N-Gage

The Elder Scrolls Travels: Shadowkey

Effectuant une entrée en matière sur portable remarquée, la série des Elder Scroll nous offre ici un soft très intéressant et garant d'un esprit épique et totalement libre qui tend à faire voyager l'âme du joueur dans des mondes féeriques et au background riche et passionnant. Pas exempt de lacunes et d'approximations, Shadowkey parvient tout de même à convaincre, et se place comme Le RPG incontournable de la N-Gage. Une phrase à citation ? Peut-être, mais c'est sincère.

Shadowkey has a lot going for it; the game’s scope is huge and the character development is very admirable in a handheld game. Unfortunately, Shadowkey falls prey to too many problems along the way that turn it into a frustrating experience that feels like a shell of what it could’ve been.

The Elder Scrolls Travels: Shadowkey falls prey to its own ambition, which sounds a lot like an explanation for what turned some of the game's villains to the evil lifestyle. The game has simply been insufficiently adapted to the N-Gage's technology. As a result, what could have been a long and engaging experience will instead prove rather frustrating.

Everything about Elder Scroll Travels: Shadow Key confuses, frustrates, and leaves me unwilling to play through the epic tale of fantasy it's been hyped as being. If you are a devout Elder Scrolls fan and can live with the odd control, strange frame-rate issues, and magically-appearing environments, then give this one a shot. If not, stay far away. Shadow Key does nothing positive for the handheld console -- rather, it leaves the stain of another poorly made game on the platform. Definitely a step backwards for the N-Gage.

Elder Scrolls Travels: Shadowkey could have been hella cool -- and I'm a man who doesn't use the term "hella" loosely. I honestly believe that, with more TLC, this could've been a top-tier N-Gage game. Instead, it's another example of lazy development turning a good idea into a mediocre and forgettable piece of software.

The Elder Scrolls Travels: Shadowkey is a game for the elite few. First of all, it's time consuming nature will put a large handful of casual gamers off, while others will be put off by some of the clumsy glitches that appear throughout the game. If you forget to save the game and you die, you'll be back to square one, as there's no continue option - another thing that will put some gamers off. However, those who like first person RPGs, more specifically, those who are fans of Elder Scrolls games should really give Shadowkey a try, because I'm sure they'd find fun in handheld hack and slash action, without too much depth and more of a short quest system instead.

Sadly, Shadowkey just doesn't cut it as an RPG, let alone an installment in the Elder Scrolls series. While a game of such magnitude would understandably have to be toned down for the portable market, Shadowkey is unforgivably bland, clunky and boring. Even N-Gage owners dying for a new RPG should steer clear: Shadowkey won't do anything to satisfy that urge.

On the whole, it seems that Shadowkey has once again fallen into the same category as many other N-Gage games. That is, it tried to be too ambitious and ended up sacrificing the quality of the game. It boasts over 80 hours of gameplay, but you'll be hard-pressed to even get past the first ninety minutes.

It’s a damned shame, however, that this is the game that’s been deemed, or is that doomed, to be as poor as this. Elder Scrolls have a dedicated following and a half decent effort here might have drawn interest to the N-Gage and certainly have bolstered its library with something that would be instantly recognizable and easily marketable. As it stands, it’s a grand missed opportunity that the system can ill afford. This title would’ve greatly benefited from more time in the oven and it seems very apparent that it was shoved out the door for the holidays. Opportunity lost.

It’s a damned shame, however, that this is the game that’s been deemed, or is that doomed, to be as poor as this. Elder Scrolls have a dedicated following and a half decent effort here might have drawn interest to the N-Gage and certainly have bolstered its library with something that would be instantly recognizable and easily marketable. As it stands, it’s a grand missed opportunity that the system can ill afford. This title would’ve greatly benefited from more time in the oven and it seems very apparent that it was shoved out the door for the holidays. Opportunity lost.