Unbound Saga (XBLA) Review

Full Disclosure: I did not play Unbound Saga on the PSP.

Story: Unbound Saga's story is one of hilarity.
It is a parody of the many comic books that see a tough guy brawling his way through countless enemies. The story genuinely made me laugh throughout the game. Unbound Saga is completely self-aware that it is a beat-em up, and the story pokes fun at the waves after waves of enemies faced. I do wish that the story had more of a presence outside of the cutscenes, but then again, the comic books that the game parodies do not have much story once the fighting starts either. As I progressed through the game, I found myself invested in the character's journey to find his maker. And, the end does present a satisfying conclusion to that journey. Unbound Saga will make you question the morals of comic-book makers, and to see a beat-em up's story engaging the player beyond a superficial level is a very surprising and refreshing thing.

Gameplay: The controls are very simple to understand and often delve into button-mashing. With that said the two characters control completely different. New moves can be learned, and this, thankfully, changes up the gameplay to make the game a more entertaining experience. I found myself enjoying playing as the companion moreso than the main character because she moved much faster and had a wider variety of abilities.  There are problems with the sluggish controls of the main character. When he picks up an object, it takes far too long to be able to start smashing enemies; it can also be difficult to change the direction of an attack because changing direction requires a focused effort by the player. These problems result in a slight disconnect between the player and the characters onscreen. I did enjoy that boss fights, if not required, encouraged the use of strategy. For the most part, the friendly A.I. is solid; I did see, though, a few enemies who just stood around as if they didn't even notice my character. There is a large variety of enemies and the levels have quite a bit of variation to them; this, more than anything, is what excused the repetitive controls.

Graphics: The comic-book style graphics are a joy to look at. Some of the cutscenes do lack detail, but for the most part the graphical style mirrors the parodistic nature of the story. The character models in the game, specifically the enemies, could use more work as they appear as vague representations of the creatures they are supposed to be.

Audio: The voice-acting in the game is over-the top but is well-suited to the game's nature. The voice-acting and dialogue amplifies the comedy of the story. The actual sound effects of the game are merely present; it isn't bad, but it doesn't stand out as anything special either.

Replayability: One of the biggest problems with the game, there is neither a need nor a desire to replay any of the levels once finished. The game does have online and local co-op, but while local co-op is very fun, I preferred the single-player to online co-op because I was able to switch between the characters at will. Both players get ranked separately; I was happy to see this hint of competitiveness in the co-op experience. When in local co-op, both players share the same screen, and at no time did I find this a hindrance; I was always able to move my character where I wanted him/her to go. Unbound Saga includes a survival mode that is far too easy, and gets boring quickly. The only enemies faced in survival mode are human, and I was able to easily get to 38th on the leaderboards. With each passing round, I was able to employ the same strategy continuously; I only died after I got tired of the mode and put the controller down.

Pros:

·         Engaging and hilarious story

·         Variety of enemies and levels

·         Secondary character was very fun to control

·         Many ways to level up characters move-set

Cons:

·         Repetitive controls

·         Survival mode is a bore

·         Main character controls sluggishly

Editor: Zach Felling

7/10 Good

Value: $7