Phantom Dust

• 100 single player missions.
• Face strange, glowing nents in weird, post-apocalypse setting that are as dangerous as your enemy.
• Earn points by winning battles, then spend them on new skills -- over 300 in all.
• Amazing graphics and control combine the look & feel of classic sci-fi and the best anime.
• 2-player head-to-head offline play & 4-person offline multiplayer.

From the Manufacturer --------------------- In this strategic action game, players fight supernatural battles in a postapocalyptic era. Phantom Dust takes you from the safety of the underground to explore the surface with your unique abilities. Play online or offline as one of the "gifted ones." Use your psychic skills to defeat nents as you search for your lost memories. Then, take the secrets you’ve learned and crush your competition on Xbox Live. Features * Get ready for fast-paced action: Use more than 300 skills to damage nents, steal their skills, and neutralize their psychic abilities. Special multiplayer game modes throw you straight into the action with prebuilt arsenals. * Battle online with Xbox Live: Enjoy one-versus-three, two-versus-two co-op, and free-for-all multiplayer modes. Earn points in Xbox Live battles and use them to buy new skills only available online. Play in tournaments, ban together to create clans, track your progress on the online score boards, swap skills, and download new abilities and s. * Play through more than 200 single-player missions: Build your skill inventory as you work your way through the game. Interact with nonplayable characters to learn more about your world, your skills, and yourself. * Instantly change the world with destructible environments: Use the environment to your advantage. Cast a psychic skill against a wall to have it smash onto your nent. Blast the floor under enemies to send them falling to their doom. * Try your hand at hundreds of skills: Win more than 300 skills by playing through the single-player missions and winning battles on Xbox Live. * Use countless strategies: Choose your strategy based on the environment, the battle mode, your nents’ and allies’ abilities, and your personal style. Review ------ Developed by Microsoft's Japanese division and published in the U.S. by Majesco, Phantom Dust was ed to be an odd duck. Corporate nonsense aside, this game is one that shows a huge a of potential and delivers only superficially. It seems to shoot itself in the foot whenever it's poised to really take off and achieve something, but there's still some enjoyment to be had here. Single-player suffers from this syndrome far more than the online modes. Crippled by a marginal localization and dreadful structure, the original and interesting story never has a chance to take hold, while laughable AI makes the battles one-dimensional. It's admittedly fun for a while to laugh at the character designs that look like Queen starring in a remake of Blade Runner, but in the end, the offline offering serves merely as a training session for the hectic online matches. Phantom Dust takes place in bite-sized servings of explosive combat for up to four players (or AI nents), with the object being to obliterate your foes with psychic powers acquired on the battlefield. There are plenty of nuances to pick up on, like which defensive skills work against which offensive powers, and this multifaceted gameplay introduced in single-player mode seems amazing at first, but ultimately fails to provide enough strategy meat to really sink your teeth into. Unparalleled environmental destruction will make your jaw drop, only to frustrate and annoy when you figure out that there's no reliable way to turn it to your advantage in a fight. Customizing your skill set would seem to add a level of needed depth to the combat, but the randomness in which you gain access to them recalls blackjack more than Diablo. And with no mini , cycling through targets (which you don't need a line of to lock on to) is your only resort to keeping tabs on the situation. The final nail in the coffin is that there is absolutely no way to possibly defend yourself if more than one player decides to for you expect to die in a matter of seconds, without exception. Unleashing beautiful hell on your nents is certainly fun for a while, as this is one of the more visually pleasing games in recent memory. The combat provides some thrills that you won't find in other games, given the unique nature of Phantom Dust's premise. And if the soundtrack were available commercially, I'd buy it without a second thought. However, I can't believe that anyone is going to stick with this rather than go back to Halo 2 or Rainbow Six 3 for their online needs once the new game glow wears off. Concept: Trade civilization and your memories for psionic powers and post-apocalyptic ruin! Valid at participating stores only Graphics: Any way you slice it, this is a treat for the eyes Sound: One of the coolest soundtracks ever. Orchestral instrumentation with a twist Playability: The lack of a mini severely hampers battle awareness Entertainment: The thrills end up being short-lived, as combat proves too shallow to hold interest for long Replay: Moderate Rated: 7 out of 10 Editor: Adam Biessener Issue: March 2005 2nd Opinion: I'm happy to see this game finally get a U.S. release, because it really does bring something different to the world of Xbox Live. I do quite enjoy the core psychic combat at the heart of this game, but it does grow a little stale after all strategic options have been explored. The story mode is pretty unimpressive (most worthless system ever!), but multiplayer should offer some thrills for those looking for a different way to get an online fix. Rated: 7.5 out of 10 Editor: Jeremy Zoss Subscribe to Game Informer ( /exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000AN45D/ ) -- .com