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MediEvil: Resurrection (PSP) artwork

MediEvil: Resurrection (PSP) review


"Have you ever not wanted to do something? "

Have you ever not wanted to do something?

Of course you have.

You’ve procrastinated on an assignment. You’ve absolutely dreaded going to work. It’s even worse when you don’t want to play a video game. I mean, video games are a form of entertainment. You’re supposed to enjoy playing them, but sometimes, you just come across a game that you just can’t stand for whatever reason. For me, these games aren’t the worst games on the shelf and they aren’t the best games either. They’re those average games that we’ve all come across in our gaming careers that don’t do anything wrong, they just can’t keep your attention.

The latest game in my seemingly never-ending saga of games I don’t really want to play is MediEvil Resurrection. To be honest, most games on the PSP lately are falling into this category, but MediEvil Resurrection is a particularly strong example. I got the game a week ago and it’s the only PSP game I own at this point.

And my PSP is still sitting in my top desk drawer not being played.

It’s not that MediEvil Resurrection is a bad game, but it’s just doesn’t have spunk. It can’t keep my attention. A particularly bad game can keep you interested because it’s so awful and a great game can too because it constantly “wows” you. MediEvil Resurrection doesn’t do anything that makes you think it’s terrible, but it doesn’t do anything that surprises you either. It just sort of exists.

I was surprised too, because I had spent some time with the series on the PSOne. Back when the first two games came out, I liked them a lot. MediEvil Resurrection is a near carbon-copy of those originals, so that makes this game feel outdated right out of the box. There’s really not that much to this game that wasn’t found on the PSOne originals and that’s just not good enough anymore.

In MediEvil Resurrection, you play as Sir Dan, an undead hero to the whole world. As it turns out, he really wasn’t a hero. He was more of a coward actually. He hid way in the back of a major battle against a badass sorcerer with an army of undead legions while everyone else was brave and fighting. Sir Dan was one of the first to fall. Somehow he ended up being considered a hero with everyone thinking that he killed the sorcerer. It’s funny how history changes depending on who writes it. Our hero has been given a second chance to prove his actual worth and perhaps earn a spot in the Hall of Heroes where all the great fallen heroes go when they die. To do that, he has to actually kill the sorcerer and his undead legions who have returned to conquer the world once again (but for real this time).

As Sir Dan, you’ll travel from area-to-area vanquishing any enemies that happen to get in your way by mashing the attack button. You’ll wield swords, axes, crossbows, and throwing knives, among other weapons. Sir Dan has to wander through creepy graveyards and mausoleums attacking a variety of foes like skeletons and mummies. Occasionally you’ll come across a puzzle, which are probably the only thing in this game that provoke interest. One puzzle requires you light a club on fire in one area, run into another area, and then use it to burn apart a bookshelf. Nothing particularly complex, but it requires some thinking at least.

The problem is, even with all the weapons, you won’t have much desire to wield them, let alone swing them. Maybe it’s because the graphics look exactly like the original PSOne game. The PSP is a much more powerful system and we’ve seen some great graphics. It makes MediEvil Resurrection seem sloppy. Maybe it’s boring because the hack-and-slash gameplay has been done better countless times over the past few years. The PSP already has Untold Legends and it does hack-and-slash gameplay loads better than MediEvil Resurrection. When you stack it up against some of the bigger consoles best hack-and-slash games, this game doesn’t even stand a chance.

I’m going to take a guess that both of those factors contribute to my feelings.

I don’t know how MediEvil Resurrection ends. I barely know how it begins. I do know that every time I sit down to play this game, after sitting through the too-long-for-what-you-get loading screens, I just want to turn it off, and that’s not a feeling that I want to have when playing a game. MediEvil Resurrection just feels old, some ancient relic of the past that’s fun to look at and say “wow, hey, I remember that game,” but really, when you go back and play it, it’s just not that good anymore. Games have progressed. I’d love to play a better, more interesting Medieval, but that’s just not in this game. What you do get is a functional game that doesn’t do anything wrong on a technical level (besides the outdated graphics), but it just won’t suck you in to the shoes of your hero and convince you that you are Sir Dan and get you behind his quest. That just might be the worst fault a game could ever have.



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Community review by asherdeus (May 17, 2006)

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