After waiting nearly a decade, fans
of Final Fantasy VII can rejoice:
Dirge of Cerberus is upon us!
Continuing with their newfound
pattern of offering direct sequels
to FF games, Square Enix has
released a continuation of what is
arguably the finest craft from the
series. Though Cerberus plays
nothing like the previous, and more
traditional, FF role playing games,
it’s a welcome change for long-time
fans and is sure to attract
newcomers as well.
Taking place after the events of Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children – an
animated film continuation of the
original game – Cerberus follows
Vincent Valentine’s investigation
into a dark secret left behind by
the defeated evil corporation,
Shin-Ra. Three years after the
Jenova War, the focal point of the
first game, a massive force of
soldiers and their powerful leaders
– a force known only as ‘Deepground’
– have begun attacking villages and
pillaging for mako, a magical
life-energy created by the Planet.
Much like Shin-Ra before them,
Deepground is using this destruction
to channel mako away from the Planet
to create elite troops and kill the
very essence of life sustaining the
Planet.
In the first game, players utilized an ‘active-time-battle’ system and
menu commands to control their
characters in battle, progressing
from area to area by way of a large
world map with airships, boats and
Chocobos. In Cerberus¸ players
control Vincent more directly in a
third-person shooter format,
complete with gun upgrades, magical
add-ons, melee attacks and stealth
tactics, all required to progress
from one environment to the next.
The free-sprawling travel and
exploration of the world map is gone
entirely, with cut scenes moving
Vincent from one mission to the
next. Cerberus has a ranking system
for each chapter, allowing for
players to select from various
checkpoints if they wish to retry a
mission and earn a better ranking.
Players accrue experience and money
during each mission according to
their performance, leveling up and
earning better weapons along the
way.
With this new gameplay come plenty of benefits, most notably the
auto-saves that occur whenever a
checkpoint is reached. Gone are the
days of spending hours working
through a dungeon or town, only to
lose all of that effort because a
player forgot to save, or else died
before reaching a save point.
Similarly, the open-ended approach
of the traditional FF has made for
some dull moments and extreme
confusion; this more linear style
progresses the game in a very smooth
manner, keeping the player tuned in
and facilitating their next move.
Cerberus also retains the element of
configuration that makes the series’
gameplay so phenomenal, as players
can modify Vincent’s armory to their
liking, with several types of guns
and a plethora of tweaks and tunings
at their disposal.
On the flip side of this new system, the fast-action style of the game
and fluidity makes parts of the
story feel rushed, often lacking the
narrative prowess that FF gamers
have come to expect. This isn’t to
say that the storyline lacks
intrigue and suspense entirely; it’s
still a great tale by universal
standards. Square Enix has included
the usual wealth of side quests and
hidden features that will keep
players interested, both of which
add a healthy amount of replay value
to Cerberus, most notably amid the
‘Extra Missions’ that become
available upon completion of the
story mode. FF gamers have come to
expect a great soundtrack, superb
graphics, rich detail and memorable
characters, and Cerberus doesn’t
disappoint.
Overall, this is superb game that is a must-have for any fan of the
series. While it may not live up to
the story of the original, the new
style and look more than make up for
the narrative shortcomings. Even
gamers who don’t usually enjoy role
playing games and start off with
Cerberus are likely to pick up the
original game and see what the fuss
is about.
