Gaming Target - PlayStation 2: Vexx

Written by Chris Reiter on April 08, 2002

First Impressions: Not as annoying as you may think.

One genre the PlayStation 2 has been lacking in greatly is the one to do with platforms. With Sony's Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy taking the top spot for the time being since its November release, Acclaim has been subsequent to recently announce a multiplatform title that may not only replace the spot for Jak and Daxter, but also come off as one to replace other ones as well when this interesting, innovative, and unique platform title hits stores this coming September.

Beveled on the torn planet of Astara lies the village of Rockhaven, the beginning of your story, the start of your journey, and the location of the main character Vexx's stomping grounds. Vexx is an odd character. He's small in height, has large spiky ears, and a set of claw-like hands. When Yabu, the high and dark ruler of Vexx's planet, has enslaved Vexx and his people, and now has killed Vexx's grandfather -- that was the last straw he pulled, and it's payback time. Upon sneaking into Yabu's airship, Vexx stumbles across a pair of mystical gauntlets; the Astani Battle Gauntlets, that when equipped, give its possessor incredible powers. When trying them on, however, Vexx discovers that the gauntlets have become a symbiotic attachment to him, and not knowing how to use them, is in the mean time caught by Yabu, attacked, and left for dead. But, luck never runs out, when Vexx is then found by a blind hermit named Darby, who aids Vexx in regaining his strength, teaching him the power of the gauntlets, and how to use them against the ultimate evil being, Yabu.

On the hunt for Yabu, Vexx will need to traverse through a total of 18 game levels. These levels will pull you through such areas as a desert surrounding, a frozen stronghold, islands streaming with molten lava, and even the inside of a giant's castle. Controlling Vexx through the variety of environments won't be as difficult as overcoming as the exploration locales may sound, though. In addition to the awesome power of the gauntlets, in which you can either summon heavy doses of power and veer it towards the enemy or leap at high scales, Vexx can also perform basic functions like jumping, attacking, and even swimming. One thing about drifting under water is that you can either swim at slower or greater speeds thanks to the analog functions Acclaim has in the works. With a set of standard moves paired up with the abilities of the gauntlets, Vexx's control scheme is developing nicely as the game should control easily even with a ton of moves that can be executed.

Graphically, the game will come off as imaginative and luminous as any platform title before it. Colorful lifelike places, naturally, are heading to be the "look" of Vexx. The game areas and game characters will each be given realistic shadow and lighting details according to the environment. For instance, the ice level could affect the shade of Vexx, emanating a blue glow off of his body, whereas in the lava level, his skin will appear to reflect the reddish surroundings. More so, Acclaim is equipping the game characters all with shadow effects that express the movement following the details within the game areas as well. The in-game textures are going along smoothly, and should all be paved out perfectly by the time of its release. Above all, Acclaim's certainly making sure Vexx won't be a disappointment for what the eye can see.

At the present moment, it's unknown whether or not the story driven game of Vexx will include with it a strong cast of voices to bring the game characters to life. I'd suspect nothing less than that, though. Anyhow, the standard game noises are coming along very smoothly, as they're being developed to produce nothing but the best of what is to be expected from such an interesting title as Vexx looks to be. So far, it's known that the game music surely will fit the scene, where it will accordingly mesh well with any of the game environments, having a techno rhythm made right to fit the part of the to be Vexx game. Currently, while there isn't much to say about the game's sound, the end result shouldn't be a letdown in any shape or form.