|
Published
by JoWooD Productions
Developed by Neon Studios
Release Date: Out Now
Price: £39.99
There
are certain times of the year when it's tough to release
a game that many will not have heard of. Usually these are
holiday periods, mainly the build up to Christmas, when
everyone looks at the gaming scene to see what titles they
can pick up. For a game like Legend of Kay that most gamers
will know nothing about, March would seem to be a great
time to release a game as it avoids the holiday season glut
of games. However March 2005 is not quiet by any means.
Metal Gear Solid 3, Gran Turismo 4, the Nintendo DS console
and many more titles have ended up being released in March
and could well grab attention away from original titles
that might otherwise have grabbed the enthusiastic gamers'
attention. It's a fair bet then that most won't know about
Legend of Kay and that's a shame.
Legend
of Kay is a tale of oppression and a battle to overcome
it. Kay's beautiful homeland of Yenching is overtaken by
a gorilla army led by the evil Shun. To make matters worse
they seemed to have teamed up with the rats. This is especially
bad news for cats (which is what Kay is). As you can probably
guess from the name Yenching these are oriental style cats
with their own type of Kung Fu and martial arts certainly
play a part in the game but as the game begins, Kay's people
are in no shape to resist the evil designs of Shun and his
evil army and things seem to be going from bad to worse.
It's up to Kay to make a difference.
For
the most part the game seems like it would be a run of the
mill action/platform game but Neon Studios have managed
to include some polished game play as well as innovating
in a key area of the game. As you can imagine combat plays
a key part in Legend of Kay and although initially it's
a simple process before long you'll be learning an elaborate
combo system that allows you to perform double attacks,
triple attacks, uppercuts, jumping attacks, somersault attacks,
rolling attacks, magic attacks and roundhouse attacks. You'll
also have access to different weapons in the game such as
swords, hammers, and claws which, along with the range of
attacks on offer makes for some satisfying battles. You'll
also be able to ride various animals such as wild boar or
even a dragon.
Although
it's not a feature that most will get excited about it's
worth mentioning that Neon have included a great autosave
system that doesn't spoil the flow of your game. Throughout
the game you'll find various save points just like in any
other game of this nature. However in Legend of Kay all
you have to do to save your game is to walk past a save
game point. This will trigger an autosave and a memory card
icon will appear on the screen (you'll continue to play
on by the way) and then finally a green tick will appear
on the memory card icon to signify that the save was completed.
This means you don't have to stop playing or access a menu
to save, which is excellent. This is an excellent save system
and one that I hope will appear in all future titles.
I
was surprised to find that Legend of Kay is a very good
looking game indeed. All too often in action games it's
common for some of the visuals to lack quality but Legend
of Kay's visuals have almost a Nintendo type quality about
them. The characters, the buildings and the environments
all look very good. The only disappointment in this area
of the game is the frame rate which does dip from time to
time and is quite noticeable and although it doesn't really
spoil anything it is a shame the frame rate couldn't have
been more constant. The developers decided to go with a
bright and colourful palette for the game and it really
manages to add visual charm to the game. Camera issues are
not uncommon in games of this nature and whilst Legend of
Kay has a few innovations, it's still stuck with a dodgy
camera that will irritate you at times.
Deaf
gamers will be pleased to learn that Legend of Kay is subtitled
(they can be enabled in the game options menu). The games
cutscenes are subtitled too so you'll be able to follow
the games story. I particularly like how the conversations
have been subtitled. The text has been placed on a rectangular
overlay that makes the white text easy to read. In addition
you can also scroll back and forth to read the text at your
own pace before pressing the X button to continue the conversation.
Should you trigger a conversation with a character and they
just say the same old thing you've heard many times before,
you can simply press the triangle button to instantly quit
the conversation. You are notified in text when an objective
has been given and you can check on your objectives at any
time by pressing the select button.
Legend
of Kay is a surprisingly solid action/platform game that
proves the PlayStation 2 isn't just about Crash Bandicoot,
Jak & Daxter and Ratchet & Clank. The game, on the
whole, has been enjoyable to play. Neon has obviously tried
to make a game that's slightly different from what's gone
before and the game certainly feels fresh. The combat in
the game is very good and the save system is one that's
sure to be copied many times over. Whilst I certainly wouldn't
class Legend of Kay as a classic, it's definitely a game
worthy of your attention if platform/action type games are
your thing and it definitely doesn't deserve to get lost
in a wave of highly anticipated sequels.
Overall
Game Rating: 8.0/10
Releasing in an usually busy month of March, it's going
to be difficult for Legend of Kay to attract the attention
it deserves. However if you're a fan of action/platform
games then Legend of Kay is a game that you should not miss
out on.
Deaf
Gamers Classification:
(Click
the letter or here
for details)
No problems at all and Neon have
done a good job in catering for deaf gamers.
|
