Panzer Dragoon Orta

Rail shooters have to have something pretty special going for them to appeal to a broad market. Rez had a wonderful fusion of Tron-style visuals and pulse-pounding audio; Typing of the Dead had gruesome visuals and incredibly frantic keyboard bashing. What does Panzer Dragoon Orta have going for it? It's the rail-shooter against which all others will be measured, that's what.

Here be Dragons

No, really - it's honestly an in-game shot.

The basic premise is very simple. The world is being run by an evil empire that is breeding nasty dragon type things to enslave the population. Into this arena appears Orta, saved from certain death by a mythical super-dragon, equipped with both a Vulcan cannon style rapid-fire laser, and a Rez-style homing laser.

This dragon is able to morph into three different breeds. The Base Wing is the default, offering a balance between speed and offensive capabilities. A quick tap of the Y button morphs the dragon into the Heavy Wing, a veritable tank of a dragon - not as manoeuvrable as the other forms but capable of generating apocalyptic quantities of laser fire. The final form is the Glide Wing; small and quick and armed with a rapid fire homing cannon, this form is ideal for cutting a swathe through hordes of smaller foes. But is that it?

Upgrade till you can no more

Yup, that's the side of a spaceship. Big, isn't it?

Nope. Each of the three dragon forms evolves throughout the game. As you gain experience by blasting hordes of bad guys, the dragon is able to collect experience upgrades, which will, in time increase its abilities. It's worth noting, though, that you have to be careful which dragon form you are in when you receive the upgrade - no dragon form can increase past level 5 so any experience upgrades received by a level 5 dragon form will be wasted.

As you shoot down enemies, a power up bar charges. On filling this bar, a rage attack becomes available. This rage attack is different for each form. The base wing unleashes a powerful series of self-guided blasts, the heavy wing unleashes a devastatingly powerful attack which must be aimed by the player, and the glide wing lets fly with a light attack which absorbs life force from the enemy, charging the player's health bar.

While the game essentially plays out on rails, you do have quite a bit of control over the dragon. You are able to change views, which gives you complete 360 degree coverage of the area around you, as well as the ability to swoop around obstacles and use your glide ability to speed up and slow down.

That's the way it works, so how does it play?

Jeepers! It's a Creeper!

Another dirty great beast out to eat you.

I thought this review was going to be much more difficult to write than I originally thought. The opening FMV is jaw dropping in its beauty and, while the in-game graphics are every bit as good, the limited ability to explore such a gorgeous environment is a little bit of a letdown. Blasting through the next two levels leaves a sense of repetition that isn't healthy. So, I put it aside, expecting to play another few hours and then write a low scoring review.

Review night came and I thought, "I haven't played enough of this game to review it fairly, I'd better give it another hour." Five hours later, I staggered to my bed, babbling incoherently about beauty, physics, huge bosses and awesomely destructive power ups.

The game shares a lot in common with early arcade blasters - the point of the game is not to complete it. It's actually pretty short. The point of the game is to complete it with style. Scores are awarded at the end of each stage, and in my first fly through (on easy) the best grade I received was a "C".

Unlock heaven

Shooting side on at a giant manta type thing! Eep!

But it’s a lot more than just a high-score game. There are a pile of unlockable sub-scenarios available - The ability to play as one of the supporting characters, the ability to play a historian taking photographs of the battles, even the ability to fight on the side of the bad guys.

Then there's an unlockable sub-story where you play the part of a young boy. Further unlockable missions offer the ability to play different characters, ride different beasts (and even hover tanks!) and so on - the list is practically endless. From what I've unlocked by playing through story mode twice on easy, there appears to be dozens of hours of unlockable dragony goodness available.

Did I mention that the full version of the original Panzer Dragoon is there?

Buy it? You Orta (sorry)

Take him down - there's plenty more where he came from.

Panzer Dragoon Orta represents fantastic value for money. Whether you're looking for an unlocking frenzy, a ten-minute blast, a multi-hour play through, or even just something to show your PS2-owning friends, there's something here for everyone.

The graphics are beautiful, the bosses huge. The music is less than memorable but is generally masked by the extra-meaty sound effects anyway. The gameplay is compelling (can I shave just one more second off my best time?) and the overall polish of the game puts many similarly priced titles to shame.

If you only ever buy one rail shooter, then this should be it.