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Orcs & Elves is a new Intellectual Property from
that most unlikely of publishers, Electronic Arts. Launching
originally as a mobile phone java game – from the developers of the
 award winning DOOM RPG – Orcs & Elves has now been
converted to the NintendoDS; quite clearly the most obvious system
to launch the title on, thanks once again to it’s unique features.
Orcs & Elves is a First-Person Role-Playing
game, akin to the likes of The Elder Scrolls series and the
NintendoDS’s own implausibly underrated Deep Labyrinth, but
featuring more in-common with those series’ obvious inspirations;
Hexen and the oft forgotten Shadowgate, which
appeared on the NES. The reasons for which Orcs & Elves
feels more like a hark-back to the early days of First-Person RPG
development, despite being the most recently released of all the
above mentioned titles, is not so much due to poor development, but
due to limitations put in place by the developers to aid play on
mobile phones, and having become so entangled in the proceedings
that removing such devices would simply leave the game broken.
While Orcs & Elves is played from a First-Person
perspective, the game plays-out in a turn-based sequence.
Identically to DOOM RPG, players move (either with the
D-Pad, or by touching the Movement Arrows on the Touch Screen)
step-by-step, with any enemies throughout the Level (as with
Halo 3, the enemies appear to be placed as each Level
loads, and are then given a certain amount of freedom as to move
in-turn until you arrive at their location) doing the same. Attacks
are also executed in a turn-based fashion, although, unfortunately
are controlled simply by pressing the “Use” Button on the Touch
Screen, or pressing the A Button, as opposed to stroking the Touch
Screen with your Stylus to initiate swipes with your sword as that
which is seen in Deep Labyrinth.
When starting the game for the first time, the player is
immediately thrust into the role of Elli – an insignificant
character – and is greeted by his Wand, Ellon, who within moments
makes it apparent that he himself is the lead character of the
title. The first Level is used as a Training Arena to reach Gaya’s
Lair which then acts as the HUB to travel into each of the Levels,
and buy items from Gaya in between. Each Level begins with a
graceful black-and-white view on both screens; the top showing a
small Map of the overarching Level Structure, and the Touch Screen
showing
 a stylised image of the main feature of the Level you are
about to enter. These little touches remain consistent through-out
the title, and it’s obvious some dedication has gone into drawing
the most densely atmospheric arenas possible out of the dated
mobile phone technology; even if this hasn’t been expanded upon for
the increased prowess the development team had the benefit of when
developing for the NintendoDS.
Secret areas akin to DOOM RPG’s wall-pushing are evident,
and an in-game checklist allows you to monitor your progress on
discovering these, but also larger, entire Levels can be found –
with some ease – and each adds a refreshing challenge that detracts
from the main quest as a well-judged plot device that also balances
the pacing of the title. Characters litter the Levels and Rune
sequences for unlocking doors, switch puzzles and enemy placement
have all been immaculately judged – evidence of extensive
play-testing. One of the biggest complaints fellow videogames
journalists have aired about the title is the slightly
overcomplicated Inventory System. The Touch Screen is used to
select from a clearly depicted series of images, each containing a
list of each different item types. The Sword allows for weapon
changes (also available to cycle-through on the X Button), the
Scroll opens the Map for the current Level, the Ale Jug contains
all alcoholic items, the purple Potion contains all your potions
and the brown Sack holds anything under the tagline “other”. By
simply tapping one of those items, the player can then fully
utilise their Inventory. Switching between weapons and potions is
as simple as selecting to play your NintendoDS game from the
system’s Desktop, and when coupled with the turn-based nature of
the title, scrolling through and selecting items for half-an-hour
won’t make a blind bit of difference to the on-screen action. A
perhaps misjudged criticism, to put it lightly.
The title is aesthetically disappointing. While far in excel of
it’s mobile phone origins, the developers have chosen to stick with
low-resolution 2D Sprites as opposed to fully-rendered 3D Character
Models. A passable solution to minimalising the title’s reworking
time for it’s conversion onto the NintendoDS during the Launch
Window for the system maybe, but when over the last year – two
years after the handhelds’ initial launch - Deep Labyrinth,
Final Fantasy III and
The Legend Of Zelda: Phantom
Hourglass have all brought us fully-rendered 3D Characters and
worlds for our epic handheld RPG’s, it soon becomes difficult to
avoid analysing the titles’ graphical nuance without a hint of
pessimism. The sound quality is equally unremarkable; never once
dropping below the expected level of competence for the NintendoDS,
but also never truly breaking free of the shackles of its’
java-based development for much less technically advanced systems.
Orcs & Elves is one of those wonderful titles to which it
becomes almost impossible to find an edge within any analysis.
Being a perfectly competent and enjoyable game without any major
issues, whilst being technically disappointing, but none-the-less
soundly developed, there’s really is no reason not to recommend
EA’s effort to the NintendoDS’s Role-Playing Game fanbase. However,
with so much competition currently in the market, it could easily
be said that only the most seasoned veterans will feel as those
Orcs & Elves should be at the very top of their “Most Wanted”
list.
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