Galerians: ASH is the followup to the original Galerians that premiered on the PSX. While the original was a survival horror game with an interesting twist in which the protagonist Rion could attack enemies telepathically (even setting them on fire!), ASH is quite different from its predecessor, with a refined battle engine and larger areas to explore.

Following the events of the original Galerians, Rion and his friend Lilia awaken to discover that the entity known as Mother Computer Dorothy had executed one fatal command before she was terminated in the first game. With Lilia as well as the remains of the army that took on the Galerians in the first game at his side, Rion has a little more assistance this time around.

Much like the first game you have the ability to attack your enemies with psychic powers, whether it be telepathetically lifting them off the ground or knocking them around with fireballs. You can also choose if you want to charge up your attack to its highest power or pepper enemies with little attacks until they go down. While every use of your powers slowly drains how often you can use it later, there’s another meter which needs to be looked after, and that’s the AP meter. Every time you use one of your abilities, your AP meter rises. Once it has reached its maximum, Rion gets sort of angry. Actually, he goes psychotic. And the heads of anyone around him start bursting, including his friends. Needless to say, it’s a good idea to keep your AP low and your comrades skulls intact.

The gameplay in ASH is much improved over the original, with the additions of a shield and diving roll added to your arsenal. The lock-on feature works well here too, especially given that many of the areas you’ll explore are expansive and give you a lot of room to manuever around. In a lot of ways the combat feels like Zelda at times, although a little slower and more methodical.

The graphics on the other hand aren’t quite as good as the gameplay right now, with the textures looking garish and fairly bland. However, the design of the characters and the environments look very nice, carrying over the original’s futuristic look. It cerainly makes up for the lack of technical prowess in ASH.

Due out in early February, Galerians looks to be another fine title by Sammy Studios. Action fans should definitely check this game out, as well as fans of the first Galerians game. It might not look as pretty as the Resident Evil games on the GameCube, but hey, at least the control scheme won’t make your head burst; that’s what the game’s for!

· · · Reno