Venetica

The game was ok, I was told it was like Fable and it is kind of close but alittle poorly done.<br /><br />The copy I got from Gamefly was in really bad shape, an I think that didn&#39;t help with how slow it loaded.<br /><br />If none of that bugs you, then it could be a pretty good game for you.

This game has all kinds of promise, and the ability to be good. Poor, clunky controls, bad graphics, and even worse voice acting keep it far from it, however. First, combat: You have four different types of weapon, the Moonblade, Swords, Spears, and 2 Handed Axes/Hammers. In typical rpg fashion, you&#39;re given skill points to spend every time you level up, and you can choose to put them in either physical or mental (spells.) The problem with the different weapons, is that having four different weapon types, the designers thought it would be a good idea to have four different block "spells" you had to purchase from the physical tree. I can tolerate that. What&#39;s not tolerable, is the fact that you only have 4 hotkeys: the D-pad, and circle. So you have to add the block to a hotkey. Still not that bad. But one block "spell" doesn&#39;t count for all weapons. You have to add the block of the weapon type you want to use on a hotkey to use it. And to top it off, swords can only block swords, spears can only block spears, etc. It&#39;s just not done very well. <br />The spells you&#39;re given are the same way, i.e. having to map them to use them. Unfortunately the majority of them have ridiculous cooldowns. Which wouldn&#39;t be that bad really, if they hit when they were supposed to, and you weren&#39;t able to be interrupted during casting. Basically meaning that you can&#39;t use these spells in close combat, which is usually when you&#39;d want to use them. The bottom line is: Just don&#39;t waste your time with this game. I would honestly recommend most superhero movie games before this.

Many glitches with this game. Does not prevent game play but it does slow gameplay down to some degree. There are moments where certain commands do not work and you have to do some restarting/saving at different moments type things until you can use the command button again. This did happen for me until about half way through the game. Kind of frustrating. Reminds me of the saving glitch with the sphinx and the cursed mummy on GC but not as bad as that. This glitch did not require me to start from the beginning.

a UPDATE!!! It's very bugged. The playback of cut scenes have sound issues (not to mention graphic issues). I just had some sound issues, whereas my partner he had the problem where he couldn't even pick up items! Like the copper on the ground. He tried with X and the L1 and neither one worked. People would not talk to him also. And this was at the beginning of the game! He hadn't even gotten his change of clothes yet! <br />So, this is very clear that it needs MORE work, and should not have been released when it was.

Currently playing the game, there are a few things that I feel I need to mention to other players before anyone else jumps headfirst into this. Minor bugging issue, for example the Tavern in Inner City Venice... yeah, I'm stuck there, can't get out. Don't know what I'm gonna do. If it comes to the point where I have to load data from many played hours ago, I'm just going to call this quits. Nothing irritates me more than that. But on a lighter note, I like that the main character is a female and I like that her armor and weapons actually change appearance as you equip new things.

First off I wanted to try the game even though I heard it was bad. I give all games the benefit of the doubt. The story started and didn't make any sense. Your a woman and people are attacking though I'm not sure why. After about 5 minutes the game froze. I reloaded it another 5 minutes of walking and it froze again. Six more freezes later I got to play for an hour before it froze. <br />The map was all over the place with no real way to figure out where to go. Just wander around and hope that you are going in the right place. <br /> <br />The fighting is little more than button mashing. Even gaining several levels I had a hard time fighting off the easy enemies. The AI is basically stupid but if they get one hit on you it takes so long to get up that they almost got you beat by the time you regain control. <br /> <br />Wasn't even worth renting.

I have played an beaten the likes of B rated rpgs such as Two Worlds 2. The gamefly players said that if you can overlook a few glitches here and there then this game was a gem. I was misled and I don't care if the noble bad game defenders down rate me for it. <br /> <br />I popped in Venetica after playing another game, but I was excited to jump into it with high hopes. (Never start a new game with a bad attitude because it makes me bias). However, I was greeted with constant glitches and poor mechanics. <br /> <br />Combat: <br />The enemies in the game are based around a weakness system. Each enemy has their own weakness which means you have to kill them in a certain way. The first enemies you encounter are Assassins. Their weakness is that you dodge there attack and counter attack them. There is no lock-on feature that I was able to find, so when I went to dodge my camera completely moved the enemy out of the frame... how am I suppose to counter-attack an enemy that is out of frame. After a few dodge tries, I begin slashing the enemies too death in one go and just leveling strength. Combat is a choir. <br /> <br />Camera: <br />YOU CAN make the camera move back further away from the character, which is more than most games offer. However, the small and guided areas often either knock the camera out of frame or force you into your character's back. I got a headache from the constantly jerking camera and I could only tolerate about 2 hours before I just gave up. <br /> <br />Quest and Quest Tracking: <br />The game has a choice system where you can accept or decline quests, but picking either or doesn't matter. The quest tracking is done with a spell that takes magic but it only leads you in a general direction and doesn't change with the task. <br /> <br />I'm running low on text letters - The game makes several things such as blocking, looting certain enemies, and questing tracking abilities that must be learn on level up rather then just given to you like every other game. This makes the game work because it feels MORE dated

I wish I had something positive to say about this game but I have nothing. Sound is bad, voice acting is not bad just bland, and why does everyone have English accents in Italy?! Graphics are not the worst but reminds me of past gen console. Camera seems to be moving all the time and almost never with a good view. Fights with enemies are very repetitious. And not enough hot keys for the different abilites. Some reviews said to play longer, but I played almost 5 hours and was bored almost the whole time. Lastly there is no character investment. Games like Assassins Creed or Dead Space; you care about the hero and hate or despise the villians.This includes the main character, NPC&#39;s and villians. There is no soul to anything in this game. If this was in the bargain bin for $20, I would not recommend it.