Review:
My heart! Where'd it go?!...

Don’t ya just hate it when your brother comes to your wedding, snatches your would-be bride, kills you, takes out your heart, and sends you to the mesmerizing ‘underworld’? Gosh...I do, and so does Akuji. Enter my comrades, to Akuji: The Heartless. This disturbing new game has come from the producers of the light-hearted, no pun intended, Gex. Crystal Dynamics has truly out done itself with this game. Manipulating the Gex: Enter the Gecko engine, Crystal Dynamics has combined the murky, and dreary environments with ghostly lighting to finally display what the ‘underworld’ would resemble. Did they accomplish this...I would say so...but, I...I mean who would know what the ‘underworld’ looks like anyway, right? Hehehe...

Game Play
To advance in Akuji: The Heartless, I needed to accumulate Akuji’s ancestors. These are nothing more than a rotating head. Some of these ‘ancestors’ were extremely hard to find, and occasionally, I did not find any of them! These ‘ancestors’ permitted me to move ‘up’ through the levels. I needed so many to go up against a certain boss, and more, for another boss. The more I collected, the easier it was to proceed. Additional items I discovered were, voodoo dolls. Collect 100 and my health meter went up. These are usually found in crates, or behind walls. Hearts allowed my health meter to rise, also, but more than the voodoo dolls. Bone masks let my health meter to completely refill. You low on health? Get one of these. Akuji also has the option of using spells. There are 10 different spells and each has a different purpose. Some will attack a monster even when you’re not near him. Others will push the monster away. If you’re lucky to kill a monster, they will release “spirit energy.” Collect 100 points, some monsters have higher point values, and you get an extra life! Whoopee! Diamonds are also in Akuji. Only these act like checkpoints. A few pop up in the levels, all I had to do was take a whack with my claws, and they spun up, up, and away!

Playing Akuji is fairly easy, but not perfect. Some aspects are really cool, while others I cannot say much about. One aspect I did like was the very open levels that I encountered. These levels allowed me to jump where I wanted, shoot and kill where I wanted, with few restrictions. Also while playing, I could take a first-person view to see what Akuji sees. I liked this a lot. If I needed to kill something that I did not want to encounter, or if it was too far away. I would go into first-person and shoot some spells at it. I could also locate different objects that I would not be able to see in third-person, such as those darn ‘ancestors’. Use it wisely... The only unpleasant thought I would have to say about Akuji, are the complex camera angles. It’s virtually like Tomb Raider, only now, I could spin the camera. This helped some, but the annoyance was still there.

I also encountered some mediocre puzzles. These were nothing more than hit a switch, jump on the block, and move on your way. Others were, hit two switches, jump on a block, watch out for the spikes, and move on your way. Catch my drift? If you’re an experienced plat former, like in Crash Bandicoot, going through Akuji might be a little easy. But hang in there! It gets cool!

Graphics / Sound
The visual effects in Akuji were simply remarkable. When commencing a level, the warp ‘scene’ was something I have never observed on the PlayStation. It’s like an aquamarine circle that comes down and then vaporizes away. Very cool. Also the rendering of levels, and beasts really showed what Crystal Dynamics has to demonstrate. This is right up there with Gex! The animation of villains, monsters, and Akuji himself, is also something to look at. Akuji’s jumping animation is weird but understandable. He might jump 20 feet and look like he’s squatting, but c’mon, he’s dead right? The movements of the ghouls are cool. They’ll glide up to you, disappear, then come up behind you. Attack! Die! Die! Die! Oh...wait...they’re dead already...Give me spirit energy!

Sound effects in Akuji are almost as good as the graphics. A 3D sound environment allows me to hear sounds and actually tell where the heck they are coming from. Music also becomes a big part of Akuji: The Heartless. If the music suddenly speeds up, and has a loud beat, you can bet there is someone or something after you! Look out! Most of the time, the music will start before the monster comes about. So listen closely, and you will hear...

Replay Value
“Is Akuji: The Heartless worth my money?”, you may ask. I would say, “Yes!” But, “Will I play it for months to come?” To that I would say no. As amazing Akuji is, I don’t know if I would play it over and over again. Once is good enough, right? If you do play Akuji again, there is not much to gain from that second or third adventure. You’ll already know where everything is, and there is not anything you’ll gain. As if you were playing Metal Gear Solid for example. You might gain that bandana, or the invisible suit. If you really enjoy adventure though, Akuji rocks!

Conclusion
Overall Akuji: The Heartless is one amazing game. I got thrills, I got chills, and I got spills...actually I died, but that’s besides the point. The visuals are something to behold on the PlayStation before another, better game comes out. Which I doubt... It does have a rating for ‘Teens’. But if you’re the kid, or parent that allows your kids to watch ‘R’ rated movies, or play Mortal Kombat. This is not very different. There is some blood, and some gore, but its cool...:-) Don’t let this one get away! Enjoy!

Reviewed by GamerZone Senior Reviewer Jason "Mojo" Stauffer