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Dinobreakers brake loose on the PlayStation 2. The latest game by Bandai is based on the anime that plays on Cartoon Network. Obviously aimed at kids, DICE is a pretty decent game though it never really reaches great heights.
DICE is a group of kids that command large, dinosaur-like robots called dinobreakers. There are nine in the game, all of which transform into vehicles. Essentially, the DICE group needs to protect the world from unleashing the shell. Previously, people thought that shell was simply a mineral, so they used it to make satellite bots. They later learned that this wasn’t the case. Unfortunately, some groups (including rival group) B-DICE have other ideas.
The singleplayer game is divided into 16 missions. Each mission is divided into about five areas. In each area, you’ll find some puzzles or enemies before moving on to the next which is more of the same. Each mission features a boss, but they tend to repeat after a while since there are about three times more missions than there are bosses. The game will definitely take less than eight hours to complete for the average gamer, though I suspect it may take longer for the younger audience that the game is marketed to.
The gameplay in the game is pretty basic. You’ll use your dinobreakers to fight the many times of enemies in the games ranging from other robots to Vikings. You’ll also engage in a few races thanks to their vehicle transformation. Over time, you’ll be able to call on the assistance of a satellite bot that can help you by assisting you in shooting enemies. You can tell them to shoot on command or to shoot as particular enemies. The combat engine isn’t particularly fleshed out since you’ll usually just perform the same hit over and over again. Sometimes you’ll even hit an enemy which is pretty satisfying. The vehicle events perform a bit better when everything is going fine. You’ll participate in some very low-speed races. Unfortunately, you’ll frequently fly off the track which will probably cost you the race since it takes so much time to get back in the race. There are similar frustrations in the dinobreakers portion of the game as well. You’ll have to maneuver these clumsy vehicles through platforms and sometimes even ice.
The game’s visuals are pretty good. The dinobreakers are undoubtedly the highlight of the visuals and help the game somewhat mirror its source material. They are the most detailed characters in the games, and animate very authentically. The enemies are pretty generic, none really standing out or providing a reason for making a note of them. The environments are stark with very little detail. The framerate manages to keep pretty stable with only occasional drops when there are too many enemies onscreen.
The game’s audio is adequate. The background music blends into the game but is rather uninspiring, never really catching your attention. The sound effects are rather repetitive, with the same grunts, weapon sounds, and such recurring on a pretty constant basis. The dialogue is respectable though it doesn’t really help the game add personality to its characters.
DICE is definitely a game that will appeal to younger gamers much more than me or the target audience of this website. Fans of the Cartoon Network series will undoubtedly get the most mileage from the game but it never really becomes anything other than decent. -- Michael Taylor, PGNx Media
---- Oct 25, 2005
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