Gaming Target - PlayStation 2: Reign of Fire

Written by Chris Reiter on May 15, 2002

First Impressions: So hot, you'll want to laminate your controller in flame retardant!

Summer is the best time for the biggest and best movies to arrive. This summer's going to be just one example of how hot the theater will be when Touchstone Pictures and Spyglass Pictures release a movie centered on an ultimate battle between dragon kind versus mankind in a fight to for survival, starring Christian Bale and Matthew McConaughey. Based on the film of the same name, BAM! Entertainment is bringing home the video game conversion of the biggest flame broiled, bullet charred, dragon and human clash of all time.

Story wise, it is told in the legends of earth's history that dragons once dominated the planet, and that they were wiped out many long ages ago. It is now the future in the year 2024 when humans control technology, and humans are the guiding force to shape the planet. That is until out of nowhere, a race of dragons shows themselves and wage war against the human race. Your story, if you're daring enough, will be to take part in this duel between giant fire breathing lizards against the puny, but heavily armed human race.

Kuju Entertainment's conversion of the movie will in fact push segments of the story into the game, but mainly the game will focus more on the heavy combat that everyone wants to get a piece of. Namely, the gameplay is setup to allow you to take control of various missions that have you defending your base of operations, rescuing companion human life, and of course heading straight on into the line of fire with a massive scaly lizard that you will do your best to send it back into extinction. As the game progresses through waves of strategic and action oriented obstacles, you'll get the chance to not only choose from a bevy of weaponry, but also from a list of land and air vehicles, ranging from tanks, to trucks, to jeeps, and to even helicopters to kill with. One thing's for sure: being a human in the future won't be dull.

Living the life of a military warrior has its benefits, and its downsides as well. If and when you are to finish playing Reign of Fire, the game will grant those people with the ability to be a dragon, having the capabilities to destroy the opposing human forces. Talk about irony. When you'll start the game a second time playing as the dragon, you'll begin your quest out as a small creature with only a few abilities, but as the game goes forwards, your dragon can later grow up and become one of many fire breathing, and fearsome as they come, gargantuan sized beasts. With the fact that you can be either the good or the bad guy should give anyone enough initiative geared for a long time of replay ability.

And with the duo of dragon against human combination of gameplay comes the visuals to show it all off. Reign of Fire's future outlook at the moment should be of no surprise that the appearance of the game would feature barren wastelands of dirt hills, and open areas for pure action satisfaction. While the title may not place much of anything out of the ordinary from the predictable value the game is set at, there will be tons of explosive and fiery attractions from both warring factions (such as exploding vehicles) of the two rivals that will provide enough of an incentive to at least enjoy what's there. Combine that with some drearily detailed skies and on screen moving objects, and you've got yourself a game.