Review #505: DICE - DNA Integrated Cybernetic Enterprises

 It hurts how good it could've been... and how ridiculous the title is.

The cover tells you everything that you need to know about it. Well, almost.

 So, apparently, this game is based on an anime with the same dumb name. I don't know anything about the series, nor do I care, but here's what you need to know: In this game you play as any of 11 color-coded Power Rangeresque characters who can get on-and-off their robot vehicle at whim, and can turn said robot into a proper, wheeled vehicle. It sounds awesome, and it could've been awesome, but sadly, the execution left a lot to be desired.

 The game is made up of three different modes: Story, in which you tackle any of 16 missions, Training, in which you contend in Speed and Attack stages for high-scores and a silly, but welcome, VS mode in which you can battle another player or a CPU. The game lasts about 5 hours, and while you need an A or S rank on all 15 missions to unlock the 16th, the game is very generous, so it won't be too tough. Bonus characters, upgrades, Bots and training missions are bought on the 'Garage' menu, but I'm not too sure what triggers stuff to become available for purchase. After finishing the game, with an S on most stages, I was only able to purchase one of the four secret characters, and I don't know what makes the others become available.

Hopefully you like this stage, since you'll be coming here twice.

 The sixteen missions are comprised of three races and thirteen 'action' stages. Action stages are divided in 'Areas', each area acting as a checkpoint. In each area you either have to solve a simple puzzle, like destroying specific objects or enemies, destroying every enemy(The most frequent task) or putting the right sphere on the right hole. It sounds fair, but a lot of environments get reused, there're very few enemy types and most bosses will be fought twice. It helps to make the game grow a bit monotonous pretty early on.

 So how does the game play? Well, first comes the Robot mode, in which you ride your dinosaur. Here you can use your equipped Satellite Bot with the circle button, there's a bunch of different Satellites and they all offer something different, so try to experiment a bit. In my case, I adored the fire bot, great fire power but poor homing. The square button performs your only attack combo, X jumps and triangle is used to switch to your vehicle form. R1 blocks. The thing about your Dinosaur... is that this is how you'll spend most of the game: Riding it. Why? Simple, your dinosaur takes no damage, has a massive area of effect with its combo and can use the Satellite Bot. Damage incurred will instead make the dinosaur overheat, if the gauge fills to the top you'll be ejected and lose a bit of health. This heat gauge can be lowered by not taking damage for a while or simply hopping off your ride.

Your dinosaur robot is slow, but powerful.

 While off your ride most of the controls remain the same, but you lose access to the Satellite's offensive capabilities, instead, now you can use it as a shield. You'll become tiny when compared to your enemies, the range of your attack combo is pathetic and, more importantly, you'll take damage. Death is but a slap in the wrist, you start back at the last checkpoint with full health... but the timer doesn't reset, so it'll only hurt your rank. Maybe. It's possible to die a couple of times and still get an A rank, the scoring system is THAT lenient. But, back to being on foot: You'll never want to be off your ride, and when you are ejected, from overheating, it's in your best interest to just run around until your ride cools off and hop back in. It's entirely possible to fight enemies on foot, but why would you? You'll be bombarded front, right, left and center with energy pellets and only be able to deal pitiful damage within your pitiful range! Plus, you'll notice that you can use your ride's body to block a few incoming attacks as it cools down!

 And that's the biggest flaw with the game, how it squandered so much potential. Besides the three races, there're very few instances in which you'll be required to turn your Robot into a vehicle, which is kind of a loss. And your on-foot form is absolutely useless. They could've implemented a few instances in which they forced you to go on-foot, to add variety. Or even give the on-foot form more advantages, like having a rechargeable shield, or being able to cancel your attack combo with a dodge, thus, you could opt between your slow, but powerful ride or being a nimble threat. It could've been so cool!

The orange-bronze guy was my favorite character. He looked cool.

 And then you've got these eleven, cool looking characters who all play the same. Sure, the combos are different, but in essence, they give you the exact same result. Their dinosaur rides may look different, but they only vary in size and speed, when it comes to attacking they all might as well be the same. Well, I lie, at least two characters have flying rides, but they are a bit hard to control so I only played as them once and never looked back. As for the combat, not only are you fighting the same enemies over and over again, there's no fun to be had always repeating the same dull-looking combo. It doesn't help that you can't turn the camera while attacking. The Satellite Bots are a good addition, but it's not enough when you're left off fighting the same enemies over and over again, on the same environments, repeating the same combo and using the same tactics over and over again. If you like beat'em ups, like me, you probably won't mind too much, but it's hard not to expect a bit more out of such a fantastic idea.

 And that's all I've got to say about DICE - DNA Integrated Cybernetic Enterprises. It's a fantastic concept, and worth giving it a try just to experience it, but it fails to deliver gameplay matching the idea. While it's not very good, I think it's worth a look if you've nothing else on your backlog.
 5.5 out of 10