22nd February 2005, 4:08 PM
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Is that one with dual-stick controls where one controls the sword?
Eh, no. But it does use both sticks.
The way it works is a bit complicated to explain but effortless to play. Basically you use the left analogue stick to move around and change direction like a normal 3d action game, but you use the right analogue stick not to change the camera but rather to select which enemies to have targeted. Imagine z-triggering if you could sweep around Link in a big circular motion and select up to ten or so enemies at once. Once you've selected a bunch of enemies, you use one of the four main buttons per person (if there's just four enemies selected) or persons (if there's more than four enemies selected). So let's say you have one guy north of you, one guy east of you, one guy south of you, and one guy west of you. You press triangle to hit the north guy, circle to hit the east guy, and etc (they can of course move around you, this is just a visualization to make it easier for you guys to understand). Sounds too simple, right? Just one attack button per enemy (or two)? Not quite. Depending on the combination you use for hitting the enemies coupled with some of the shoulder buttons allows for dozens upon dozens of combos. Though it doesn't feel like you're just setting off a bunch of videogame combos; it feels far more natural. There are also disarming moves, counters, blocks, and reversals, and each of the four or five main weapons make fighting drastically different from weapon to weapon. It's a fighting system that I wish more games would copy because it's so easy to learn yet so difficult to master. By far the best multi-enemy fighting system out there. You ever seen a Jackie Chan movie where he's hitting a bunch of guys all at once, going back and forth between multiple enemies? Kri does that like no other action game, and does it with the greatest of ease and confidence in the player's hand, not messy whatsoever.
So Mark of Kri really doesn't play like any beat-em-up out there. It's not Devil May Cry. There's also quite a lot of stealth in the game, and the whole package is simply wonderful and unique. That coupled with the incredible art direction places the sequel right at the top of my most-wanted games list, right below Wanda and Zelda.