Fodder for filling in the corners of your Ps2 collection
HaVen: Call of the King
First let's begin by analyzing the, mostly awful, character design: We have the red headed main character sporting cornrows and a yo-yo as a weapon whose design is quite good (aside from the yo-yo as a weapon thing, which is frustratingly fiddly can't hit what you aim at, thoroughly lame, goddamn freaking yo-yo) and then there's every one else in the game. While the ancillary models are dreadful and strangely their super deformed while the two leads a proportional. These two, as well as the tinker owl, mark the high point of another example of appalling American character design, worthy of joining the infamous ranks of anything put out by Midway or Acclaim at the time; which is to say it is spectacularly poor. Moving on, the bulk of the gameplay is of the action-platform variety which is something I thoroughly enjoy and it is quite good despite some tacked on for diversity's sake hover boat ridin', four wheel toolin' around tomfoolery. Throw in some bad difficulty balance and it starts to become clear why HaVen never really took off. Being a lover of 128 bit platformers I don't hate this game, however the graphics don't hold up that well (they are most definitely first gen Ps2) although everything is well modeled and lit and Traveller's Tales deserves credit for the exemplary work they did here. A quality game that's best suited for people with an extensive Ps2 collection who already have all the best platformers. ( Sly 1, Jak and Daxter, Ratchet and Clanks) C+
Retro Raider C+
First let's begin by analyzing the, mostly awful, character design: We have the red headed main character sporting cornrows and a yo-yo as a weapon whose design is quite good (aside from the yo-yo as a weapon thing, which is frustratingly fiddly can't hit what you aim at, thoroughly lame, goddamn freaking yo-yo) and then there's every one else in the game. While the ancillary models are dreadful and strangely their super deformed while the two leads a proportional. These two, as well as the tinker owl, mark the high point of another example of appalling American character design, worthy of joining the infamous ranks of anything put out by Midway or Acclaim at the time; which is to say it is spectacularly poor. Moving on, the bulk of the gameplay is of the action-platform variety which is something I thoroughly enjoy and it is quite good despite some tacked on for diversity's sake hover boat ridin', four wheel toolin' around tomfoolery. Throw in some bad difficulty balance and it starts to become clear why HaVen never really took off. Being a lover of 128 bit platformers I don't hate this game, however the graphics don't hold up that well (they are most definitely first gen Ps2) although everything is well modeled and lit and Traveller's Tales deserves credit for the exemplary work they did here. A quality game that's best suited for people with an extensive Ps2 collection who already have all the best platformers. ( Sly 1, Jak and Daxter, Ratchet and Clanks) C+
Retro Raider C+
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