Innovative in the truest sense of the word, the wind system alone makes this worth the purchase.
You play as Kya, a girl from New York who finds herself in an unfamiliar world filled with evils beyond her wildest dreams. With no experience in combat, you must start from scratch on a journey to save your brother from the evil Wolfen leader Brazul, but the only way to do that is to exorcize a terrible curse from all of the Wolfens that will return them to the Nativ state. Only then can the Nativ powers be combined in an effort to defeat Brazul once and for all.
To start off, I love the graphics of this game. They are just whimsical enough to make you remember that really, this game is a platformer at heart. The various environments of the game’s levels are all different, but yet they all share the same depressed and run down feel, which helps tie the game together as a whole. I mean let’s face it, if a ragged band of Wolfen militants were stationed at the Four Seasons, it wouldn’t be as realistic, now would it?
As for the controls, I am just as pleased. Being that this game is basically a platformer, you would expect the running and jumping that comes with trying to collect little objects in order to make your way through a level. Teamed with the run and jump, however, is an awesome combat system. Instead of just hitting your enemies on the head (a la Spyro), you have to go into a full-fledged, Tekken-esque battle with them. Combos abound, and while standard button mashing will do the job at the beginning, in the end levels, you need to use the combos that you have learned or else you will be, as they say, swimming with the fishes.
The best part about the controls, however, is that there is a new “wind” element that you do not see in most games. While playing the game, you are faced with many instances in which you have to float through the air while being dragged along by a wind gust, but we will get more into that later.
The combat parts of this game entail Stealth…You can’t just go running into a pack of 12 enemies and expect to win. That being the case, I would have liked for the sounds of the enemies to be clearer. That way, instead of having to look at your map to locate a Wolfen, you could hear them instead. Little improvements like that would have made the game more fluid in nature. Overall, the music is nice and changes according to the environment you are in or the amount of danger ahead of you, as one should expect.
As you go through the game, you will learn new abilities, and if you get bored with the fighting and rune collecting, you can take a break back at your home world, Nativ City, and play through mini-games that entail you using the new skills that you have learned in the field. Apart from just being a good time, you can also bet Nooties, the game’s currency, on whether or not you think you will beat the high score.
In one level, Kya is forced to use her new “snowboarding” skills while trying to jump over gaps and such as a massive river of lava is chasing her. Speed power ups and ramps let you fly through the air with such speed that you can barely control yourself. Since there is no room for error, expect to be doing this many times until you get it right.
Looking at the package of this game, you see bright colors and weird shapes, and the thought immediately pops into your head that this game is just for kids. That however, is a huge mistake. While I know that children are becoming more and more adept when it comes to playing video games, I don’t know of any that could handle the complexity of this offering.
Think of this title as, say, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. On one hand, you have the fun jumping, running and collecting of runes that help you defeat the bad guy. Then on the other hand, you have stealth elements of games like Splinter Cell and Metal Gear Solid that involve you hanging off of ledges and using strategy in order to not get caught. Not to mention the action sequences in which your button happy thumbs get a workout.
Instead of allowing itself to become “just another action/platformer title,” Kya: Dark Lineage goes above and beyond itself with revolutionary new elements like wind travel. While most games would place your character in a plane, or on the back of a bird, for instance, Kya: Dark Lineage lets you fly along without a net. Jump off a cliff into a wind gust and you can float around in an anti-gravity type of situation. Get sucked into a tunnel by a wind gust, and you have to duck and dodge obstacles in order to make it out in one piece.
Since this game is really quite complex, a nice touch that has been added is the inclusion of a helper creature named Stuff (creative, I know). Stuff is a little flying animal that accompanies you on your journey. He will give you tips and hints as you travel your way through the game, and I must admit that there were a couple occasions in which I had to use his help.
This game, overall, is a colorful romp through a new world that many have never seen before. New elements, like the wind travel and riding on the back of Jamguts (think Kangaroos on speed) are only a small portion of the fun you can have with this game. It makes me sad to think of how many people have never played or even heard of this title, especially now when the price has been dropped to under $10. It is a GREAT time in the truest sense of the world, and I highly recommend everyone to pick this one up.