Galleon review

Whatever the long story surrounding any game’s development, ultimately, it’s the results that matter. So what does Galleon have to show for five years of work by some of the industry’s brightest talents? Ultimately, not enough.

For one thing, Galleon sports a unique and intriguing control system. Unfortunately “unique” and “intriguing” can sometimes be substituted for “bloody minded” and “frustrating”. At first Captain Rhama’s low speed and acceleration seem burdensome and awkward, but as you reach running speed, his interaction with the levels changes as he automatically works his way around smaller obstacles, and seems to effortlessly, if dangerously speed through some of the more impressive level architecture. The camera control, however, is questionable to say the least. The fact that running and camera movement are tied to the same stick makes navigating requires a little more concentration than usual, which seems at odds with the feline grace that Captain Rhama employs to vault over and around the landscape.

But this is the least of the camera troubles Galleon presents. The fact that looking up and down are beyond the player’s control seems absurd, especially considering that some of the game’s more impressive levels are built around height as well as width. At every turn, Galleon seems to present an interesting way of looking at things and draws you in through this for a while, just before an unexpected slap in the face through either poor level design or game mechanics.

Five long years

What makes these occasional moments harder to deal with is that they contrast so much against Galleon’s few moments of brilliance. It’s puzzles for example, are clever and challenging, without ever straying from being logical. For the first time in a long while, an adventure game actually seems to give you problems that work in the context of the plot, instead of the usual red key/chess piece brainteasers. The difficulty level seems set perfectly until the combat starts to get more difficult. It does this gradually at first, until it becomes a poorly conceived melee with little sense of skill involved - except for increasing amounts of patience and timing required. Basically, when you’ve seen one boss battle in Galleon, you’ve seen them all and they aren’t pretty. Through overuse of the same mechanic (attach yourself to the boss and punch or stab in its vulnerable spot), any sense of drama is removed from boss encounters.

What this leads to is a sense that Galleon would have actually been a much better game without any combat at all. But when one thinks back to Confounding Factor’s origins on Tomb Raider, combat was never their strong point, instead more a part of the characters than the game themselves. How can you have a pirate game without fisticuffs or swordfights? Similarly Lara’s twin firearms sometimes seemed more a part of her character design than the gameplay itself. The random wild animals never seemed like real enemies, but gave you a good reason to prance around, guns blazing. That feeling persists here, but seems all the more clumsy as the rest of the game features more refinement in other areas.

Filthy animal

But one thing managed to survive unscathed through those five years of development. Galleon’s sharp characters, well-paced script and visual style still charm and impress, but it’s sad to think of just how much more they would have impressed a few years ago, especially since they were the first obviously complete part of the game on show way back when. Looking at Galleon in the light of its peers is rooting for the charming but outclassed underdog. He may do everything with his own sense of style, but everyone else simply does it more effectively. But that’s not what games are all about. This isn’t a ruthless test of efficiency. Personality, as it is said, goes a long way.

Did I mention it took five years?

And playing Galleon does give you a sense of why they persevered for those five years. It really does feel and play differently from its peers and grabs for that goal of every good adventure game: making you feel part of its own special world. And it will grab you, but you’ll have to make an effort to reach out and hold its hand for a while through the rough spots. The problems are the times when it lets go, leaving you lost without a hint of what to do. Or when it just turns on you and beats you down after hitting the same boss twenty times straight. Galleon wants to be your friend; but it’s been locked up for a bit too long to know what to do sometimes.

So Galleon’s hopes rest on those who take it in isolation. Which is hard to imagine in a market where everyone is trying to make the next Grand Theft Auto or Zelda, when even their own sequels sometimes fail. For those of us who know its story, we can only wonder why some of its more glaring flaws didn’t receive the polish they needed to make things right. And how a game that promised so much, that still seems to promise so much, could make a few fundamental mistakes with so much time behind it. We can forgive Galleon, even applaud it, but we’re still disappointed.