Azurik: Rise of Perathia

Other products by Microsoft Game Studios

Product Features

• Travel the vast realms of Perathia as Azurik, a young apprentice sworn to protect the sacred elements: fire, water, earth, and air. Stop an apocalyptic prophecy already taking place in an extremely immersive, 3-D action-adventure game.

Product Details

• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B00005NZ1L
• Item Weight: 5.9 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Release Date: November 27, 2001
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (61 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #11,778 in Video Games (See Bestsellers in Video Games)

Product Description

Amazon.com Review

The design document for Azurik, the first role-playing game released on the Xbox game system, must have read like a recipe: take all the ingredients of a good console RPG (third-person view, tons of combat, a freaky little world to adventure in, and a world-threatening evil to defeat), mix in the role-playing stock of Zelda with the spicy action of Soul Reaver 2, and you get Azurik. But, while this game has all the elements to satisfy the hunger of Xbox role players, it comes off as somewhat half-baked.

The denizens of the planet Perathia are blue-skinned and wear what looks like Aztec warrior garb. To be sure, this is a strange game with an offbeat story line that pits the young warrior Azurik against an enemy who, through a massive battle, has shattered the elements that power the world into tiny gems. Azurik must quest for these gems, fighting evil creatures with his massive two-bladed axe-staff and solving puzzles to achieve his objective and restore the world. The gems represent earth, air, fire, and water; the game's massive and generally well-designed levels follow that theme as well.

The graphics are up to the task and often impress. Specifically the monsters and the game's sense of scale: rooms and some of the boss monsters are enormous. The special effects are good, particularly the weapon effects, but this is also the first Xbox game to feature some minor graphics glitches that indicate the game wasn't as polished as you'd expect from the company that also brought you the console.

The real problems with Azurik involve the unresponsive controls, which suffer from a tiny but noticeable amount of lag. Azurik looks cool while swinging his weapon, but you'll never feel in complete control. Since combat is 90 percent of this game, poor combat control is a serious flaw. Also the controls aren't customizable at all. You'd think with the hard drive space they could easily offer this option, but instead you're stuck with the default controls: A for jab, B for a sweep attack, and Y for jump. The trigger is used for special magical attacks involving the gems you'll pick up.

Azurik isn't a bad game, but it's a shame that its main flaws (control and options) are due to problems that could have been corrected with a little more development time. --Bob Andrews

Pros:

• A unique, blue hero
• Quirky story
• Great level design

Cons:

• Poor controls
• Some graphics glitches

Product Description

The design document for <I>Azurik</I>, the first role-playing game released on the Xbox game system, must have read like a recipe: take all the ingredients of a good console RPG (third-person view, tons of combat, a freaky little world to adventure in, and a world-threatening evil to defeat), mix in the role-playing stock of <I>Zelda</I> with the spicy action of <I>Soul Reaver 2</I>, and you get <I>Azurik</I>. But, while this game has all the elements to satisfy the hunger of Xbox role players, it comes off as somewhat half-baked.<p> The denizens of the planet Perathia are blue-skinned and wear what looks like Aztec warrior garb. To be sure, this is a strange game with an offbeat story line that pits the young warrior Azurik against an enemy who, through a massive battle, has shattered the elements that power the world into tiny gems. Azurik must quest for these gems, fighting evil creatures with his massive two-bladed axe-staff and solving puzzles to achieve his objective and restore the world. The gems represent earth, air, fire, and water; the game's massive and generally well-designed levels follow that theme as well.<p> The graphics are up to the task and often impress. Specifically the monsters and the game's sense of scale: rooms and some of the boss monsters are enormous. The special effects are good, particularly the weapon effects, but this is also the first Xbox game to feature some minor graphics glitches that indicate the game wasn't as polished as you'd expect from the company that also brought you the console.<p> The real problems with <i>Azurik</i> involve the unresponsive controls, which suffer from a tiny but noticeable amount of lag. Azurik looks cool while swinging his weapon, but you'll never feel in complete control. Since combat is 90 percent of this game, poor combat control is a serious flaw. Also the controls aren

See all Product Description

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Game Great Graphics, This one could take Awhile!, December 2, 2001

By A Customer

I bought this game the day it came out and unlike previous reviewers on this page, have played the game for many hours. First, the graphics are top notch. The enviornments are amazing. The water and lava look real, I would rent it just to look at them. The controls are pretty stait forward, and I adjusted to them in about a few minutes. Second, the game play is very good. The worlds almost seem endless. You can explore maps for hours. Finally, the game play is pretty good. This game will consume hours of your time if you truely plan to finish. The only problem I have with this game is searching for the pieces of the elements can be quite boring. Depending on how lucky you get, it could take hours before finding pieces of the elements (the whole point of the game). Also, the game play can be quite difficult at times. That is why I have given the game 4 stars. You have to really be dedicated to continue playing the game. Although, some people will really love the challenge. I've read the game takes about 75 hours to finish. In my opinion I think the game would take longer. I hoped this helped those of you thinking about buying the game. Happy Gaming!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars You'll need skill and patience to play this one, December 13, 2001

By	Angel Q Bocanegra (New Jersey) - See all my reviews

Graphics are good, sound is ok. If you like Zelda for N64 then you'll like Azurik too.

Rent it first, then you decide to buy it or not...

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great!!!!, December 3, 2001

By A Customer

I think that this game is awesome, it has very good graphics(not perfect), and is a very long adventure game, that gamers will like. But I should say this game is not for everyone, it is not for people that get frustrated easily.