the camera on the fly and have it "snap back" onto the enemy so I can see my immediate surroundings as I make my way back to the orbs to gain more powers. Numerous times I got hung up on stair cases while trying to keep an eye on the target and when I turn off the lock I get bombarded by enemy fire.

I'm still giving this game a chance. The atmosphere and concept is cool and I want to get a good deal into the game before I hop online.

[E Nice]

Orbs are always random but you can shuffle the orbs you start with by pressing the back button before a round timer countsdown and starts the match.

Parteners, I've heard that Chunky is no good, the woman will either do good or die quiuck due to her combat style. Don't recall how the others fared other than one of them was real aggressive, who'll shoot at a target regardless if your in the way or not.

Target lock doesn't mean instant homing. The enmies can avoid incoming fire just as you can. And you can't really hit anything with the target lock off. As for the obstacles in the line of fire, anything that arcs will have that drawback unless the arc path is clear.

As for the camera issue, with time you eventually leanr the maps, but there is a way to change the camera mode in the options. I don't recall what it's called, iit has descriptions when you cycle through the choices, but one mode has you hold down one of the shoulder buttons when you want to lock on to a target and when you let go it'll unlock off an enemy, bringing you back to controlling the camera as you want.

[YoshiM]

Orbs are always random but you can shuffle the orbs you start with by pressing the back button before a round timer countsdown and starts the match.

Parteners, I've heard that Chunky is no good, the woman will either do good or die quiuck due to her combat style. Don't recall how the others fared other than one of them was real aggressive, who'll shoot at a target regardless if your in the way or not.

Target lock doesn't mean instant homing. The enmies can avoid incoming fire just as you can. And you can't really hit anything with the target lock off. As for the obstacles in the line of fire, anything that arcs will have that drawback unless the arc path is clear.

As for the camera issue, with time you eventually leanr the maps, but there is a way to change the camera mode in the options. I don't recall what it's called, iit has descriptions when you cycle through the choices, but one mode has you hold down one of the shoulder buttons when you want to lock on to a target and when you let go it'll unlock off an enemy, bringing you back to controlling the camera as you want.

Ahhh, thank you. I'm guessing the further I get into the game I'll have access to more "straight line" attacks. I know there isn't instant homing but I was hoping that I could "lead the target" like I would when using a weapon in other games.

[YoshiM]

I'm finally far enough to actually be able to pick and choose skills. Now I'm definitely seeing the "CCG" aspect of this title. For those who are curious: You can fill your "arsenal" (collection of powers) with up to 30 skills and aura (power) orbs, not unlike constructing a Magic deck. The arsenals are limited to one, two or I think three types of powers and you can acquire multiple arsenals which you can taylor for whatever situation.

And I ain't digging it.

I'm not a fan of CCGs. You can have killer decks but your ass can get handed to you. Not because of a lack of skill but because luck wasn't on your side and the proper cards couldn't get into your hand. In a way it's the same with Phantom Dust. Sure you can shuffle your beginning powers (thank goodness) but beyond that if your opponents start out strong you gotta hope and pray that some good orbs pop up. I've had a few missions where I had to gobble up unneeded/unusable (as in not enough aura) defense skills hoping for more aura or an attack skill to appear all while getting the stuffing blasted out of me. Not my idea of fun. It can be a lot of fun if luck is on your side but it's too much of a bad/great experience rollercoaster ride for me to really enjoy the title.

I may also be spoiled by other 3rd person action titles. I would love the ability to direct my shots rather than having to rely on a lock on. That would have included even more strategy as now you really can try to use the environment to your advantage.

Oh well, gave it a shot.

[E Nice]

Yeah, there's that luck of the draw bit but it does force your hand in thinking how to handle your given situation. You can also comapre skills, in a distant way, to PSO weapons, as in balancing out the advantages versus the drawbacks of a said skill/weapon. But you also have to balance your arsenal with aura orbs to increase chances that they'll appear enough, half is what's recommended but you can fiddle with an arsenal anyway you see fit. As you progress you'll get/or have a chance to buy better skills, which will make things a bit more interesting on the battlefield.

Go to the shop to buy/or sell skills. I find it hard to choose between so many as to what to actually carry in my arsenal case and have enough for aura. Plus, you probably also know this, you can replay old missions on the simulator and you'll still get credits for it.

Have you played it online yet? Single player is a bit dull. Try it out online, but try to avoid tag-team matches, as I've heard some stat whores are out there who'll simply wait for a 4th person then before the game starts they switch teams on you, leaving you by yourself versus a team of three. x_x

[josekortez]

This game is the closest you can get to actually being involved in a psychic-powered battle. My favorite part is the sheer amount of destruction you can cause. Aim properly and bring down an entire section of an upper level on top of an enemy. This game was well worth my $17.99, and it was the only thing I played last weekend. I couldn't force myself to stop.

[E Nice]

It's a good game but I have to admit, I liked it better when I was playing the demo version online because it was in Japanese. Not many could understand what was what and no scoreboards. People there would usually gang up on the most powerful player, be it life or skill, to sorta level the playing field. Now they will go after someone to get a kill even if it means they'll be left with some super opponent who'll kill them afterwards.