All Action/RPG's should be this good. Easily raises the bar for others to follow.

SCEA is 2 for 2 in the Action category as of late. First bringing us the enthralling, but unfortunately short ICO. Now their follow up is more of an Action/RPG of sorts, and not only gives one of the best Action engines to date (Tomb Raider developers take notes), but gives the depth, story, and complexity of an RPG without the nasty random battles. The game? Drakan: The Ancient Gates.

You are Rynn, a warrior who grew up in the time where a tribe of sorcerers named the Dessert Lords ruled the land of Drakan. Before the Dessert Lords came, the earth was in the Golden Age, where Dragons and humans were allies bound by a symbol known as the Order of the Flame. You now call upon a Dragon who lived amongst the Golden Age, known as Arokh to help restore the spirit of the dragons and revive the future of humanity from the Dessert Lords.

Graphically Drakan does an incredible job with the visuals. The game is colorful and clean, showing wonderfully gorgeous backdrops that immerse you into this world. Everything from the varied textures, to the ever changing landscapes, show this game had a lot of heart being its design. The main character model is also brilliantly done. She not only has a vast amount of movement animations, but when she acquires a shield, armor, etc. she will wear that piece when equipped. There are many other character models in the game as well including numerous towns' people and tons of various enemies who are also very distinguishable. What enhances Drakan's engine is the fact the game's efforts aren't tainted by an obscure camera. The collision detection for Drakan's camera is remarkable, as you rarely, if ever, find yourself lost in the game play. The camera reacts perfectly for each movement, and doesn't loose sight like the Tomb Raider series. I hope we see more games in the future with as much attention to detail a with what Drakan gives. A visual splendor indeed and is a perfect example of what a 128 bit action game should look like.

Audio does a fantastic job as well. The environments have rich sounds throughout, as you hear water flowing, wind blowing, trees rustling, etc. Each weapon gives off a particular sound as well, being the clanging of your steel, to the "thwart" sound of the arrow as it launches from your bow. Even the voice acting talent can finally be known for being a talent. The actors give a fine performance whether it being the focal characters or even the towns people. Kudos all around to the voice suppliers as good voice acting always leads to good story telling. Topped off with a lush score that puts you in the mood of ancient times, and you've got an audio job that fits the bill and goes hand in hand with the lush graphics.

But what are graphics and sound without the game play? As we all know, you can tell the good story, show off the kick ass visuals, and engross us with audio that makes you weep with joy, but if it plays like garbage, it ends up being garbage. Fortunately Drakan performs in this department as brilliantly as the other two categories in the game. She dodges, attacks, jumps, casts spells, hangs, and swims all with the greatest of ease. The control scheme not only is easy to utilize, but tight as a kettledrum. Supplied with an enemy lock on system and you've got yourself one fine engine. Even more exhilarating is when you take flight on your dragon. Controls here are more simplistic, but at least they gave you the option. Not much to gripe about here, as this is one of the finest playing Action titles I've played since Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

Alas like most action titles, once you beat the game, there really isn't much to do afterwards but do it all over again. You may actually like it enough to do so, but replay value only really exists in sports and fighting games. Only the few real classics are worth multiple views, and Drakan can be one of them with the right person. The game does however offer a good amount of playtime depending on who you are. There is plenty to do as you are given a countless amount of quests, side quests, acquiring money for new armor and weapons, etc. On an average I'd say between 20-30 hours is a good assessment. Overall there isn't much to do once the credits role, but what a ride it is while you're completing it.

What can I say. Someone has finally broken away from the repulsive and repetitiveness the genre has reluctantly fallen in to. Drakan is a must buy for fans of Action titles, RPG titles, or whomever you may be. If you like a good story, mixed in with breathtaking visuals, magnificent audio, and extraordinary game play you'd be a fool to miss out on this sleeper hit of the year. This may very well be on the tops of some "Best of" categories next year, mark my words.