Spectral Force 3

Developer: Idea Factory
Publisher: Atlus
System: Xbox 360
Release Date: July 29, 2008
ESRB Rating: T
Official Web site

In a nutshell: Take that, bad guy

0:00 Before I received this game in the mail, I did not know that Spectral Force 3 existed, much less Spectral Force 1 and 2!

0:01 A desolate, anime mountainscape with smoke coming from the volcanic core. A boy in rags lies on the ground. "Where... where am I? What happened to me?" Fair questions, both. Floating humanoid beasts appear behind him. He runs off as they glow blue and float after him. He screams as the camera pans away. Cut to shots of green fields with blue rivers. Quick cuts of anime battle scenes. A girl prays at a statue. A guy drinks straight from a large bottle. The intro ends with a band of warriors standing heroically on a hillside, one of them waving. Cue title!

0:05 "Neverland... A world where gods reside in heaven, the dead in the underworld, and demons, humans and other races struggle for dominance over each other on the Earth." What a clunky description. The evil overlord Janus was defeated by human heroes, but his daughter started a war with a new "Overlord army." Bands of mercenaries formed in response, "not restrained by the bounds of race or nationality."

0:06 Back to the present, a guy on horseback sends in two more units after his first band got annihilated. Suddenly, a black-clad fellow walks in, using two flailing tentacles on his shoulders to knock the unit about like tenpins. The King is impaled rather dramatically by the same tentacles. "Pathetic humans are so fragile," says the mysterious figure. Ain't it the truth.

0:07 The anime cut scenes have stopped, replaced with spoken and subtitled text over still, drawn pictures of the characters. "Hey old man, when are we gonna get some action?" asks Dragan. "Easy there kid, we're the backup unit," replies Judo. Are these the good guys? A messenger brings word that King Zaflak has been killed. Sounds like he needs supplemental insurance? ZAFLAK!

Read the full review at Crispy Gamer