Preview of Spectral Force 3: Innocent Rage the tactical role-playing game developed by Idea Factory for the Xbox 360.
PX360 writes: "If turn-based strategy RPG sounds like the kind of thing that you could play for hours and hours without getting bored, Spectral Force 3 has quite the challenge for you. The game tells the story of a band of mercenaries in the midst of a war between a handful of nations and an underworld army. Though the game opens with an anime-style cut scene, visually reminiscent of eighties favorite Voltron, it quickly drops it in favor of bland text-based clips. The fighters-for-hire aspect of your team plays into the lengthy mission list, but the story bits come so infrequently you are likely to forget all about it. The mid-mission screens occasionally show a map graphic and subsequent battles happening, but they do a poor job of explaining how it affects your squad or the story.
The game sticks to the age-old turn-based-strategy mechanics, adding nothing new to the genre standards. The awkward in-battle menu system makes for some confusion until you get used to just how many button presses it really requires to 'end' the turn of each character, with your healer requiring an additional one. Still, the inability to equip items or change equipment during battle is the most frustrating aspect of gameplay; followed closely by your healer's inability to heal himself. It is not all bad news, as the on-screen display showing your chances of landing a hit on the opponent is definitely a useful tool and the gameplay itself works well."
So the heart is there, but the execution is more than just disappointing. The gameplay on paper is very interesting, but in practice, it's unbalanced and tiresome. The art style and voice acting leave a little bit more to be desired and visually, it hovers between what would be expected out of a high end PSX title or a low-end PS2 game in high resolution. It's underwhelming across the board with generic written all over it, leaving Spectral Force 3 at the end of the day to indeed be a specter in the vast sea of current S-RPGs.
In the end, Spectral Force 3 is more disappointing than bad. As gaming continues to evolve, it's a real letdown to continue to play RPGs and SRPGs that look and play the same as they did back in the early '90s. Spectral Force 3 isn't the only title in the genre guilty of this gaming sin, but it is the latest.
More JRPG love for Xbox 360 owners. This one has a twist, the tactical nature of the battle system has a kind of "Xcom" feel to it.
It looks like a fun game for lovers of the series or people who enjoy JRPGs.
Looks very interesting for people interested in the genre.
i have never got into these games, i hope they release a demo so i can try it out
game looks devastating
Looks like crap.