Drawing more attention to himself than to his own creation is Toby Gard. Mr. Gard, for those who don’t know, is one of the original minds behind Core Design’s first Tomb Raider game. After leaving Core in 1997, Gard left the Eidos-owned studio and started Confounding Factor, a development studio which closed its doors for good just a few weeks ago.
Confounding Factor’s headlining game, Galleon, had spent nearly seven years in development, moving from platform to platform, which at one point included the Dreamcast, PlayStation 2 and GameCube before moving onto the Xbox as an exclusive title for Microsoft’s home console. Be it the result of a marketing campaign gone awry, Galleon had been touted as a game from the creator of Tomb Raider, disturbingly, in a positive sense, despite the public’s general thoughts of the Tomb Raider franchise being one that has become shallow and dry.
When a game has spent over seven years in development, most would think that the title is sure to deliver in each and every way imaginable. Well, that would be the result in a perfect world, but we sure as hell all know that this is no perfect world, and after spending many years in development, Galleon: Islands of Mystery only delivers in a handful of areas, that is, if any at all.
A Plot Given More Credit Than It Deserves
In the long run, all critics come to conclusion about a game on their own terms. However, it’s not odd to find many of us reading other people’s reviews about a game to see what their opinions are. I did such a thing before passing my final judgment about Galleon, and to my surprise, I found that most made out the game’s plot to be much better than it really is.
Galleon: Islands of Mystery stars Rhama Sabrier, a sea-captain who has, unknowingly to us, made himself famous with his adventures across the seas. Rhama is hired by an old researcher by the name of Areliano in order to find the source growth of a powerful herb whose power can help save millions of lives.
"most made out the game’s plot to be much better than it really is"
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However, if this herb were to find its way to the hands of someone who holds ill intentions, just as many lives could be taken away, seeing as the herb is also the source of great magical power that rivals the force of Mother Nature herself. This is just what happens, as Areliano’s once humble servant Jebez betrays his master in hopes of becoming all powerful… Rhama, along with Faith (Areliano’s full-lipped and busty daughter), makes it his mission to stop Jebez’s from harming further innocents.
While the game’s plot is built of a solid foundation, it really doesn’t accomplish anything spectacular. There was never point where one could feel as if they could attach themselves to any of the game’s characters. And neither does one really feel as if the game’s plot actually plays much of significance to the overall gaming experience to be found within Galleon.
Prince of Persia, Galleon Is Not
More than anything else, Galleon is a platformer. If it were to be compared to any game, it’d definitely be Price of Persia: The Sands of Time. The title’s gameplay is very similar to that game, once which came almost a year before it.
In Galleon, just like the Prince, Rhama runs on walls and performs a handful of acrobatic maneuvers. Unfortunately, none can even compare to the finesse used by the Prince in Ubisoft’s modern classic. Oddly, Galleon also shares a similar flaw with Prince of Persia and that’s the game sometimes annoying camera. It stays directly locked behind Rhama at all times, which can often cause for some frustrating situations when in a tight corner or area. However, with all of this said, Galleon’s platforming elements are smart enough to keep players on their toes, this is partly due to the fact a backtracking puzzle element is heavily implemented into the game. No, it’s nothing too difficult, in fact, it’s very straightforward, however, players are often sent back and forth on fetch quests in order to open a new path, etc.
“Control! Control! You Must Learn Control!”
It seems that quotes from the original Star Wars Trilogy can be applied to almost anything, and Yoda’s wise words truly fit the bill when applying them to Galleon. Why? Because, I cannot remember any other game in recent memory that can cause so much frustration solely due to issues with control as Galleon does.
In Galleon you are somewhat assisted by the game’s AI when controlling Rhama. Press forward lightly on the left control stick and Rhama will tread in that direction cautiously in what the game calls “Safe Mode,” not falling off cliffs or narrow pathways, even if pointed in that direction. When pressing hard on the control stick, Rhama will sprint to the direction pointed to, no longer being aware of his surrounding as an independent AI controlled character. Instead, the game leaves the running action completely in the hands of the player himself, which evidently is the intention of most games (go figure?).
For the most part, these actions work well. However, there are context sensitive actions performed that do not work as well, one of which is vaulting. To vault, players must point in the direction of the elevated platform. Doing so results in Rhama finding his way on top of it. Unfortunately, during instances that occur more frequently than desired, Rhama will attempt to vault onto objects that just shouldn’t be. For example, in Chapter Four there’s an area with three massive wooden hammers that come swinging towards you when stepping on trap switch. Oddly, if you’re walking
"Galleon’s controls hinder the gameplay experience greatly"
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towards these hammers when they begin to swing back (allowing you to run by safely) if close enough Rhama will attempt to climb on top of one of the hammers, which results in players getting knocked off the narrow path and down into a lake. Situations like these tend to become very frustrating and unfortunately it does not stop there. No, the frustration continues…
Galleon is heavily based on platforming. Unfortunately, the game’s platforming elements are hindered by the game’s sluggish response to button commands. Not only will you have to plan out jumps in accordance to (sometimes) moving platforms, but also take into consideration that Rhama doesn’t actually jump until a split-second or two after players press the jump button. Once again, situations like these become incredibly frustrating.
Adding to this frustration is the game’s combat aspect. Reminiscent of classic 2D brawlers like Streets of Rage, Galleon’s combat sequences require nothing more than the simple technique of button-mashing. There really isn’t much depth to it. But this doesn’t cause the frustration. No. The game’s sluggish controls affect this aspect of the game as well. When fighting against enemies that perform grapple attacks on the player, the blood begins to boil since the chance of evasion seems to be based on luck.
Honestly, Galleon’s controls hinder the gameplay experience greatly. There were times that I just became so frustrated that I would either turn the game off in anger or smash the controller towards the ground, which actually resulted in me having to purchase another game pad later that same day. It seems that Mr. Gard hasn’t learned from his mistakes with the original Tomb Raider.
Graphics
Galleon had been in development way too long for its own good and this negatively had an impact on its visuals. I must admit that, while characters move fluidly across the game’s locales, and while facial animations are pulled off extremely well, Galleon’s characters and surroundings lack detail, as if polygons and high-res textures were used sparingly. Additionally, if large amounts of enemies gather on screen, you’re likely to encounter some slowdown, even if the game hardly pushes the graphical capabilities of the Xbox. Luckily, the game’s cheery and colorful look features some redeeming qualities that manage to keep the game pleasing to the eye.
If Galleon had originally begun its development on the Xbox console, I’m sure that the game would’ve looked better than it is now. Unfortunately, this is not the case and when compared to visual stunners on the Xbox like Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher’s Bay and Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow, Galleon fails to impress in all areas.
Sound
One thing that would definitely compliment a swashbuckling adventure like Galleon is a soundtrack, and overall auditory aspect, that is sure to help deliver a cheery atmosphere. This is one area in which Confounding Factor has managed to succeed in, but even then, it could still use some work.
"Galleon: Islands of Mystery only delivers in a handful of areas, that is, if any at all"
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The game’s soundtrack is something which attempts to be epic. Epic in almost a Star Wars or Indiana Jones-like sense. For the most part it succeeds, with a soundtrack that is fun and ever-changing with the pacing and action of the game. Its only real downfall is that the soundtrack isn’t anything memorable. I remember being fond of the game’s themes while playing Galleon, but as I write this very text for this review, my mind is a complete blank when attempting to think how the game’s tunes play out. With this said, the most notable auditory aspect of the game is without question its voice acting. Over exaggerated it’s not, and it even manages to express the game’s light humor in a believable fashion. Simply put, it’s much better than I could’ve imagined.
Overall, I give the game’s entire audio aspect a thumbs up. It hasn’t given me anything to really complain about. Of course, I could be nitpicky and say something like “the clanging of a sword against stone doesn’t sound too authentic,” but the truth is that I do not believe that something like that can be viewed as a negative enough factor to change my thoughts about the game’s audio aspects.
A Quest’s End
I wanted to like Galleon. When I first began to play the game I actually did, and enough to actually being praising the game at one point amongst my fellow companions. However, the more I played and the further I got into this ten hour adventure, the game’s control issues began to frustrate me more than any other game I’ve played in recent months. In the end, I actually felt a touch of hatred towards the game. If you plan on venturing onto Galleon’s seas, be weary – stormy waters lie ahead.
