PlayStation 2

Vexx

Every developer must have a mascot game. Nintendo has Zelda and Mario. Sony has Sly Cooper and Ratchet & Clank. And Sega has Sonic. Now Acclaim can join the ranks of those developers for making one of the most enjoyable multi-console action/adventure games ever released.

All right I’m going to get this out of the way right now, because if I don’t I’m going to pop. This game is vexing. Ha…Ha. Get it? Bad jokes aside VEXX is one of the hardest games I’ve played outside of Contra (new or old – without the good old up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A, select, start that first one was rougher than a bowl of chili on that boat ride across the gulf).

The platform genre is dying. At least, that's what everyone believes. The truth is, the genre simply has grown stale over the past few years with cookie-cutter revisions of the same ol' junk. But 2002 saw a change as many unique and fun platformers hit the three big consoles. Though Vexx is coming a little late to the party, it's Acclaim's attempt to revitalize a once powerful genre. While Vexx won't astound you with any groundbreaking new invention, it's still a platform-heavy game that will likely satisfy most platform fans. It doesn't reinvent the wheel, but it doesn't blow out the tire either.

Vexx is nothing more than your run-of-the-mill platformer. Though the level design and beautiful visuals are something to admire, the audio, plot and general lack of originality leaves something to be desired. If you’re in dire need of a platforming fix and you’ve already beaten all the big titles, you might want to check Vexx out. Who knows, you might find something you like.

Vexx est l'exemple parfait du titre plutôt bien fait mais qui doit faire avec une jouabilité trop imprécise pour ce type de jeu. La caméra vient en effet gâcher ce qui aurait pu être un très bon jeu de plate-forme. Il n'y a pas d'autres mots que les traditionnels : « c'est dommage... ».

With crisp graphics, completely derivative gameplay, and control and sound that are, at best, a mixed bag, Vexx ends up as a game that deserves nothing more than a rental, if that. There is nothing particularly terrible about Vexx; it's just that we've all played it before, 7 years ago. Anyone looking for a good platform game would be wise to stick with Ratchet and Clank.

New types of video game characters, genre alterations, and imaginary locations are being invented each and every day. This year, like last year, and the year before, and the year before that...we've seen companies attempt to make the best out of what they had to work with in introducing their "original" design. For Acclaim, this year their idea of platform innovation has arrived in the small but brave new age hero for the twenty first century that'll take you from one leap to the next in the continuously expanding wide world of Vexx.

It's surprising how relevant Nintendo's groundbreaking Super Mario 64 has remained in the six years since its release. Sure, other 3D platformers have refined the formula, such as Rare's Banjo-Kazooie or Insomniac's Ratchet & Clank, but the presentation and core mechanics haven't been changed radically. All roads still lead to Mario. In fact, Acclaim's latest 3D platformer, Vexx, plays almost like a tribute to Super Mario 64, re-creating much of that game's structure and play mechanics, though with a darker, moodier visual style. To say it's on par with Nintendo's 3D masterpiece would be overselling it, though. Vexx does little more than imitate, which just isn't enough these days.

For whatever reason, platformers are a hot commodity right now. Or at least game companies act like they're hot, since they don't always sell terribly well. (Witness poor Sly Cooper, a brilliant game which has garnered lackluster sales.) In any case, Acclaim's latest entry into the venerable genre is called Vexx, and, like many platform heroes, Vexx has sass. That sass, unfortunately, is not enough to raise the PS2 version of Vexx above mediocrity. While Vexx eked out a win on the Xbox, its PlayStation 2 outing is held back by considerably worse graphics, longer load times, and stiffer competition.

If you've skipped to the final paragraph looking for a quick assessment, then here it is: Vexx is a charmless, shoddy, unfinished, unplayable mess and does nothing that a dozen other games haven't done infinitely better. If you're going to try and compete in an overpopulated genre, at least make it stand out.

We're sure Vexx will find a few fans, but then several people also claimed to like Turok Evolution (this must have been a tasteless and ill-conceived publicity stunt or something). Either way, Vexx offers nothing big, nothing clever, nothing new and certainly nothing to warrant parting with your hard-earned cash. In all honesty, the official press release says it better than we ever could: "Vexx underscores the vision and commitment of Acclaim." Yes... yes it does.