Go Fanboy - Everyone Has A Favorite

I don't know about you, but I'm a huge believer in fate; that things don't happen by chance but are rather destined to be, so it was in fact fate that brought me and Nokia's Requiem of Hell together. While snooping around the counter at my local EB, I spied a single copy of the recently released N-Gage title sitting atop a stack of PlayStation 2 games, and convinced that the gods of gaming were trying to tell me something, decided to take a chance and delve into the game's dark depths. What I discovered surprised me, because Requiem's definitely good enough to make N-Gage owners smile.

Requiem of Hell is a 2D hack-and-slash adventure title that's played from an isometric perspective and features a boring story that mars the overall experience. In an ancient land ravaged by demons, all that stands between Earth and the gates of hell is a weird-looking Shaman whose strength is fading. To combat the evil Dalu and restore order to the land a warrior must emerge, but the old man is no match for his nemesis, so he enlists the help of a smart-mouth fairy named GiGi and asks her to (for some bizarre reason) reanimate a dead body and convince him or her that they're a great warrior and strong enough to actually go to hell, so the fairy flies off in search of a corpse to resurrect, settling on two lovers, a prostitute named Linda and a butcher named Troy. This is where you come in. Playing as one of these "warriors" you must travel the land vanquishing demons and other monstrosities with a bevy of weapons and magic attacks, and believe me when I tell you that there's no shortage of evil creatures to slaughter. The game features several different types, including skeletons, lizard men, and vicious Cerberus monsters, among others, and you're attacked within seconds of wrapping up the game's intro. At your disposal are axes, swords, magic attacks, and other assorted weapons, and they're used to turn your foes into piles of mush, whether it be green, red, or whatever color their guts are.

Requiem's a violent game that's absolutely loaded with blood and gore. It's also action-packed, but an argument can be made that that's also one of its weaknesses because the game's learning curve is rather steep. The engine's capable of tossing over ten enemies at you at once, and they have a nasty habit of boxing you in and taking jabs at you. This will result in a lot of quick deaths, as it's easy to get lost in areas without being properly equipped. Also, because the N-Gage lacks an analog stick, it's hard to line up attacks with the digital pad, meaning you'll accidentally cast spells or unleash sword strikes in a totally opposite direction than where the enemy's standing.

Also annoying is the game's laughable dialogue. Aside from your fairy companion GiGi, none of the characters have any real personality, and the narrative's not fleshed out enough in the beginning to justify why things happen as they do. The Shaman and his fairy friend have put the fate of the world in the hands of a resurrected corpse, but they don't like you much. You can ask GiGi for help by pressing the 7 key but often times she either won't know what the heck's going on or will make some stupid and insulting remark. In addition to that, the game design at times leaves a lot to be desired. While searching for a key at the beginning of the game, every time I picked up an item (even though I'd picked up the same items at the beginning of the game), my character would constantly ask if this was the key. Most times I didn't know where anything was (even when using the map), and had to back track through the same monsters, taking unnecessary damage in the process.

On the positive side, Requiem's built on solid gameplay mechanics that, while they don't introduce anything new to the genre, make for an enjoyable action adventure experience. The game's graphics are fantastically detailed; not necessarily anything we haven't seen before on Nintendo's Game Boy Advance, but they're still very well done. The various environments you'll visit are full of all sorts of pretty things to look at, and the character animation, while a tad slow, is still fast enough to provide wickedly intense moments that aren't mindless affairs but actually include a small layer of depth to keep things interesting. Your weapons can break, and you'll come across different magical powers that can do some serious damage. Also, the game features wireless co-op play via Bluetooth, which makes the game a little easier to tackle. In all, it's a bloody good time.

Whether you're ready to accept it or not, things are heating up in Nokia land, and Requiem of Hell is leading the charge in what I hope is tons of quality software for the N-Gage platform. It's held back by some nagging flaws, but it's still a fun as well as challenging gore fest that at times can be difficult to put down. Action-packed and easy on the eyes, Requiem proves that being told to go to hell isn't always a bad thing.