Venetica
Venice has never been more buggy...
Posted January 14, 2011
The role playing genre is a crowded one on the Xbox 360, probably not too far behind first person shooters and sports games in regards to popular releases. To compete in this marketplace, you really have to create something original to the space as well as launch with a high production value and involving gameplay. Deck 13 tried to do that with their release of Venetica, a RPG set in 17th century Italy that follows a depressing narrative around an orphan named Scarlett. Soon after the events of the game kick off, the young lass finds out that she is the daughter of Death, the grim reaper himself. There’s a Necromancer that threatens the world and it’s up to Scarlett to take up the helm of the hero to save Venice. As Death’s daughter, she has the ability to interact with the world of the dead and uses her powers to smack down the ghost world.
True to any standard RPG, it’s all about leveling up your character and her skills. You can smash vases in the world to collect some coin and use that to purchase new gear. You can also learn new fighting skills in the form of combos as well as magic spells. The inventory is incredibly rudimentary, forcing you to continue to access the inventory screen to swap out objects rather than a quick-change tool. Combat is a fairly simple affair that relies on you memorizing what attack combos are more successful than others based on enemy type. This often gets confusing though and can lead to mistakes when being mobbed by groups. I either had to exit back into the menu to refresh myself of the enemy type or simply dodge attacks with a rolling maneuver.
Also like any RPG, there are plenty of quests to pick up along the main storyline. Sadly, it’s really difficult to navigate around the in-game world as the world map tool absolutely stinks and often leads you to the incorrect place. I must have spent half my time wandering around the city in an attempt to find the locations. There are branching storylines though. You can choose a good, evil or ambivalent path while in Venice and do quests for the faction that supports each one. There’s nothing really invigorating about any path though, not any overly exciting quest lines that will get you buzzing about the game.
There are 50 achievements in the game most of which are awarded when reaching levels in the game, completing the story, mastering new skills and finishing groups of side quests. Frankly, I’d be surprised if anyone stuck around to get all of them, but I’m sure there are crazed achievements hunters out there. It’s a fairly standard set for a typical RPG game. There’s nothing overly creative in the mix though and there’s some tough ones as well like finishing the game without using a health potion. Beyond achievements, there are no multiplayer options in the game, but that’s not surprising for a game like this one.
The graphics engine not only feels dated by about five years, but it also has a vast array of glaring bugs that could have used at least 6 more months under the QA microscope. The biggest problem comes in the form of object detection ala clipping issues. NPCs in the world have a tendency to fall through floors and pass through solid objects constantly. Character models are cartoonish rather than realistic (which is fine from an artistic perspective), but are very low resolution. At many times, I was wondering if this game was built for the Playstation 2 or original Xbox rather than the Xbox 360. The game doesn’t run very well on the 360 either resulting in a stuttering framerate and the occasional freeze. You fell very constrained in the environment as there are invisible walls everywhere and they aren’t handled as creatively as the Assassin’s Creed series. On a bright note, Venice often looks fantastic and you can tell the developer put a ton of time into depicting the city.
The voice acting is terrible in regards to the actors and it’s also implemented poorly by the developer. Someone on their teams needs to take a class in proper sound editing. The volume levels of the different characters in a single conversation often didn’t match and there were background noise issues. You likely will miss the hissing if you are using your TV speakers, but anyone with a sound system is going to be disappointed. Also, I may be off my rocker, but it sounded like the developer re-recorded dialogue with a different voice actor and inserted the new lines into the same conversation as the other voice actor. Go play a game like Oblivion or Fallout and listen to these voice actors by comparison. It’s just insanely laughable and sad that Venetica is degrading the quality of the genre. The music, however, was enjoyable and probably some of the better work in the game. I just wish there was more of it. The sound effects are simply average, but they do match the silly presentation.
Venetica was released at a budget price point right off the bat, $39.99 instead of the normal $59.99 MSRP. Unfortunately, the bevy of problems with the game doesn’t make it worth the $40 price point, likely more along the lines of half that mark. There are game ending bugs in the title and graphical issues that make you wonder if the game actually went through QA. If you have the exhausting patience to put up with all these problems, then there are moments in Venetica that can be worthwhile. The story, while bungled in the overall presentation, can be involving at times. There’s also a plethora of material with multiple character paths to run through likely taking most people 25 to 30 hours to complete. In many ways, Venetica has similarities to the problems that plagued the first Two Worlds. At the core, there’s a somewhat entertaining RPG in there somewhere, but it’s nearly impossible to see through all the problems that plague the Xbox 360 release of the game. It’s also impossible to recommend with the array of involving RPGs to play on the Xbox 360 like Fable 3 or Dragon Age: Origins as well as the insane number of RPGs coming to the system this year.
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True to any standard RPG, it’s all about leveling up your character and her skills. You can smash vases in the world to collect some coin and use that to purchase new gear. You can also learn new fighting skills in the form of combos as well as magic spells. The inventory is incredibly rudimentary, forcing you to continue to access the inventory screen to swap out objects rather than a quick-change tool. Combat is a fairly simple affair that relies on you memorizing what attack combos are more successful than others based on enemy type. This often gets confusing though and can lead to mistakes when being mobbed by groups. I either had to exit back into the menu to refresh myself of the enemy type or simply dodge attacks with a rolling maneuver.
Also like any RPG, there are plenty of quests to pick up along the main storyline. Sadly, it’s really difficult to navigate around the in-game world as the world map tool absolutely stinks and often leads you to the incorrect place. I must have spent half my time wandering around the city in an attempt to find the locations. There are branching storylines though. You can choose a good, evil or ambivalent path while in Venice and do quests for the faction that supports each one. There’s nothing really invigorating about any path though, not any overly exciting quest lines that will get you buzzing about the game.
There are 50 achievements in the game most of which are awarded when reaching levels in the game, completing the story, mastering new skills and finishing groups of side quests. Frankly, I’d be surprised if anyone stuck around to get all of them, but I’m sure there are crazed achievements hunters out there. It’s a fairly standard set for a typical RPG game. There’s nothing overly creative in the mix though and there’s some tough ones as well like finishing the game without using a health potion. Beyond achievements, there are no multiplayer options in the game, but that’s not surprising for a game like this one.
Graphics
The graphics engine not only feels dated by about five years, but it also has a vast array of glaring bugs that could have used at least 6 more months under the QA microscope. The biggest problem comes in the form of object detection ala clipping issues. NPCs in the world have a tendency to fall through floors and pass through solid objects constantly. Character models are cartoonish rather than realistic (which is fine from an artistic perspective), but are very low resolution. At many times, I was wondering if this game was built for the Playstation 2 or original Xbox rather than the Xbox 360. The game doesn’t run very well on the 360 either resulting in a stuttering framerate and the occasional freeze. You fell very constrained in the environment as there are invisible walls everywhere and they aren’t handled as creatively as the Assassin’s Creed series. On a bright note, Venice often looks fantastic and you can tell the developer put a ton of time into depicting the city.
Audio
The voice acting is terrible in regards to the actors and it’s also implemented poorly by the developer. Someone on their teams needs to take a class in proper sound editing. The volume levels of the different characters in a single conversation often didn’t match and there were background noise issues. You likely will miss the hissing if you are using your TV speakers, but anyone with a sound system is going to be disappointed. Also, I may be off my rocker, but it sounded like the developer re-recorded dialogue with a different voice actor and inserted the new lines into the same conversation as the other voice actor. Go play a game like Oblivion or Fallout and listen to these voice actors by comparison. It’s just insanely laughable and sad that Venetica is degrading the quality of the genre. The music, however, was enjoyable and probably some of the better work in the game. I just wish there was more of it. The sound effects are simply average, but they do match the silly presentation.
Conclusion
Venetica was released at a budget price point right off the bat, $39.99 instead of the normal $59.99 MSRP. Unfortunately, the bevy of problems with the game doesn’t make it worth the $40 price point, likely more along the lines of half that mark. There are game ending bugs in the title and graphical issues that make you wonder if the game actually went through QA. If you have the exhausting patience to put up with all these problems, then there are moments in Venetica that can be worthwhile. The story, while bungled in the overall presentation, can be involving at times. There’s also a plethora of material with multiple character paths to run through likely taking most people 25 to 30 hours to complete. In many ways, Venetica has similarities to the problems that plagued the first Two Worlds. At the core, there’s a somewhat entertaining RPG in there somewhere, but it’s nearly impossible to see through all the problems that plague the Xbox 360 release of the game. It’s also impossible to recommend with the array of involving RPGs to play on the Xbox 360 like Fable 3 or Dragon Age: Origins as well as the insane number of RPGs coming to the system this year.
Discuss This Game on Our Official VGT Forum