{tab=Review}

     Wild ARMs 5 further solidifies PS2 ongoing presence amidst the next gen wars with great visuals, voice-overs, and many hours of side-questing, monster killing, treasure hunting hours of game play.

     The fifth installment in the western themed RPG genre is perhaps a bit misunderstood and underrated falling inbetween Consoles with superior performance and graphics, but if it were to have come before the 360 or PS3 we would have seen a healthy hurrah of gamers having no trouble satisfying their RPG cravings with this great title.

     Maybe it’s too reminiscent of a Final Fantasy game with it’s flashy combo techniques, mega powerful monsters to kill, and a slew of other extras but after all imitation is the sincerest from of flattery.  But let’s also face it.  Most everything’s been done already.

     That aside, Wild ARMs 5 does have a unique story, if not a bit bizarre one(which strangely adds to the attraction).  It’s a well-written story that, despite it’s wackiness, has a descent progressive flow to it, that still manages to keep you hanging on and within it’s scope of believability when it seemingly throws you off the main path with intensely dramatic character flashbacks and childish humour.

     The sound fits the game’s wild west theme…barely.  It seems they figured the addition of monotonous whistling was all that was needed. Voice overs are plentiful and pleases that RPG hunger for a more realistic draw-you-in story, but is not perfect and can actually make you cringe at times.

     It seems that the developers at least nailed down a key feature-playability.  The game has a great sense of balance as you play through the story, and has a plethora of extras that cover the gamut of difficulties.  Character building is fun and has a great mix of skill boosters, combo attacks, weapon and equipment upgrades, as well as the standard rainbow of items to collect.  Overall nothing feels squeezed or tiring within the mechanics.  The character controls are a little slippery, but manageable after humping a learning curve of a couple hours.

     Wild ARMs 5 is a nice addition to anyone’s PS2 library, and I can’t imagine any Final Fantasy fan or RPG fanboy going without.

{tab=Images}

{gallery}/ps2/wild_arms_5{/gallery}

{tab=Videos}

Adobe Flash Player not installed or older than 9.0.115!

Adobe Flash Player not installed or older than 9.0.115!

Adobe Flash Player not installed or older than 9.0.115!

Adobe Flash Player not installed or older than 9.0.115!

Adobe Flash Player not installed or older than 9.0.115!

{/tabs} 

Developer:

XSeed

Publisher:

XSeed

{mosimage}

Genre:

RPG

Release Date:

08/07