.hack//Infection: Part 1

The Good
The best thing about this game will be apparent to anyone who plays it...the story. It is the foundation of the game, and a strong foundation it is. I love the story. The game is a simulated MMORPG called "The World", and incorporates the characteristics of an MMORPG very well. You control Kite, and you must play through "The World", solving the complex mysteries hidden behind it in order to save your friend Orca, who fell into a coma while playing the game. Along the way you meet many other "players" who join you in your quest, some for their own reasons, some just for the fun of playing. There are lots of weapons, armor, items, and magical scrolls for you to trade, buy, and sell. Characters themselves are not elemental, but the enemies are, and the weapons and armor you equip can raise or lower certain elemetal tolerance. This adds to the strategic basis of the game, while battles are more action based. The entire thing is a game inside a game, and to add to that feeling, there is even a simulated computer desktop where you can read E-mail from other players, and check up on the "news". And as if this wasn't enough, each game will feature an anime DVD, that is not only entertaining, but offers clues to rare items that can be found in the game.

The Bad
The concept of the game is incredible, but unfortunately it lacks in gameplay. For instance, the story is very linear. There is never really any investigating on your part, the game pretty much always tells you what to do. Not to mention that it is repetitive. From the "server" you choose a keyword and are transported to a field. Each field has a dungeon. And the dungeons are where everything takes place. All the dungeons are generally all the same, granted each dungeon is a different element, so they all look according to their specified element, but other than that they are the same. Although I have to say in the game's defense, even after I beat the game, I spent hours playing through dungeons, collecting treasure and leveling up (you can transfer data from the first game to the second and so on).

The Bottom Line
I'd like to make this simple and say that this game would pretty much only be appealing to fans of RPG's who would be interested in the story. But unfortunately it isn't that simple. Nothing has ever been done like this before. It is such a unique concept that I don't think you can group the type of people that would enjoy it. All I can say is that if it sounds interesting, definitely try it out, because if you are interested now, I'm almost positive you won't be dissapointed, because this really is a great game