ung fu will kick your ass, or so my master told me when I first started training. Well, maybe he didn’t use those “exact” words, but he did punch me in the face, which pretty much gave me that message. I am Wu the Lotus Blossom, which isn’t just a catchy name. I’m a warrior of great power and destiny, part of an ancient lineage of monks that possess a power that empires have fought over for centuries. And, I’m also pretty hot, which is a plus. While training at the Two Rivers School of martial arts, I become embroiled in a quest that will ultimately determine the future of mankind. How’s that for pressure?
I arrived at the Two Rivers School when I was a baby; an orphan from a village that had been burnt to the ground by a wicked emperor. Spirited away from the carnage, I’ve trained my entire life to be a skilled warrior, one that possess the perfect balance of strength and wisdom; a pillar of marital arts perfection. Oh, and I also got really hot; you can’t teach that. But one fateful day my school is attacked by a mysterious force that sets in motion a series of events that changes my entire life, setting me out on an adventure that will decide the fate of everyone I care about. It seems I’m far more than I know I am, outside of being a smoking hot babe, and I’ll need to call upon all of my strength and knowledge to discover my true role in the world.
I am skilled in a number of different martial arts, such as the Heavenly Wave, the Thousand Cuts, the Leaping Tiger, and the Legendary Strike. I can perform combat moves in a battle by simply utilizing the A and X buttons on the Xbox controller. The A button will let me perform a light attack, which is quick, but lacking in power. Pressing the X button, however, will allow me to perform a power attack. While slow, it’s capable of knocking enemies down and can deal major damage. It also looks better than the quick attack and is accompanied by flashy effects and sounds. Kind of like me: flashy, sexy, and very deadly. But, enough of how hot I am, there’s more important things to discuss.
Environments are expansive and highly detailed
As I progress through my adventure I can learn more attacks and skills, either through leveling up by acquiring experience points or by defeating certain enemies. All new skills and attacks can be accessed via the D-Pad. In fact, I can make use of four different attack styles at once. Each direction on the D-Pad can be mapped to a particular style. Pressing and holding the D-Pad in one direction will bring up an on-screen menu that will let me select a style to bind to that direction. When fighting, I can then simply press a direction on the Pad and I’ll switch to that style. Needless to say, the result is the ability to quickly change fighting styles at the drop of a hat. Even though I’ll acquire way more than four skills during the game, having the option to select the ones I want to use is both helpful and sexy, I mean intuitive. Also, some enemies are immune to certain attacks and skills, so I need to experiment with different attacks and strategies when I face them.
To get my out of the doldrums of simply using my light and powerful attacks, I can also utilize some other special skills. Transformation allows me to change my physical body into something else, such as a lumbering demon. I first need to defeat a demon before I can harness its power, but once I do I can become a formidable entity capable of unleashing massive damage. I can also utilize support styles. While they usually can’t inflict damage by themselves, they can be paired with regular attacks to form special harmonic combos. For example, one support style allows me to paralyze an enemy from a distance. Once paralyzed, that enemy becomes more susceptible to my attacks and the result allows me to inflict more damage per blow.
Attacking and combat is similarly easy to get the hang of. Combat closely resembles that seen in Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic, but don’t call my adventure “kung-fu KOTOR.” If you do, I have a painful little gift for your “marital arts,” if you get my drift. Combat is sort of tied to the idea of virtual dice rolls. If I choose to attack an enemy, an imaginary dice is rolled to determine whether my attack is successful and how much damage it inflicts. On the other hand, my enemies will also get this sort of random benefit, and their virtual dice roll will determine whether they receive the blow or block its effects. Explaining the system is a bit hard, but fortunately it operates quite smoothly. The whole “dice” thing is more of a metaphor than anything else. You won’t be seeing dice or anything like that in the game. If you want dice, go play with your pen and paper games and leave the real adventuring to those who understand this sort of thing. Despite the randomness of battle, combat remains surprisingly focused on action. All combat is in real-time and you have complete control of both movement and action.
After leveling up, you visit the stats screen to increase abilities
Being the kung-fu badass that I am, I’m still bound by the fact that I only have two fists and two feet. When surrounded by enemies, I can automatically lock onto one by using the Left and Right triggers to cycle through any nearby threats. This becomes really helpful later in the game when you start taking on multiple foes that are very powerful. But, being the brash and alluring vixen that I am, I can opt to break a lock on by simple pressing both the Left and Right triggers at the same time. During a lock on break, I can move freely around and attack whoever I want.
While beating down lowly enemies is fun and gives me a chance to polish my skills, it’s not just for show. Each enemy that I beat to the ground gives me experience points. After I gain a certain amount, I’ll level-up and be able to increase my stats. C’mon, you know the whole idea of leveling up, after all you’ve probably spent countless hours of your lives doing the same thing in other games. But, my adventure differs a bit from that old RPG rehash that you’ve experienced before. Besides receiving a few upgrade points to raise my health, focus, and Chi, I also get to increase the power of my attack skills. While it differs depending on the skill, I can upgrade them to be stronger, consume less Chi, and have a great area of effect.
Most actions in the game have a cost. You see, nothing in this world is really free. Certain attacks and skills consume both Chi and focus. Chi is the ancient art of channeling your personal energy and funneling into some other use. Magical attacks, such as turning into a horrendous looking toad demon or throwing fireballs from my fingertips are just two examples of combat arts that require Chi usage. Chi can also be used for the special Chi Strike ability. Pressing the Black button initiates Chi Strike, and during the move I can inflict more damage with my attacks. But, my Chi will continuously deplete while using it, so it’s more of a temporary fix than a permanent one. Focus is a bit different, by the basic concept is pretty much the same. Weapons, such as swords, are powerful and fast, but the more you use them the more Focus they will consume. Once you’ve depleted either Chi or Focus, you can no longer utilize a skill that requires its use until you collect special orbs from defeated enemies.. Thankfully leveling up can increase my Chi and Focus reserves, as well as lessen the amount of both needed to use certain skills.
Support skills, such as freezing an enemy, can have deadly effects
To go along with the impressive combat is the sheer beauty of the world around me. Ancient and mythical China is brought to life thanks to some stellar visuals. Character models, especially mine, are quite detailed. This really shines through during combat, and the silky smooth fluid animations help to really create some engrossing and gorgeous action. That and the way my butt gently undulates when I run; I can’t forget that. The environments are also worthy of praise, thanks to some fairly expansive areas that are not only filled with plenty of detail, but also with lots of NPCs that you can talk to and interact with. Whether it’s the way grass sways in the wind, the way animals scurry about while you’re playing, or just the way my ass moves, you’re bound to eat your fill of the visual feast that awaits you.
Aurally, the world around me is pretty darn cool, but not as cool as the visuals. Voice over dialogue permeates nearly every single second of my adventure. NPCs always have something to say, whether it’s just casual banter or vital clues that help me on my way. Strangely enough, however, neither I nor any of the six other warriors you can play has benefits from voice over. Granted, theirs is a ton of dialogue that would have been needed to record, but not having a voice to such a pretty face feels a bit awkward.
Taking a hint from KOTOR, you’ll also experience a neat good versus evil sort of element as you play through the game. While it’s not as pronounced as in that title, it still has an effect on your character as you play and interact with other characters. Naturally, performing good and bad deeds affect how your character is reacted to by others and even affects some of the quests you can perform (and there are a ton of them, including a bunch of side quests). To further enhance you innate abilities to either please or terrify, you can acquire special gems that are imbued with the power to affect your personality. One example is a gem that increases your ability to persuade those around you, which comes in handy when dealing with NPCs. Sometimes a secret is just a quick cajole away and the power to get that secret from someone’s lips is an invaluable tool.
Well, I could go on about the game and how sexy I look in skimpy little kung-fu outfits, but I think you’re starting to get the idea. While the game is truly in the vein of KOTOR, there’s more than enough variety here to really take Jade Empire out of the shadow of that title. There’s an expansive universe to explore, one filled with interesting characters and addictive combat, and I’m pretty confident that you’ll enjoy it. And, since it clocks in at more than 30 hours, you’ll have plenty of gameplay to keep you busy. True, there really isn’t enough attention focused on yours truly, but hey, beggars can’t be choosers.