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Walthros |  |
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By: Paul Harrington Creations Homepage: http://members.aol.com/blueguinea Download: 3.09 MB Reviewed by: Aethereal |
Before I begin this review, I'd like to ask you, the reader, a quantitative question. Get your fingers out and start counting. How many finished OHR games can you count? Yes, that's what I thought. Well, raise one more finger in favor of Walthros, by Paul Harrington Creations, which, after two years, has been finished, and sent into Operation: OHR to be reviewed in its final incarnation.
Don't take the last paragraph as sarcasm - because its not. I have eagerly been waiting for the past couple of years for this game to be finished, because ever since I have played the first demo of it, I have been nothing short of amazed (and I not only speak for myself, but many members of the community as well). Walthros has quite possibly the best story of any OHR game as well as other things that are quite rare in other games - character development, a clear plot, length, and other neat little things (did I mention its finished? :) I'm beginning to ramble a little bit, so I'd better get on with the review.
Well, for anyone who's played previous versions of Walthros, they will notice a lot has been changed when they hit that new game button and start playing. One of the more notable areas of change is the graphics. In its first few versions, Walthros had merely sub-par graphics with little shading. While some graphics (mostly hero graphics and a few maptiles) still aren't all that great, a lot of them have been improved by leaps and bounds (see: Beta City, any of the Rodentian cities, the shrines, and Mt. Permafrost). Hero Graphics remain essentially the same, with the definite exception of Sombra the cat, who looks plain cool :) I'd say that while the graphics are nothing spectacular or mind-blowing, they definitely get the job done and they did not alter my experience with the game in any way. For someone who looks at screenshots of this game and passes it off as a sub-par game, remember the saying "don't judge a book by its cover", or something like that.
Music is nothing new to get excited about. A lot of tracks are reused from previous versions (dungeon themes, boss themes, etc. but then again what game doesn't use a track more than once?) and there are some new ones. The classical music does not bother me, but some of it just sounds ugh in bam format. I actually like classical music, and I felt the choices were decent, but not the best in some areas (like the overused boss theme and the battle theme - you should have kept snow flurries.bam for this).
The storyline is fantastic. While it might be a tad cliched in some areas (such as the appearance of crystals - Final Fantasy - but they serve a COMPLETELY different purpose as compared to other games using elemental crystals. It will probably surprise you if you don't see it coming) it is overall very, very well done. You will not find any generic fantasy RPG races in this game (orcs, elves, goblins, etc.) - everything is original from the Walthrosian Fish to the Fantastic Rabbit Spirit. Heck, even a cow is the guardian of the planet (you should know this if you've read the game's website, though). I really don't want to summarize the story for spoilers, but let's say it delivers well. It has the ever-classic mad scientist (I expected him to play a role in the end of the game...) and alternate dimensions, and super heroes. There are also a number of plot twists - a good example is whether Red City succeeded after the defeat of its tyrant or not (and you find out in the game's ending). Then, once you've reached your goal, the game throws a COMPLETE twist and changes everything. The end game villain is one you'd never expect, and so I don't want to repeat it here. Playing this game can give you some major lessons in story writing if that's one of your weaker points - or even if its one of your strongest. I know I learned some things from this game's story. If there is one flaw in the story, I'd say that the end is a tad rushed (mostly from the Rodentian Continent on), especially the ending. The ending was definitely good, in a Suikoden-esque style, but it just felt a little rushed.
The gameplay in this game ranges from "good" to "okay". Dungeons are generally boring, if a little creative in detail and map design. A perfect example of this is the surprisingly short end dungeon - all it is is grey walls and a purple floor, and it ends pretty abruptly. Battles seem to be balanced decently, a definite improvement from previous versions of the game (I eagerly await a hardtype version of this game). The main draw here is the sidequests - this game has a lot of them. And if you want to be able to do well in later parts of the game, you'll NEED to do them. Many of them yield important and powerful items or new spells (summons for Bob, the Evil Laser spell for Gulob, spear skills for Salom, etc.). The variety of characters and abilities is pretty good. Need characters to fight a boss weak against water? A perfect team would be Bob, Blueberry, Super Walrus Man, and either Salom or Scottie. Weak against fire? Bring in Bob, Ketchup, Walrus, and Salom or Scottie. The possibilities are many.
Another definite plus to Walthros is the ability of the author to locate and fix bugs - Walthros has had a number of them, and most of them are repaired well so that they don't make reappearances. Kudos to the author for taking the time to fix them.
I guess this is the concluding paragraph, and I must say that Walthros is definitely a gem of a game. It is one of the best OHR games ever created, and definitely one of the best RPGs I've ever played. Its long, too (by OHR standards) - at least ten hours if you take the time to do everything. If you have any love for RPGs at all, then you should download this game and play it. You will not be disappointed. Congratulations go to the author for such an incredible game - this ties with Time Flies as my favorite OHR game.
Scores:
| Graphics: A good effort in some areas, while sub-par in other places. A remake of this game begs for an entire graphic overhaul. Still pretty nice, though. | |
| Music: Good choices, but some of the classical music just doesn't sound great in BAM format. | |
| Storyline: A true story to the end, this one is something to remember. | |
| Gameplay: With all the sidequests and variety of things to do, the gameplay factor is pretty high. All I can say is that some battles are a little long and/or boring - but I didn't really have a problem with it. | |
| Overall (Not an average score): Congratulations, Paul Harrington. You've created a masterpiece. Continue making these great games. |
Operation: OHR is owned and maintained by Kevin W. (Aethereal)