Sound:  
The music in the game is very nicely orchestrated and features Dolby Digital Surround something-or-other. Whatever it is that makes games sound good is what it has. You know what I mean. The constant action film music gets a little repetitive but it was a wiser choice than the style used in the GBA version. Maybe the dragon missions should have had some electric guitar stuff since they're supposed to be bad-asses.

The sound effects really help draw you into the game though. The barrage of explosions and rapid fire from machine guns make you want to get out your umbrella for this rain of fire- AHAHAHAHahahaha. Okay, I guess I'm still holding out for the pun version of this game. Maybe there's a second quest.

Another plus is the voice acting. The dragons don't have any lines like the GBA version, but the humans remind you what you need to do without saying the same lines over and over. Except for the mission briefings, the speech is used sparingly.

On a related note, I love anytime you're driving along and someone says "it's too quiet." I'm always surprised at what happens two seconds later...

Gameplay:  
For anyone who's played the Factor 5 Star Wars games, especially Battle For Naboo, Reign of Fire will feel very familiar.

I single-out Naboo because it had many more ground missions than the Rogue Squadron games, and you only take flight in later levels. In Reign of Fire, you must play most of the human automobile levels before playing the dragon flight levels. Throughout much of the game you're aiming up at the dragons while still trying to drive forward, which is challenging, but this is what actual British men and women face every day with their struggle against the mythical beasts. These people should be commended and our prayers go out to them.

Unlike the GBA version, you never have to leave your vehicle when playing the human missions, and you rarely play the same car twice in a row.

Human missions include putting out fires while the rest of your team fights dragons, seeking out distress calls, gathering dragon eggs for study, and escorting convoys. With all the cars on the road though it turns into gas, brake, honk. Gas, brake, honk. Honk, honk, punch. Gas, gas, gas.

There are some "kill everything" levels too, but they're at least put in context of the movie, such as killing a bunch of female dragons to lure out the lone male.

Dragon missions have some variations as well, such as picking up gas trucks and using them to bomb a tower, or disabling a train to free the dragons imprisoned on it.

It all makes for an ambitious and quite difficult game. Unfortunately, some of the difficulty is artificial. Some levels don't even do an adequate job of telling you what you're supposed to look for, and some levels feature clipping problems right at the target.

For example, the level where you need to collect three dragon eggs starts you where you can put the crosshairs right on the dragon at her nest, at a distance that shouldn't be a problem, but it won't let you shoot until you get really close. After you kill her she has three eggs sitting right there but it only lets you collect one. You'll spend some time smashing into her nest of rocks trying to get the other two before you realize you need one egg from three different nests.

In that same level I was once blasted through a wall and had to quit because I couldn't get back. The worst part was sitting through the damn load times again. It doesn't seem like this game was optimized for the GameCube's smaller discs, because you can sit for 10-15 seconds waiting for a level to load.

In the dragon level where you need to bomb the tower with the trucks, that part is actually the 4th or 5th objective. Everything is easy until that point, when you find that picking up the trucks is an uncontrollable cut-scene and if you started from a bad angle you'll miss. When you finally get one you take it to the tower (and the radar gives no help finding it) and try dropping it in. Eventually you learn to simply place them where they should go because dropping them will make them go through the walls of the tower and onto the ground below.

Control:
The controls take some getting used-to. You really do have to use all three shoulder buttons on the controller. They each offer a different kind of firing. To drive a vehicle you just press A and it will take you in the direction of the crosshairs*.

The dragon controlls are slightly different but that's what training missions are for.

*Note: aiming up and accelerating will not make the car fly, which confused the hell out of me.

Multiplayer:
Reign of Fire features no multiplayer games and no link-up features with the GBA version. It's obvious the game was created for PS2 and then ported to GameCube and Xbox for simultaneous release.

OVERALL:
I should note that this game includes some DVD content, including cut-scene FMVs from the movie, the extended trailer from the movie, the music video made for the movie, and an art gallery. Unless you're a big fan (and judging from box office receipts, you're not) you won't want to watch these more than once.

Overall this game doesn't show off what the GameCube can do but has some good mission designs. Hopefully developer BAM! Entertainment will learn from it for their next game.

 

The Lowdown on  Reign of Fire Aesthetics: Average Control: Above Average Gameplay: Very Good Multiplayer: Sound: Very Good Innovation: 4/6 Lasting Appeal: 4/6 Rating Explanation Overall: Above Average! "A Quality Game"