Before I ever popped in Xena I had this idea that it would be another in the long line of Lara Croft inspired Tomb Raider clones. Wow was I wrong. Xena is much more in the action vein along the lines of a hack n slash like Golden Axe. In fact in many ways Xena reminded me of the classic arcade hit. Another thing that immediately caught my attention as the dedication to Xena fans. Though I rarely watch the show, I was entertained by the well written story and cutscenes that ensued. EA and Universal have caught the atmosphere of the show.
As mentioned Xena is more of a hack n slash than adventure. This is no dumb game though as EA has several innovative mini tasks that break up the constant stream of enemies. Bosses are imaginative with one that sticks out in my mind. I met up with a huge cyclops that was hurling rocks at me. These rocks were too big for even Xena so I had to escape the small island area I was placed. I was blocked by two paths so what did I do? I moved so that the cyclops hurled his boulders at the object impeding my pathway up towards him. After reaching the top I used Xena's special weapon, the Chakram, to hit the cyclops in that one huge eye causing him to momentarily cover his eye with the rock throwing hand. Oh did I mention his other hands was clinching tightly on the rock ledge? Well, while he was busy attending to his eye I moved in and attacked those fingers causing him to fall to his end. Now that is imaginative!
If you watch the show then no doubt you have seen the magical Chakram that Xena carries. It is implemented well in Xena and when you throw it you move into a first person follow cam that follows the Chakram as you control it until its return. This is key in the game and EA will have you using it to get Xena out of sticky situations. Xena also has her trusty sword as well as a variety of kicks and punches. Xena can even pull off a Liu Kang and do a bicycle kick that is pretty nifty.
One of things that is somewhat of a pain is the ensuing flow of returning enemies. Just as with most Hack n Slash games EA has a limitless amount of enemies that will continually regenerate. I've never been a fan of this and still don't care for it in Xena. It makes the game difficult. Speaking of difficult the game is of a fairly normal amount of difficulty until one area. Folks the lava area is simply frustrating. Thankfully it is more than halfway through the game but it almost ended any fun that I had up until the point. Before this level Xena never really has to worry about jumping but the world of Hades is all about timing and jumping and coupled with regenerating enemies you'll likely go batty. Up until this point the game had been fresh and full of ideas but this area is simply nothing more than timing.
Other than Hades the game is full of great ideas and level design along with plenty of action. You'll see a horde of familiar faces including Gabrielle whom gets into too much trouble as usual. The game is littered with powerups, special magical spells and health regeneration potions. It's true to the hack n slash formula but goes to extent to keep the gameplay fresh with nice ideas.
I've never really been a fan of Xena but I am a fan of old greek mythology and Xena seems pretty interesting. this game has opened me up to the world of Xena and I will probably try to catch a few episodes. The new season starts alongside the release of this game by the way. After 989 and Universal parted ways with this title I wondered if it was a bad game. It's not but it does have enough quirks to keep it from being a great game. if you're a Xena fan this is highly recommended as well as anyone who craves some old school Golden Axe style gameplay. Hopefully EA will treat us to a sequel as a few fixed issues could really make this game top of the line.