Early Hours: The Mark of Kri (PS2)

[Gibreal]

I'm only on the third level, but here are some early impressions:

* Just oozes style. Features great character designs and superb animation.
* Interesting fighting implemenation of attacking multiple enemies at one time. They've supposedly applied for a patent on this haven't they?
* Foley & soundtrack work is excellent. The soundwork, combined with the slick animation and production art really make it seem like you're playing an R-rated cartoon.

Which brings me to my next point...which is if this franchise takes off, Sony has plenty of tie-in potentional: sequals, action-figures, and most importantly a cartoon or animated movie. .hack is doing the montly anime with game release thing in Japan, this game, I think, is much more tailored made to that kind of thing. The character work is already done and the backstory is interesting enough that a game-to-animation would be relatively easy.

Anyway, this game is pretty fun right now, mainly because of all the interesting animation...it's just cool to watch Rau (your character) perform all his actions. I would recommend it as a rental at the least but action/adventure platform console gamers would do well to pick it up.

Thanks for listening.

[Chris Floyd]

Thanks for the impressions, Gibreal. I've been curious about Mark of Kri for awhile. The reviews have been positive so far, but not outstanding. If anyone else gets a chance to try it, post your impressions...

[Robert Sharp]

The reviews have been great, but I haven't seen a lot of good press about it. The problem is that the game looks like a Disney cartoon, which can turn off the "hardcore" crowd. But the game plays like Mortal Kombat, which scares away those who want a Disney style game. This could be a sleeper hit though, if word of mouth can carry it.