No, I want to be on the new Iron Maiden album cover.
Sounds like the perfect set-up for a beat-'em-up with some motorbike riding? Climax hears ya! Upon start up the Renderware logo gave us a scare, but once into the game it actually looked... surprisingly good. It mostly plays like your average Devil May Cry clone, where you run around a fixed camera, 3D environment and beat up enemies with your fists, a chain whip, and a shotgun. The chain immediately brings up God of War comparisons, but given it's part of a 30-year old character, it's hardly a rip-off. And with it's relatively weak and numerous regular enemies, Ghost Rider plays just as much like the easy parts of Devil May Cry, or even the PS2 Castlevania games. You have a variety of melee attacks that you can combo together (including an amusing grab, that initiates wrestling moves) and it all flows quite well, with just enough variety to keep you ploughing through enemies.
The Devil May Cry influences are obvious, from the 'soul orbs' that enemies drop that can be used to buy RPG style stat and attack upgrades, to the 'spirit doors' that block an exit until the room is cleared, to the look of the levels themselves – the first level of Ghost Rider looks almost identical to the castle and underworld sections of the first Devil May Cry game. The shotgun, however, doesn't work as well as the gunplay in Capcom's series, mainly because it has limited ammunition, leaving the game mostly melee-based. To further the 'influence', Blaze has what amounts to a 'devil trigger', where his whole body bursts into flames and you can launch extra powerful attacks. When enemies have taken a beating, they become stunned and you can finish them off with the aforementioned wrestling-like moves.
Some large beasties need a 'whuppin.
The Castlevania influence comes in with the attack system, which primarily consists of a two button system for strong and quick attacks, and of course associated combos of the two. New combos can be bought instantly in a store available on the pause menu, and just like recent console Castlevanias, they generally consist of a series of small attacks followed by a finishing move. The level layouts are also reminiscent of Konami's vampire hunters, in that they're generally flat, interconnected rooms, but Ghost Rider easily trumps the PS2 Castlevania's legendarily bland maps. There's no camera control, and the right stick allows Blaze to roll in the direction pressed as a dodge move.
There are also some motorcycle sections, and by keeping the combat they play something like a modern version of Road Rash. You ride through the streets firing missiles at numerous enemies and whipping anyone that comes too close, and there are also some obstacles that you have to jump and dodge. They're pretty easy overall, and quite short, but we still died a few times because we didn't know which button to press to get past a certain obstacle. But it at least adds some variety to the gameplay, and they're decent looking and quite fast. Speaking of graphics, as mentioned they're pretty good. While there's nothing cutting edge here, the backgrounds are nicely designed and detailed, and while the enemies are a bit generic, there's at least a few different types in each section. Animation isn't quite up the the modeling level however, particularly the enemies, who will sometimes jerk from one sequence to another, and can be stuck in the same pose as you attack. The sound affects are about par for the genre, and the music, while nothing special, sets the 'southerner in hell' theme quite well, with an aggressive country/metal feel. Though themes do repeat a bit too often.
The Devil Trigg...er...Vengeance attack.
Overall, we're not familiar enough with the property to know if it's faithful to the source, but at least some effort has been put in, and Ghost Rider may be a bit of fun for fans, as it's a competent beat-'em-up. Stay tuned for our full review, coming soon.
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