Gaming Target - Xbox: Enclave

Written by Leigh Culpin on August 30, 2002

Full Review: n: An enclosed territory that is culturally distinct from the foreign territory that surrounds it.

The dictionary definition for an Enclave actually suits the game pretty well Ц the game's clearly a part of the action/adventure genre, but it's also very distinct from most other games of the type. Unfortunately not necessarily in good ways, as Enclave has some major problems that keep it from being as fun as it really should've been Ц mostly a difficulty brought through a lack of decent options and some collision problems, which is a bad way to lose. I've always found losing to be an experience like any other Ц simply something to learn from and one of two possible outcomes. However, losing because of things that should work but don't is by far the most frustrating way to lose, and this is what you'll come across in Enclave.

First off, know this: If you play this game, you are going to die. A lot. And it's going to be very, very frustrating. While the lack of an in-level save feature does prolong the time it takes to finish the game, it does so in the most frustrating way imaginable Ц by killing you over and over by traps and unseen foes you can not possibly be aware of the first time through. The game isn't really that long playing it through the second time when you know where all the traps and hidden foes are, though one of the cool features of the game is that you can take any playable characters and equipment you acquire back to previous levels, so the game can be significantly shorter going through again to collect all the УmoneyФ used in the game to purchase items. This is another nice feature - upon taking a weapon into a level and completing it, you get the original cash value for it back, so you basically have whatever money you had when you started plus what you collected, so you can freely change weapons and armor without worrying about Уtrade-inФ values or anything like that.

The game's action is mainly hack n' slash, with the long-range combat, involving elves and wizards, being a lot of fun but often not practical in closed quarters, which is basically what you'll be stuck with in later levels. The only problem with this is that sometimes the melee weapons don't connect when they very obviously should be doing so, so you'll spend a lot of time swinging through enemies and just as much time dying since they don't always get hit as they should. This can be frustrating, and also the reason long-range weaponry may become your preference whenever possible (the elf archer is really cool, as is the wizard, though the halfling is sweet in close quarters). The combat can be a bit frenzied at times, but you'll get used to it fairly quickly, and start enjoying it when it isn't ridiculously hard.

The lack of a save-anywhere option is the biggest killer in the game, despite the somewhat questionable collision, because the levels are long and replaying them from start to near finish, often where the traps will be found, is very frustrating. You'll want to leave it and come back to it again later on rather than just keep playing it over, and this is what really keeps Enclave from being a great game Ц they made playing it through a bit too much like labor and less like gaming. There are maybe two times in the light campaign where you can use a Уcheckpoint,Ф which deducts 50 dollars from your in-level cache every time you respawn, but they're only right before what the designers consider a Уtrue boss,Ф despite many boss-like characters you'll duel (and be defeated by) along the way. The health canteens work fairly well, replenishing a bit more than half your health, but take quite a few precious seconds to be used, so they are pretty useless in the midst of combat, and you'll die more than once while drinking a canteen, which can be frustrating to say the least.

The story in Enclave is advanced often by cutscenes, which unfortunately are either short and in-game or more lengthy but just a narrator reading from a book that has pages that turn themselves. While not terribly engrossing, the story is decent, and appears to be pretty well thought out. It gives good reasons for the locales you'll visit and the enemies you'll face, though generally they're all pretty similar. The enemies also tend to be able to get a hold of a lot of the equipment you have when or even before you have it, with few exceptions, which can be somewhat frustrating later on, and tends to really defeat the idea that a super-strong weapon will make things easier for you Ц it really just keeps the difficulty the same, if not making it harder, since sometimes the weapons you have seem to be surprisingly more useful in an enemy's hands. This is where the ability to play previous missions comes in though, since that is really one of the most enjoyable parts of the game, aside from a couple easier levels you'll experience right before being tortured with numerous deaths at the last couple levels. Going back and using superior weapons and characters might sound cheap, but in all honesty if the game had been as good the first time it would've been a lot better overall.

The graphics are easily the best synthetic part of the game, since they're all absolutely fabulous, though to be honest the environments get very boring after a while, with few exceptions since they all use the same brown and red color scheme. Though they are mostly on different map locations, you'll find that they mostly seem to be within a street block of each other, and they get old pretty fast. By the time you've reached the end, you'll find yourself wondering why they didn't invest more in some of the more impressive areas like a far-away castle and beach, which are mercifully different.

The characters all look good however, and the weapons and effects follow suite. Unfortunately the same can't be said for the animations, which are generally poor to mediocre, and none of which are terribly innovative or fun to watch. The game's menu, while limited in options, is easily one of the coolest menus period, for any system, ever, and has a real high-quality DVD feel to it. It's just a shame the same can't be said for so many other aspects of the game, as it feels like that's where the most effort was directed.

The sound is also good, and though it's not terribly fantastic, it's certainly on par with most of today's next-gen games. The ambient tracks are pretty well-done, and the sound effects go well with the different weapons, characters and effects. The voice acting is generally a bit stiff, with a couple exceptions, but gets the point across well enough.

Earlier in this review I mentioned that Enclave fits the dictionary definition for the word well -- the game itself is isolated from the rest of the genre in a couple of ways, but it also isolates you Ц despite having a large group of adventurers by the end of the game, you can still only choose one character at a time, and no teammates are present. This is understandable, since the enemy AI can be buggy (if they can't get to you for some reason, they'll try jumping, and if they still can't, they'll either continue jumping or walk into whatever's in there way, and even occasionally just stand there while being attacked) it would stand to reason that team AI would be also. However, it would have been a nice feature to at least allow co-operative play with a friend, yet this option (which would have made the game a lot better in my opinion) was mysteriously excluded.

Despite being single-player only, upon defeating the light-side campaign you can continue on with the dark-campaign, which is also a nice feature and presents you with more frustrating gameplay, but also gives you a nice new character set to play around with. There are also some УbonusФ levels that can be found throughout the game that extends the game's longevity a bit, and tend to be more fun than the rest of the game the first-time through. The replay value is certainly there too, since the second time through is significantly more fun, so there's enough to keep you playing for a while.