Customer Reviews

Panzer Dragoon Orta

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Nostalgia aside, Panzer is a top notch experience from every angle. In a nutshell, you pilot a girl and her dragon against
some incredible bosses, make some freinds, and blast your way through a deep story about a race of humans in a post-apocalyptic fantasy world that may or may not be a future earth.
If you appreciate good science fiction and dig very cool, very strange graphics then you will not be disappointed.
Lots of awesome unlockables round out a very polished production. The cut scenes tell a well-crafted tale and the game world is extremely detailed in it's execution.
Pandora's box is where you open the goodies you have earned and they are sweet and plentiful. Everything from an encyclopedia
to extra missions to production art is there for the earning.
Not to mention an entire first Panzer game that came out for the Sega Saturn.
This is a game you put on to blow away your freinds but it is also mega-tweeked gameplay that will keep you coming back for more.
Those who dismiss it as simplistic need to give it more time to sink in. This is a shooter at heart, but the action, artwork and level bosses elevate it beyond the norm.
This is not an easy game, but not too difficult. The controls take some mastering, but a few hours in and you will be at one with your dragon girl.
Between the great graphics and tense action-the challenge is keeping your tongue inside your mouth while playing.

While Sega's Panzer Dragoon franchise is beloved among gamers who have played the earlier games in the series, it's always been confined to the relatively small audience that actually puchased a Sega Saturn. Finally, the rest of the world can see what those who've experienced the series have been raving about, with Panzer Dragoon Orta, the series' first installment on a non-Sega console. While Panzer Dragoon Saga brought the series into the RPG genre, PDO returns to the shooter-on-rails genre where the series began.

While that might initially scare off some gamers, don't be fooled - though PDO's confined to "rails", the degree of freedom the gamer feels, and the sheer sense of scale and majesty that a fixed camera offers the developers makes PDO one of the grandest, most impressive xbox games available to date. Easily more beautiful than any other game on any system available, PDO's graphics live up to the hype. Huge, detailed worlds are filled with huge, detailed enemies, and the sheer size of some of the things in this game, from an airship easily ten thousand times the size of Orta (the girl you control), to a squadron of "Dragonmares", similar to Orta's steed, but pure evil, the environments in PDO have to be experienced to be believed.

In terms of gameplay, it's substantially more complex than either the previous installments of the series, and even more complex than the sum of the individual parts. Orta can shoot her gun, or lock her dragon onto a number of enemies, and her dragon can speed up, slow down, or change between three forms. The base wing, heavy wing, and glide wing. The base wing is the all-around form, the heavy wing has fewer lock ons, but does twice as much damage, and the glide wing can move faster, and rapid-fire in such a way that you can shoot missiles out of the sky with relative ease.

Each form also has a unique berserker attack, and each is useful in different situations. What these controls allow is for a tremendous amount of stratey and depth on top of the standard shooting game format - you'll find yourself changing forms often, and using the strengths of the various forms to your full advantage. You'll need to, because in anything other than easy mode, the game is *hard*.

On top of the standard game, there's a whole gallery of things to unlock, from almost as many sidequests as there are main missions, to volumes of information on the Panzer Dragoon world, and the events that took place in the past games. There's even a complete version of Panzer Dragoon, for those that never played the original (shame that Zwei and Saga were not included, but I suppose the Saturn conversion is tricky (the original was ported to the PC some time ago, and thus, was relatively trivial to convert to the xbox).

Overall there's simply no reason not to buy this game. Classic gameplay, tons of extras, combined with the best graphics in any game to date make for an entirely worthwhile purchase. I can only hope that this game reaches a huge audience, and drives Sega to make a Panzer Dragoon Saga II.

"Panzer Dragoon Orta" is the kind of game that makes you thank god you have an Xbox. It is hauntingly beautiful yet filled with enough action to keep you interested.

The game is the latest installment in the "Panzer Dragoon" saga, which was about the only decent thing on the Sega Saturn. You basically fly around on a dragon, killing enemies and fighting huge boss battles. In this game, your dragon can assume three different forms, and you can switch between them at will. Each form has its own strengths and weaknesses, meaning you actually have to employ some strategy to get through most of the levels.

The gameplay is very strong. This is a rail shooter, so you move along a path for the whole level, like "Star Fox" The controls are also simple to understand. You hit one button to shift between forms, another to use your special "berserk" attacks, another to dash and brake, and another to shoot your gun or use your homing lasers. You also can easily move the camera around with a tap of the L or R buttons to face enemies faster. The enemies are widely varies and provide enough of a challenge to engage, but not frustrate, the average gamer. The boss battles are really things of beauty. You have to find the weak point of each boss by flying around using your dash abilities while dodging attacks. In later stages, this requires a lot of work, as the weak point shifts and you have to use different forms to beat a boss.

Graphically, "Orta" is as good as it gets. Each level is like a piece of art and each individual enemy is extensively detailed. The bosses are simply huge and well-designed, providing enough eye candy to almost make you forget that you're about to be fried by a huge energy beam. Soundwise, "Orta" is a little disappointing. The music sounds very much like the music in the original "Panzer Dragoon". Even some of the sound effects remain unchanged.

Speaking of the original game, it's include on here, along with five short bonus missions and a sub-scenario about a boy who's father was killed by the dragon. They're fun to play, as you get to pilot different vehicles and go through new storylines.

The main reason I didn't give this game five stars was because it is much, much too short. I appreciate all the extras, like the encyclopedia and still art, but a lot of that memory could have been used to add more gameplay. I beat this game in less than a week, and I wasn't even playing as much as I usually do. If Sega comes out with a second game for the Xbox, it needs to have at least twenty levels. You also come away from this game at the end feeling a little unsatisfied at the ending.

Overall, this is an outstanding game that deserves to be a part of your library just so you can say you have it. But, like a "Far Side Gallery" book, it doesn't take very long to finish.

I rated this game 5 stars despite 2 major cons: (1) I beat this game after owning it for less than three hours; (2) the story mode makes about as much sense as The Red Wheelbarrow. The 10 short missions in this game have provided me with hours of fun, although I do not understand the idea behind any of them. For example, there is a mission where you fly the dragon across the back of a gigantic sawbug-like animal who has forests and villages on him. The enemies you shoot down are extremely weird. I would expect to see the aliens from Halo walking around my town before those crazy fools. Also, one of the bosses appears to be a giant forest that floats around in the water and shoots "cells" at you when bulbs suspended from his body burst. These unusual levels, wacky enemies, and indescribable bosses are nonetheless comprised of the best graphics I have seen. Maybe the oddities of Panzer would have bothered me less if it were intentionally funny. Nonetheless, Panzer Dragoon Orta is an absolutely beautiful game, and has good replay value. However, don't expect to think the story will make sense unless you dig that "My heart is heavy because I envy your honor." garbage. Even though the story was so bad, I watched all of the cutscenes and the credits just because I liked the pictures so much. If you own an xbox, buy this game because shooting things down is fun, even if you have no clue what the enemies are.

It's hard to describe the Panzer Dragoon series (Saga aside) without upsetting someone. At it's heart they are a cross between Space Harrier and Rez, viewed third person and directly into the screen. Orta is a direct follow up - although not necessarily in terms of storyline - and doesn't move too far from the tradition. You're still on the back of a dragon and you're still up against thousands of enemies.

Your dragon has 3 freely-interchangable types. Firstly, you start out in Base mode, which has a large number of lock-on targets, a decent rate of fire for your normal gun, and average defense. You can also store up to two glide moves which work a little like the brake and boost in Starfox for the N64. A tap of the Y button switches to Heavy mode which is a bulkier version of the dragon, with fewer lock-on targets and a slower firing rate, although both missiles and the gun dish out higher damage; your defensive capabilities are lower, though, and you can't glide. Finally, you have the Glide Mode, which is a small, nippy model, with a automatically targetting machine gun, up to 3 glides, heavy armour (oddly enough) but no lock-on missiles. As you can tell, selecting which mode to use at any given time is a requisite, and it's a skill you'll need to have mastered by the end of the first of ten levels.

The game's split into ten levels, although Sega like to call them 'episodes', and within each of these is the level boss. Brilliantly, the bosses don't always appear at the end of the level leaving you to delicately nurse your post-boss battle wounds through other scraps before you get to the end of the section. Whilst early on in Orta the tale follows something of a rudimentary storyline, later on in the game the various cutscenes dissolve into a sub-Rez level of storytelling: ultimately, of course, the whole thing revolves around 360 degrees and the final boss shouldn't really come as any surprise, but to get there you'll be led through some fairly preposterous levels. This shouldn't cause too much concern, though, as graphically, well, Orta is a thing of beauty.

People often like to link games with art, but this truly is the next generation. Without a solitary doubt, Panzer Dragoon Orta is the single-most visually impressive videogame in existance - it really is that good looking. Everything from the liquid smooth 60 frames a second to the gorgeous models, the amazing graphical effects like smoke and fire, the way the game effortlessly throws hundreds of things at you at once without a single stutter - it's breathtaking, and the only downside is that nothing is going to come anywhere near for a long time yet. If you've seen the screenshots (especially those from level 2 that are full of trees, water and plants) and you impressed then wait until you see it in motion. kick-....=D
Those worried about the lack of first-run gametime need not be too troubled, though - whilst you can reach the end in under 3 hours, it's a different story entirely on the higher difficulty levels - Sega really do cater for the hardcore and this reviewer was forced to re-... his gaming skills after facing the final enemy on any level above easy. Of course, this being a Panzer Dragoon game there's plenty of things to see and do once the main game is over - the Pandora's Box in Orta features not only a complete sub-game (with multiple levels, cutscenes and it's own storyline) there's also a number of side-quests featuring episodes that run concurrently alongside those in the main game, but with different characters and so on. Glossaries and encyclopedia's make for essential reading for PD fans, too.

Orta stumbles slightly in the presentation stakes though. Whilst the English subtitles, menus and appendices are greatly appreciated (despite this being a Japanese release) the menus themselves aren't as attractive as the rest of the game, and the Pandora's Box feature becomes far too messy to really appreciate fully without wading through realms of text and menu options. There's also loading delays that tend to get in the way slightly.

However, it's not my intention to let these niggles get in the way of what can only be described as the finest on-rails shooter in existance. Panzer Dragoon Orta is most definitely the best of it's genre and for shooter fans it's absolutely unmissable. Those with even a passing interest in Sega's most commercially underrated series, though, will already have it pre-ordered, and if you haven't, you're going to be missing the ride of your life. Orta oozes playability and style, and is a real graphical tour-de-force for the Xbox. Enjoy.

p.s. orta's pretty hot too. =P

Don't stop reading yet. Comparisons are futile because PDO is what Halo and Splinter Cell are not. PDO is an on-rails shooter. Asking "which is better" is like asking which is better out of FIFA Soccer 2003 and NHL 2003. It all comes down to waht style of game you'd rather play. (For my vote, PDO)

Anyway. PDO.
Great graphics, complete with showing-off-for-the-hell-of-it water effects. Sound is... different. Remember, Panzer Dragoon is trying to be its own world. This own world has its own style of music (as opposed to "cheesy 90 videogame" as someone decided) and its own language, Panzerese. (No, it's not Japanese. The Japanese people playing this game will get as much out of the commentary as you do. Infact, less, seeing as Panzerese is made chiefly of parts of ancient Greek and Latin)

Gameplay... wow. This is a difficult game. Any XBoxers expecting a Smilebit game to be easy (after JSRF) can think again. It does get a bit easier once you master what dragon you should use when, though. At any rate, this is where it loses half a star for me . Not because of the main game difficulty, which I think is perfectly placed (and I suck at these kinds of games normally), but because of the Pandora's Box subgames. GUH. Some of these things appear to be programmed specifically to frustrate. Short, yet almost impossible. So, you find yourself replaying the same 30 seconds of gameplay. Over. And over. And OVER.

As for longevity. Well. Pandora's Box is there to come back to even once you beat the story. Those frustrating extra missions are spiced up with the inclusion of the original Sega Saturn Panzer Dragoon game (1995), some more tolerable subgames, picture and movie galleries, and text encyclopedias. These last three, though, I think you need to be a Panzer Dragoon nut to really appreciate. And I am not.
Other half a star lost here.

Anyhow. Good game, not best ever. Certainly best rail shooter ever. Certainly my favourite shooter on the Xbox. But not best game ever. Ah well.

If ever you have enjoyed an arcade type "shooter" then this is the game for you. Also this game is for anyone who enjoys fast, intense action.

PDO delivers in all the areas a game needs to: amazing graphics, awesome story (unless you dislike Japanese animation), intense gameplay, and to provide longevity are a lot of extras.

As you can see many reviewers have given very long reviews and I feel that is a testament to the passion with which this game inspires some people (I am such, but don't feel the need to be redundant).

Some have complained the game is too short--if you don't die much you can probably finish it in about 6 hours. But there are a lot of extras to be unlocked such as about 15 sub-missions and the original Panzer Dragoon game. These additions at least double the play time. And if you are like me you will play the main game several times over to try to get better scores. The player is graded on each level based on the percentage of enemies killed, hits taken, and how fast you can kill the boss. There is even branching pathways in each episode that encourage replaying each level.

I guess shooting games aren't for everyone and you should know if this is you...

When a new console is launched, the manufacturer usually releases a handful of games to show off the system and appeal to consumers. Over time, as developers learn the console, bigger and flashier games appear, leaving the launch games in the dust of the clearance bin. Once in a while, though, there's a diamond in the rough ... in the case of the underrated Sega Saturn, it was a stylish shooting game named "Panzer Dragoon," developed by an in-house team known as Team Andromeda.

Its popularity (among the Saturn's limited audience), led to a prequel game--"Panzer Dragoon Zwei"-- and even a lauded RPG-style adventure in the same universe--"Panzer Dragoon Saga." However, both games were released in the waning days of the system, so few people really got to see how the series progressed. Eventually, the Saturn was discontinued and Team Andromeda went their separate ways. Fortunately, it would appear that some of those programmers wound up in Smilebit, one of Sega's new development houses, as they have turned out a worthy successor of the "Panzer Dragoon" title, exclusively for Microsoft's powerful XBox console.

For the fourth title in the series, Smilebit returned to the format of the first two games, that of a linear shoot-em-up. The player, in the guise of a mysterious young girl named Orta, rides a mighty dragon through a series of elaborate levels on a generally pre-set course (or, to use a common gaming term, "on rails"). Armed with a rapid-fire pistol and the dragon's own attacks, Orta must eliminate the evil forces bent on capturing her, as well as the denizens of this strange world that simply will attack anything that moves.

Enemies will attack from all sides, so it's fortunate that Orta can turn a full 360 degrees to face incoming hazards. Orta can shoot down the targets with her own gun, or she can command the dragon to lock onto the target and attack with its "arrows of light." When desperate times call for desperate measures, the dragon can unleash a "berserk" attack, which renders itself invulnerable for a few seconds and its enemies dead meat.

The enemies come in a wide array of shapes and sizes. Some are simply too big (or too well-armored) to shoot directly. Others prefer to attack Orta head-on by ramming the dragon. In these cases, you can use the "Glide Attack," a new feature for the series. This multi-use attack can slow the dragon down (allowing an incoming assault to miss it), give it a burst of speed (with shockwaves that can damage enemies) or allow it to move around a large enemy to evade fire or find a weak spot in its defenses.

Expanding on concepts introduced in "Zwei" and "Saga," Orta can control the dragon's appearance and abilities. The standard form, Base Wing, is a good all-around offensive and defensive choice. The Heavy Wing trades maneuverability (and no Glide Attack) for awesome firepower, and the Glide Wing is small and fast, but not much of an attacker. Orta can cycle through these forms at will, and she'll be doing it frequently. If it seems like there's a lot to do and keep track of, there is ... fortunately, the game has a series of tutorials that teach players the fundamentals.

The game's ultra-detailed world never looked so good. Cut-scenes tell the story in the game-world's unique language (it's not Japanese), with English subtitles. The PD universe is a hodgepodge of natural beauty and man-made horror, and truly comes into its own here. Some story points draw on the original games, but knowledge of those is not required. Graphically fast and expansive, with outstanding effects, like the dragon's sometimes iridescent wings. No slowdown, even with giant enemies on screen, and loading times are generally speedy (or hidden by cut-scenes or dialog).

Replay fanatics will love Pandora's Box, a treasure trove of hidden features and information, all available for the unlocking. I won't reveal what they are, except for one item ... hidden in the game is a complete rendition of the title that started it all, "Panzer Dragoon." As an introduction to the series, or as a chance to relive a classic game, it's a welcome addition.

One very minor gripe ... the game only allows for one save file, so while anyone can start a new game, only one save point can be set. Also, the game's difficulty can be at times frustrating, even for PD veterans ... it's also quite addicting, almost forcing you to "one more time" a level until you vanquish it.

With a detailed story, unbelievable graphics, easy-to-grasp gameplay and tons of replay opportunities, "Panzer Dragoon Orta" heralds the return of a respected gaming series, and hopefully points the way to future adventures in this unique realm.

Panzer dragoon is rightfully one of the xbox's premier titkes but it's sad that much people have not enjoyed this game.It pretty much has "all the makings of a truly epic game except for a few nitches here and there 1st the good stuff:VERY nice graphics,alotta action,a hell of alotta of replay value,sweet sounds(fully dolby digital i think),original panzer dragoon game hidden(very nice) Now the bad stuff: the game suffers from really sucky mini games I mean I hate these things AND U HAVE TO PLAY THEM IN ORDER 2 GET THE UNLOCKABLES,the game has great graphics but ur stuck 2 much in dark corridors rathe rthan nice rolling land scapes.But lemme keep it real this game is a must have for any action fan trust me!!!

Let's get something straight right now. Panzer Dragoon Zwei for Saturn is my favorite video game ever. The music, control, level design, and graphics (not to mention storyline, secrets and multiple endings!) of that game simply put every other 3D shooter to shame (well, Sky Gunner is pretty darn good too).

When it was announced that another Panzer Dragoon game was beign made, I was going crazy with anticipation, daring to hope that a game surpassing (or at least equal to) the great Panzer Dragoon Zwei was going to come my way. Now, I own both games and I have to say that Panzer Dragoon Orta (while by no means a bad game) does NOT measure up.

Any shooter fan can tell you that in the world of shooters, it really comes down to only a few things. Graphics, control, music, and gameplay. The graphics are the eye-candy that makes you play, great music is what sets the perfect mood, and without great gameplay and control there would be absolutely no point in playing.

The first Panzer Dragoon had a gun shot and lock-ons. Panzer Dragoon Zwei had gun shots, lock-ons and berzerkers. Now, we have gun shots, lock-ons, berzerks, dragon morphs, speed-up, and slow-down. Call me crazy, but I DO think that you can have too much of a good thing. I mean, the berzerkers were great and really added to the second game. But when a big boss is killing me the last thing I want to do is slow-down instead of speeding-up while switching to the WRONG FORM OF DRAGON. Sadly, over and over again this is what ended up happening.

Shooters are all about reflexes, shooting down all the enemies before they can attack you. This game makes it more about shooting the same enemy in the same way over and over and over. And what of the branching paths? While they add some to the game, there is nothing like the path branch from the second level of Panzer Dragoon Zwei (left take flight, right stay on the ground for the whole level).

I have to also say that (sadly) while the visuals of the between-level movies are incredibly animated, they aren't worth watching more than once in most cases (the one in the snow is always cool to me). And why on earth should I watch cinemas when there is no compelling story? Don't even try to tell me that there is the same sort of story-telling in this game that there was in Panzer Dragoon Saga or Zwei (Azel blows Orta away and the intro movie to Zwei where the kid's village is destroyed is better than every cinema in this game combined).

In the area of Graphics, Sound, and extras this game really shines. Not only does this game feature some of the best graphics on the X-Box and feature some great sound effects (the music is okay), it also includes the complete first Panzer Dragoon game.

Games like this are becoming more and more rare. If you're hungry for a 3D shooter fix give this game a try. It has awesome graphics, sweet sound, and IS set in the Panzer Dragoon world (and get a load of the Panzer Dragoon Encyclopedia in the extras!). Just don't expect more Zwei.