Out now for the XBOX Live Arcade and Playstation Network, Vandal Hearts: Flames of Judgement is a turn based tactical role playing game developed by Konami and the successor to the earlier title Vandal Hearts for the Playstation.
This is Konami’s second action/adventure type development effort for the XBOX Live Arcade and Playstation Network platforms - the first being the mundane Zombie Apocalypse.
The first thing that caught my eye was the cover art and vibrant screen shots for Vandal Hearts: Flames of Judgement. Sadly this would turn out to be the biggest irony of all when the games artwork revealed it’s ugly face to me.
I don’t mean to come down so hard and so sudden on Konami’s Vandal Hearts but the character artwork here just felt so uninspired and out of place. Over exaggerated and borderline super deformed characters serve as the set pieces in a story that tries to take itself seriously and what you end up with is an entirely uninteresting and forgettable experience.
The game utilizes a grid system for turn based tactical movement and combat similar to popular titles like the excellent Advanced Wars and Fire Emblem games on the Nintendo DS. Typical strategy RPG staples are present like area of attack, line of sight, and grid movement. If you’ve played any tactical RPG you already know what this is all about.
Further condemning this lackluster title is the dialogue which comes across as thin and cliche. Every bit of discussion I was furiously mashing the A button to try and quickly just get through all the conversations and cut straight to the meat of the game.
Part of the problem I have with Vandal Hearts: Flames of Judgement is this – I play XBOX Live Arcade titles for quick action and instant gratification. I can’t be bothered with slow moving stories and long drawn out gameplay like that featured in Vandal Hearts: FoJ. Especially for it’s steep asking price of 1200 points/$15 this just isn’t something I can sign off on.
