Four Fat Chicks -- Azurik: Rise of Perathia Review

Azurik: Rise of Perathia

Review by Skinny Minnie
February 2002

There are some fine action/adventure titles for the newest generation of consoles. These games cause involuntary adrenaline surges as intense plot twists, unexpected attacks, and spoils of sparkling treasures for uniquely solved puzzles are served to the player. These gems are so immersive that it is even worth discovering you are already half an hour late for work as your phone rings and your boss jars you back to reality ... Unfortunately for Microsoft, Azurik isn't one of these.

Not all console launch games stink. However, the only thing missing from the colorful plastic case that Azurik ships in is a clothespin for your nose. After getting both Obi Wan and Azurik, I am beginning to wonder why I spent $300 on a black and neon-green doorstop. I have a right to grieve.

As an avid action/adventurer, I had followed the progression of Azurik since its earliest screenshots were made available for perusal. The looks of this game were, and still are, incredible. Adrenium put gobs of creative energy and time into crafting spectacular, flamboyantly colorful, truly gorgeous, and unique fantasy worlds for Mr. Bad Hair Life Azurik to adventure through. Unfortunately, the storyline, game play and horrid camera angles do not live up to the potential of the graphics in this title.

The extremely stripped down plot is told almost in its entirety during the opening cinematic of the game. The story poses Azurik as a fate-embracing Lore Guardian, the sole mage left in a quest for restoring order to the world of Perathia. Azurik's former fellow mage, the suddenly gone-bad Bathizar, stole and scattered the four discs of the sacred elemental forces that he and Azurik were supposed to be guarding, then Bathizar himself disappeared. It is subsequently up to Azurik to visit the four realms of their world, recover the four discs, and return each to its rightful place in the Temple of the Elements.

Over and over through four beautiful, spiritually uplifting realms called Fire, Earth, Air, and Water will you aimlessly wander, given little information except as regards certain sparsely placed mechanisms that require repair. You are never offered any explanation as to how they broke down, who put them there to begin with, or what their true function is. In your travels you will jump across chasms and attempt to tippy-toe across narrow bridges, frequently plummeting off them instead because of a horrid camera control system (explained in glowing detail below). All the while you must collect not only the lost discs, but also groups of colored jewels and glowing obsidian that are littered purposelessly throughout the landscape.

There are too few save points in Perathia, resulting in much backtracking when Azurik plunges to a lackluster death off of a cliff. There are also gold and silver circular portals that can be activated and used to shortcut from land to land, but these are few in number as well.

Besides the gem collecting, Azurik's to-do list also involves killing 98% of the natural inhabitants of each realm in his own defense. These creatures are all inexplicably aggressive from the get-go toward their only Guardian, seeing as how their world will quickly fall to ruins without him. All killing is accomplished with the same few limited jabs from Azurik's lone, double-bladed staff called an Axion. You do eventually pick up water, earth, air, and fire attributes for the blades of that staff, which do more damage and can be combined for interesting effects, but it takes half of the game to acquire these skills, and most enemies can be extinguished without them anyway. The same rewards are always offered for kills: boosts to Azurik's health and refills of the various elemental powers for his staff. There will also be a final sparring showdown with Bathizar before the closing credits roll.

Each realm is a graphical showstopper, but awe escalates into fiery frustration at a white-hot pace. The main problem visually is with the camera control system. You must perpetually counteract the sloppy, swerving view of Azurik and his surroundings manually with a combination of the right analog stick and the left directional pad, using the right trigger to center the view behind Azurik. All this must go on simultaneously while you are controlling Azurik and his weapon with the left analog stick and five of the six game pad buttons. I tried thinking positively: "Hey, after I finish this game I will be so coordinated that I'll be a shoe-in for a new career defusing bombs and land mines for the military ..."

I even tried to blame this aggravation on the behemoth size of the Xbox controller itself, which was obviously made solely for large, manly-man hands. In this vein, I shopped and found a smaller Xbox controller put out by Saitek called the Adrenalin Pad. The salesperson that rang up my purchase had the nerve to blurt out, "All of the third-party Xbox game pads suck!" To which I countered, "Well, it's better than dropping that high-quality, factory original Xbox game pad every five minutes!"

Alas, even with a smaller controller, the only way I could keep an eye on both Azurik and the threats dwelling within the landscape was to zoom out to the farthest overhead view. That way, when the camera angle slid off to the left or right, I could still see what was going on as I adjusted the view. Only with Azurik more closely resembling a two-inch sprite from a 1998 RPG than his full-screen sized, visually stunning, tattooed self was I able to hack through this game. So much for appreciating the details of the graphic finery!

Even with the extended view, there were areas where Azurik and the enemies were oddly visible in otherwise pitch-black caverns, and it took patience once enemies were felled to find the way out again. When Azurik would turn a tight corner, a mad scramble would ensue to adjust the camera while attacking monsters surged forth from behind, out of view until they struck. Other times, Azurik would get stuck in repetitive thrashing motions, mainly underwater but occasionally also up against walls or corners.

The enemies in this game are extremely detailed and unusual, so much so that I suppressed a gasp here and there at the bigger bosses. Their varying looks and methods of attack are distinctive and filled with visual splendor. Some creatures fly and spit poison, some have huge, crane-like claws that scoop low toward the ground and strike with electricity, and others zigzag their way toward Azurik for a snack or zap him with tentacles. One shy, deer-like creature is friendly by day, only becoming a threat at night.

Azurik does swim up, down, and all around quite well, which is a plus as there are enemies under sea level to deal with as well. Unfortunately, most of Azurik's enemies have one commonality: They charge baldheaded at Azurik from wherever they lurk, which is oftentimes right out in the open to begin with. There are few surprises except due to camera angle frustrations, and the battles for the most part get mundane and overly repetitive quickly. Enemies also spawn again every time our hero revisits an area, which he is forced to do often, as keys must be found in other locales that will unlock new sections of certain realms before he can finish with them.

The sound effects are rather scarce, Azurik's sparring grunt becoming the epitome of repetition. The baddies groan only occasionally, usually choosing instead to remain silent. You do hear Azurik's footsteps as well as creaky bridges underfoot, and the water rushes down waterfalls, but there is little else. The musical score, however, is theatrical, bright, uplifting and strong, marred only by lack of enough variance.

Had the camera views been acceptable, I guess I could have recommended this title to those who care not about plot but love fabulous graphics, unusual monsters, and very basic, predictable, repetitive slash combat. Veteran consolers have played many a game with obligatory jewel collecting, so this aspect alone isn't a real turnoff. Even the jumping and balancing acts on ledges are commonplace; it is mainly the futile camera control and lack of a storyline and surprises that deep-six Azurik: Rise of Perathia. I hereby grade it with a rotten egg (and not even a Grade A egg)—saved from the dung heap only by its incredible graphics.

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