And so the hound weaves the final chapter in this tale of life
Dirge of Cerberus is the final chapter of Final Fantasy VII after Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core and Final Fantasy VII Advent Children. There is only a game version of Final Fantasy VII Dirge of Cerberus, they not make a film version of it. This game take line about three years after meteor fall (before Final Fantasy VII Advent Children).
Vincent Valentine, the mysterious man wearing black suit and red cloak (also appear in earlier version of Final Fantasy VII as friend of Cloud Strife). Vincent Valentine fight with WRO (World Regenesis Organization) against Deepground Soldiers. The Deepground is a group of soldier leaded by Weiss. This group final goal is to revive Omega, the ultimate weapon that can destroy the world. But, in order to complete that mission, they must have a sphere called ‘Protomateria’. And they believe that the sphere is on Vincent Valentine.
The game itself plays out in the standard mission-based format. You usually have to watch a lengthy cutscene to set up each stage, then you enter the stage and start blasting your way down a very linear path from the start of the level to the end, where you usually encounter a boss of some sort. The general goal is to kill everything that moves, but sometimes you'll trigger mission events, which present you with a more immediate goal, such as to protect all the civilians in the vicinity, or to disarm the hidden mines in a room. These missions are optional, but by completing them you'll earn extra points that can be used to level up Vincent between stages, or to purchase weapon upgrades and items. The missions do make the levels a bit more interesting by giving you something to do beyond just running down what feels like a long hallway and shooting the same enemies over and over again. Unfortunately, the missions are few, so you're left to simply run and shoot your way through about a dozen bland, repetitive levels.
The different point between Final Fantasy VII: Dirge of Cerberus and Final Fantasy VII, is that if Final Fantasy VII, a character could equip three types of equipment (weapon, armor and accessory), when in Final Fantasy VII: Dirge of Cerberus, Vincent's equipment consists solely of his weapon, which has amalgamated the effects of armor and accessories through customization. Players can customize three weapons through the frame: a three barrel handgun he names Cerberus, as well as a rifle, Hydra, and a machine gun, Griffon, which are two new weapon types and the size of the barrel (short-, regular or long-barrel, with longer barrels affording targeting of enemies that are further away at the cost of weight). Accessories include a sniper scope, charms (such as the Cerberus charm) which can increase Vincent's defense and decrease the weight of the gun (which affects the speed of Vincent's actions) among other things, and materia (which returns from Final Fantasy VII and enables magic shots with special properties that use up MP). Ammunition capacity can be increased through upgrades. The gunplay in Dirge of Cerberus is functional, but it isn't especially satisfying. The enemies you face are mostly generic soldiers and dogs, with a few mechs and flying creatures thrown in from time to time. More often than not the soldiers will leap from behind some boxes as you enter a room, but sometimes they'll try to snipe you from the top of a building.
All of the enemy behavior in the story missions is scripted, so you'll always see the same enemies in the same places, and their behavior quickly becomes predictable. You can usually take down an enemy with a single shot, or perhaps three shots at the very most. That means that even if the enemy artificial intelligence were halfway decent, you'd never know it, because the enemies don't stick around long enough to do anything but die. Other than regular weapon, you can also use your Limit Breaks. Two of Vincent's Limit Breaks are available in Dirge of Cerberus: the Galian Beast, Vincent's first Limit Break, can be activated in two different ways: in the Japanese version of the game, it can be activated when the MP gauge is full. Upon transformation, the gauge slowly gets decreases and, once the gauge becomes empty, Vincent returns to human form. In the American and European versions of the game, the Galian Beast transformation can be activated through the use of an item called the "Limit Breaker". The effect lasts for around 30 seconds, upon which time the transformation reverses automatically. In all versions of the game, the transformation can be reverted by the player by pressing the L1 and R1 buttons at the same time. The other Limit Break is Chaos, Vincent's final and most powerful form, who is playable only in the final stage of the game, when it is permanently enabled.
This game also takes place at some familiar spots, such as Shinra Manor and the famously destroyed city of Midgar. But even if you've played Final Fantasy VII extensively, you won't ever feel like you're in the same world here. The backgrounds are all bland and unassuming, with a lot of overused scenery that will make you feel as though you're seeing the same exact room or hallway again and again throughout each stage. There's a bit more variety from stage to stage, but all of the levels are so linear and confined that even if you wanted to explore the environment, you couldn't get very far. There's also very little interaction with your surroundings, which furthers the sterile feel of each level. You'll see a box or barrel here and there that can be destroyed, but you'll also see open doorways that are blocked by out-of-place laser-beam barriers, ledges you can't jump to, small objects that you can't leap over, and a lot of very dull scenery. With such uninteresting stages the focus is on the action, which is unfortunate because the action isn't terribly exciting, either. The game controls much like a first-person shooter, with the left analog stick being used for movement, and the right analog stick being used to aim. The controls work fairly well, and it's easy to strafe around a target while keeping your aim steady. The shooting is made easier by an optional targeting support feature that will snap your aim to the nearest available target. Using the targeting support you can pick off enemies one after the other without any trouble at all. In and of itself, the dual analog control scheme works just fine, but with the narrow corridors and cramped spaces of many of the levels, the camera becomes a hassle. The camera is positioned behind the back of Vincent, and when you move the right analog stick the camera follows. This is fine when you're out in the open, but when you're in a tight hallway the camera doesn't have anywhere to move, and instead gets right up in the back of Vincent's head. There is a pseudo-first-person view that you can switch to as long as you don't have a sniper scope equipped, but it's obviously not intended to be used for extended play because actions such as performing a melee attack will automatically pull you out of this view. The game does include the option to use a PlayStation 2-compatible USB mouse and keyboard to make the controls more akin to a PC first-person shooter, but with the built-in aim assist in the game, the extra accuracy provided by the mouse is unnecessary.
What make this game good are:
@ Dozens of extra missions to play after you beat the game.
@ The story provides an interesting look at the origins of one of the secret characters from the original game.
@ Great pre-rendered cutscenes.
But, this game also have some disappointing points:
@ The camera can be extremely awkward and frustrating in close quarters.
@ Frequent cutscenes and load times drag down the pace of the game.
@ Bland, rigidly linear level design.
@ Paltry weapon selection and unexciting gunplay.
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