Vexx - surprisingly enjoyable

[BioMechanic]

I picked up Vexx for the Xbox this weekend, and am really surprised by how much fun I've had with it so far. I'd heard some poor reviews, but I've also heard very positive reactions, so I figured it would be worth a shot.

Vexx himself is an awful-looking character, and the plot is disposable but the game itself is actually quite impressive. Combat doesn't get old, and is rarely required, but it can give you advantages. Vexx has a variety of moves that power up his Talons. The analog control is responsive and accurate, whether Vexx is jumping, climbing, or swimming. The levels themselves are probably the best thing about the game: they are huge, gorgeous, and packed with objectives, hidden areas, and secrets. Here's the thing: there is a series of warp gates to the different levels, powered by a rift device. The more Wraith Hearts you find and feed to the device, the more powerful it gets, and the more levels you can access. This makes the game rather non-linear, as netting five or so Hearts unlocks three entire levels to explore. You can switch between worlds whenever you want, or can try and locate every Heart in a certain level before moving to the next. Each level has ten or so hidden Hearts, clues to which are given to you in the form of a riddle.

The platforming is fun and inventive, and challenging. A certain tower in the first world gave me more trouble than anything in Rayman 2 or Klonoa 2 - and not because of the camera. Certain sections of the game are really tough to navigate, but are always worth the trouble by leading to a hidden Heart, extra life, or simply another section of the beautiful levels (one has you creeping along the backbone of a gigantic dragon skeleton; another has you trapped inside a giant's mansion, exploring along a huge piano). The camera is a little unpredictable, but you can re-center it, move it with the right stick, or place it over Vexx's shoulder, so finding the perfect angle isn't too difficult. Vexx doesn't really add moves as the game progresses, either - you're quite versatile from the beginning. This cuts down on backtracking, as you're not forced to revisit worlds after learning a new move later on. This keeps the game focused on exploration and platforming. The game is also long, with nine or so gigantic levels.

I think Vexx is really worth a look. It's not perfect, by any means. The camera's twitchy, and it sometimes takes a little extra work to see where you're going, but it's a small price to pay for how grand the rest of the game is. The soundtrack is also well-done and diverse, ranging from chorus-backed orchestra to jazz-rock fusion, believe it or not. It helps create a majestic mood to go along with the visuals - thankfully there's little techno. I'm constantly surprised by how versatile and inventive the levels are - it pays to explore every corner. Vexx reminds me a lot of Fur Fighters, in design, concept, and ingenuity.

As a side note, I don't think Acclaim quite deserves all the bashing it gets. The Burnout series, Aggressive Inline, and now Vexx are all well-done, enjoyable games - maybe not the most original or polished games on the planet, but each is fun on their own merit. Despite its sometime-cliched content and slightly annoying tech issues, I am very surprised at how addicting and enjoyable Vexx is.

[Despair]

Very cool impressions Bio. I still need to rent/buy this game. Me and DJ went through platforming phase earlier this year, and Vexx looked interesting as well, but we kinda forgot about it.

[Clash!]

Yeah Vexx as a character is very poor indeed, thats why I think a lot of people passed the game off. I did this as well till I played a demo of it, and after that I picked up the Cube version as soon as possiable.

The game is indeed very fun and has plenty of challanging parts like the various towers that Bio mentioned. Its just pure platforming at its best in those areas.

If you like 3D Platformers you really really need to give this game a chance, my only gripe about the game is that the combat system tried to be more complex that it really is, and the fact that the Mansion level is very very out of place with all the other worlds being completly differant and much better.

I still don't know how to even hurt the final boss though, someday I guess.

[dyomides]

I know exactly how you feel although I only tried three times before I went back to collecting the final hearts. Is it just me or is the last level just plain old crazy platforming challenges. I tell you this game has had some of the toughest platforming I have ever done in a 3D game.

D

[Clash!]

Yeah some of the platforming is indeed tough, but thats how it should be. Most 3D platformers hardly even touch platforming, this game went nuts in some area which just made it so much fun to play.

[dyomides]

I tell you the last time a game made my hands sweat that much was on the dreamcast with MDK2. I'm really happy I picked this game up regardless of the bad reputation ppl have given it, I enjoyed the game a lot.

D

[Mzo]

I really enjoyed what I played of it back on its release, and plan on picking it up sometime. It just doesn't have much priority.

I just like platformers a lot, to the point of even 100%-ing Donkey Kong 64 1.5 times (friend erased the cart once), so I thought my views were skewed. But yeah, it's a fun platformer.

[Despair]

I still havent tried it. I was planning to rent it, or buy it cheap, but kept forgetting about it. And now I wont be doing that for a while.

[BioMechanic]

Yeah some of the platforming is indeed tough, but thats how it should be. Most 3D platformers hardly even touch platforming, this game went nuts in some area which just made it so much fun to play.

Agreed. Seeing all the different modes of play in most current "platformers" like Jak II make them very un-platformerish. Vexx is 100% pure obstacle coursing and exploration. Hmm...maybe that's why it was knocked as being unoriginal by most reviews?

Glad you liked it, D!

[Captain Vegetable]

I like it, too. It's a great challenge, and I like Vexx's design.

More on this later.

P.S. "Dark Yabu" is a really dumb name.