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Systems > Dreamcast > K > Karous > Staff Review
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Review by Felix Arabia
May 03, 2007
Milestone Inc, a company found from the remnants of Compile (which should be a name noticeable to any PC Engine fan) put their collective heart and soul into what has to be the most pointless and unnecessary project ever.
And I’m so glad they did it.
Where Radirgy is a light-hearted vertical shooter renowned for its colorful cel-shading, Karous is a brooding, ominous entry utilizing dark hues as its artistic style in order to give the player a sense of pervading hopelessness. It’s gothic in appearance; and even though the story is told strictly through Japanese characters, you do not need to know a single bit of the language in order to realize that the world of Karous is a depressing one – a doomed one.
You pilot an ugly half crow, half angel through five short – though intense – levels in the hope of setting things straight. Your female character’s plight is not the most original by any means, but that’s negligible since her journey is such a memorable experience.
Now there’s a catch. Karous, like its predecessor, is an easy game. Even on Hard Mode, where intricate bullet tapestries blanket the screens and heavily armored steel vessels attempt to obstruct your progress, this game is a cinch. It requires strategy to progress through, forcing you to use all your fighter’s weapons. But it’s still easy. There really isn’t any point playing Karous on Easy or Normal (you can’t even experience the final two levels in the former mode). And the reason why that exists happens to be due to the weapon leveling up process.
Your crow-woman has three lethal attacks – not counting a powerful, satanic skull attack that serves as a power bomb. A spreading plasma blast, a windshield wiper-esque sword, and a bullet-absorbing shield will wreak havoc on the grey enemy armada of nimble jets fighters and torpid cargo cruisers. In order to deploy the shield, you can’t fire or swipe enemies; but if you rub against them, they’ll still take damage. You’ll never even get a scratch.
The weapons level up, too. The more you use them, the better they get in terms of firepower and range. You can also augment your character’s speed and defense, further allowing the game’s lack of challenge to take hold.
But . . .
Karous may very well be the final Dreamcast game ever. Coupled with the fact that it was released on an innovative system replete with thinking abilities, as evidenced by the console’s motto, makes Karous’ lack of difficulty a trivial liability. You may be thinking why would that help to sway anyone but the diehard Dreamcast fan into wanting to play the game. The reason is, besides sentimental value, is that Karous is still a really good shooter with its own distinct feel. It doesn’t have a scoring gimmick like Ikaruga, and it has way more personality than the lackluster Trigger Heart Exelica.
It has a morose atmosphere replete with striking ambiance that will captivate any gamer. The soundtrack is killer, featuring haunting beats and sonorous piano that always seems to appear during the most epic instances. At the end of the third level, for example, after flying over a gloomy metropolis, you’ll have to take out a deadly, giant building replete with turrets. From time to time you’ll have to cease firing so you can put up your fighter’s life-saving shield. It requires some strategy. Wait one second too long and you’ll get zapped. Play too cautiously and you’ll never get a hit in. It’s a nice blend of offense and defense that will eventually allow you to turn that firing fortress into a mound of rubble. Emerging from the choking smoke comes a new threat. You must now undo a ravaging mecha quadruped that decides to run amok through the gloomy city you were just flying over. So you tussle around with it for a bit.
Later in the game, you’ll have to battle a giant robot chef. Besides shooting variously colored bullets at you, it also has the audacity to fire delicious home cooking your way. Karous can be a little silly like Radirgy, and even though this robotic chef would seem out of place in this sweet, somber adventure, it certainly doesn’t take away anything from the game’s gothic nature.
And if you’re still miffed about the lack of difficulty, you can always toggle the number of hits you’re allowed until you die. You’ll only have a handful of credits, and your weapons’ newfound powers will reset after you stop playing. Always.
If Karous does indeed turn out to be the final Sega Dreamcast game, there is hardly a better way for console to go out. It’s a magnificent, atmospheric, vertical shooter leading the rearguard for a system renowned for housing magnificent, atmospheric games.
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| Crows may be disliked birds, but Karous is a very good game nonetheless. | ||
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Staff reviews represent the opinion of the individual staff member that wrote them and do not necessarily represent the opinion of the site staff as a whole. If you disagree with the contents of this review, you may click to leave feedback on our dedicated forum. Thank you!
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Mars Matrix is another Dreamcast game in the Shooter genre that has been attracting activity lately, so you might want to check it out and see what all of the fuss is about!
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