The editor of Play magazine, Dave Halverson, has some harsh words for anyone who scored Sega’s Golden Axe: Beast Rider below a 7 out of 10: “Be wary. The majority of these people (can’t call them critics) either didn’t complete a fraction of the game, don’t understand game design, or just plain suck at games.” At last check, all outlets but Play have reviewed the game well below Play’s 9 out of 10 — the GameRankings average is currently at 44%. Halverson derides these “sad reviews” as an “ever pervasive sign of the times.”
We got a new developer diary from the one and only brown game ya’ll know and love, Golden Axe: Beast Rider. Interestingly, act 1 of this video series focuses on the roots of Golden Axe starting with the original arcade game and progressing to the Sega Genesis. I would bet that most of us in Kotaku tower were guilty at one point or another of inserting massive amount of quarters into that blasted machine. Now that it crosses my mind, I don’t think we have a single Golden Axe arcade in Boulder, Colorado. Do you still have one around in your area?
You can pick up Golden Axe: Beast Rider on October 14th for Xbox 360 and PS3.
Don’t mix beer and wine. Ever. And don’t dabble in Golden Axe: Beast Rider when suffering from intercontinental jet lag. Let my folly become your wisdom. See, the Secret Level-developed update to the Golden Axe franchise is probably more… let’s say… relaxing than it should be. That’s a nice way of saying rather bland, as the rainbow of browns that permeate the game may lull hack ‘n’ slash fans into a restful slumber.
I mean, even the purple chicken things are brown.
That’s not to say Golden Axe: Beast Rider is a bad game, from our hands on time with it. Just a bit uninspired, lacking in some tangible oomph, in the graphics department and the swordplay.
Beast Rider star Tyris Flare looks fantastic though. Whomever is responsible for her model and those perfectly modeled lower back dimples deserves a raise. The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 game does have its moments, visually. Hopping on a ridable beast that can camouflage itself with a Predator like effect looks pretty snazzy too.
Remember all those lovely blue and pink dragons and purple chicken beaked things, those brightly coloured characters from the original Golden Axe? You won’t see much of that in the debut trailer for Sega’s Golden Axe: Beast Rider, the adventure game that features a playable Tyris Flare who has traded in bikini and boots for something a bit more extreme. If we’re sounding a bit down on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 franchise reboot, it’s because there’s not a single purple chicken beaked thing in sight.
Golden Axe: Beast Rider is meant to be a re-examination of the world of Golden Axe, the game’s developers told the press at Sega’s Gamers Day earlier this week.
Unfortunately, it looks like it’s going to be a look into the world minus the trio of characters that made the game so great. Instead, gamers will be forced to play as amazon warrior Tyris Flare. Neither the barbarian nor the dwarf will be playable in the single-player only game, though both will appear as non-playable characters as the story unfolds.
It looks like the development team went to great pains to try and turn the once side-scrolling, button-masher into a 3D action title without losing the feel of the original title. A lot of the same creatures, bad guys and feel of the game seems to be present. The art style is a bit generic, but no more so than the original Golden Axe was.
SEGA America’s blog gives gamers a look inside work at Secret Level, which just finished Iron Man for them and is cranking on Golden Axe: Beast Rider. A cool Flickr slideshow shows the team and some concepts, both in hard copy and rendered on computer. And two new screen caps, which is the video game porn you’re here for.
Golden Axe, a personal favourite during one particularly Dirty Dancingesque summer vacation of my youth, is coming to PS3 and Xbox 360. And while we already knew that, we had no idea what that meant. Sidescroller? 3D fighter? RPG? What?
Because of the latest issue of PSM3, now we know. And correct me if I’m wrong, but it’s sounding a lot like Lair: More »
After French gaming site Xboxygen wrote of a Play magazine report on Secret Level’s Golden Axe: Beast Rider, indicating Xbox 360 exclusivity for the Sega published title, many of you lamented another lost PlayStation 3 game. Fortunately, Sega was nice enough to get back to the gang at PlayStation Universe, who confirmed that the PS3 version of the Golden Axe-themed action RPG was still on track. I’ll reserve my “Yay!” until we hear more about the game, but at least it’s coming.
Sega confirms Golden Axe is still on track for PS3 [PSU] More »
