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Midway has advertised and hyped up the release of Haven a lot. Did they have good cause? Yes and no. It doesn't quite live up to all the hype surrounding it but it is still a good adventure game. You can expect the typical things found in a platformer/adventure game here, running, jumping, collecting and attacking. You'll also find several shooting parts as well as several vehicle segments that make Haven hard to put into a particular genre.
As any person with remote interest will tell you, there are more platform games than there are buyers. Everyone from SCEA to EA Games in publishing a new plat-former on the PS2, but even with the quantity to choose from finding a great game is hard. Haven: Call of the King has been hyped by Midway since it started development. The graphics engine, which was hyped to substantial proportions during the development of Haven, was designed to allow you to do anything at any time. You should experience freedom not found in a game before it. You should be able to go from one area to another, take completely different paths without seeing a loading screen. The 'Free Former' engine was made to let you differentiate Haven from other 3D platform/adventure titles.
While everything looks good on paper (read the Midway press releases), the end result isn't quite as great as thought. Haven does feature a lot of mini-games and blends them into the main game very well. Because of all the mini-games, Haven is hard to class and put into a specific genre.
Haven, the character the game was named after, is a slave having some pretty messed up dreams. He speaks to someone about his dreams and discovers that the dreams are trying to tell him something. The slaves believe that there is a chosen one who will get the Golden Voice that will make the slaves free. The wise man believes Haven is the "Chosen One" and that Haven must start his journey. As expected, there is a villain trying to stop Haven's plans. The villain here is named Vetch and has to stop Haven so his rule won't come to an end and the slaves are free.
A minor complaint with Haven is the game's story. For the most part, you don't know why you're collecting this item, racing against someone or shooting someone. You know you have to, but you don't really know why. The story won't keep you guessing what's going to happen nor will it really interest you. The story feels like a cheap comic put together at the last minute. Obviously Traveller's Tales put a lot of effort into the game's engine, but the story is pretty laughable even considering that.
Haven attempts to do a lot of things, as previously explained, but the bulk of the game can be found in standard plat-forming. You'll run and jump your way to the next collectable item, for the most part. Shines, coins, or fruits are exchanged with antidotes as your collective item. Haven must collect antidotes to cure the slaves' viruses. If you don't have antidotes on you, you'll slowly lose some health. The other collectable items include feathers and cogs. The feathers are used to activate Haven's robotic bird while the cogs power up some machines. The controls were designed with the PS2 controller at heart and it shows. The game controls solidly for the most part. The camera system is one of the best seen in a 3D plat-former and only fails in a few, short sections.
The no loading feature is apparent, as the game is free-flow, like Mario Sunshine for instance. There are some times, such as inter-planetary travel, where you'll notice some 'delays', though. While it isn't really loading, it is something to note even though it doesn't subtract from the game.
The graphics engine was supposed to shock gamers everywhere. It was supposed to push the PS2 as far as it can go and show a previously unmatched number of polygons. While those are pretty big shoes to fill, Haven's world is very nice. The levels are very impressive. They are huge levels and will take you a while to get through. Haven's use of color should be noted. The game does seem to push the PS2 and its world is very colorful, lush and full of action. While the environments look great, the characters themselves are average. Character animation is solid for the most part but there isn't enough detail on the characters to hold your attention. More of those polygons should of been used for the characters.
Sound wise the game is beautiful. Haven has one of the best music ever heard out of a game. Every piece of composition is alarming and fits the level very naturally. The music doesn't sound rehashed and you'll think about them long after you finish playing. Haven's voice acting is done very good, as well. There are some comments in which you want to hit the Mute button but for the most part you'll enjoy Haven's comments. The strong sound effects round off the games extraordinary audio.
Haven: Call of the King is a great effort by Traveller's Tails and Midway. It achieves many things and is a very good game. The use of vehicles and the shooting segments are a nice breather from the traditional jump-and-collect game play usually found. The visuals are good and the sound is splendid. Haven is a great game, no doubt. The 'delays' you experience while short, are really just short loading segments. With that in mind while Haven doesn't live up to all of Midway's hype, it's still a good game. The Free Former technology should be commended and we'll most likely see it again in the future. -- Jose Liz, PGNx Media
---- Dec 9, 2002
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