WeView: El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron

This week we’re taking a look at something that is, quite frankly, beautiful. Taking out aliens in Resistance 3 is all well and good, but it just doesn’t look as pretty as crushing fallen angels in El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron.

Whilst there’s obviously more to the game than how it looks, it certainly does seem to be one of the most commented upon areas of El Shaddai, and with good reason. The art style employed by Ignition Tokyo really is rather wonderful, and certainly a brave direction in an era where realism seems to be the buzzword.

However, it’s probably worth commenting on some other aspects of the 2D/3D hybrid title. It was Dan who took the reviewing duties for this title, and putting aside the game’s graphical style (something he was impressed by) he was reasonably happy with the game, scoring it at 7/10.

In particular he picked out the 2D sections and the game’s combat as being worthy of praise, but felt that the camera in the 3D sections of the game was a real hindrance. He also felt the limited enemies and re-use of boss fights really let the game down.

Overall he had this to say about the game:

When it all clicks El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron is a beautiful, exciting, fast paced game that is bursting with ideas. Unfortunately the latter half of the game fails to recreate the initial rush and the 3D platforming mechanics aren’t particularly strong, leading to much frustration.

Is it worth playing? Absolutely, just don’t expect perfection.

So that’s the question then, is it worth playing? Dan seems to think so, but what’s your opinion? Did you enjoy the religious tone of the story, or did it turn you off the game completely? Did you adore the art style, or was it more a case of enduring it? Did those pesky 3D sections really put you off the game? Maybe you just didn’t enjoy the combat as much as Dan.

Whatever your feelings on the game are you’re more than welcome to share them with the community; all you need to do is write them out into some form of coherent comment below.

Once you’ve worked out the text bit of your opinion remember that it needs a rating. Rather than a numeric scale, WeView employs the Buy It, Bargain Bin It, Rent It or Avoid It rating system. All you need to do is decide which one of those categories best fits your opinion of the game and add it to your comment. I’ll then go through all the ratings, add them up and work out what the community’s overall verdict was.

If you feel like taking part, please remember that you need to have your opinions in by Sunday afternoon at the latest. Any later than that and I’ll have started writing the article, likely leaving your thoughts out of the final article.