Scaler

PS2 review by Jim Smith - Wednesday 29th December 2004

It's not me getting older that's the problem, neither is it the fault of the PS2 for its advancing years. The fact is platform games just don't have the mass-market draw they had a decade ago. It's not that the quality has dwindled - far from it - it's just that other genres are far better suited to the 3D game playing environment. Action adventures like the all conquering GTA series instantly felt at home with the extra dimension, as did the driving game, and the first-person shooter never really felt right until then. The platform game, on the other hand, really suffers and for a variety of reasons.


Look, no hands!

Firstly, camera positioning and behaviour was not an issue in 2D but in 3D it was sometimes the only issue people talked about. How many times have you played a 3D platformer with a camera so unwieldy that you often took unnecessary hits from enemies that were only feet away but the camera neglected to show them too you? That's happened to me time and time again on both the PS2 and the PSone and it's a shame - how come Mario 64 got it right but very few games after did? Is it any wonder that both 3D action and 3D platform titles almost always have the right analogue stick as the camera, to give you a little more personal control? Or by giving control to the player are game developers admitting that to this day they still struggle with the camera mechanics and that they've just about given up?

The second reason to bring to your attention is one of evolution and is not Scaler's fault, but Scaler is definitely a victim of it. The truth is that gamers and the games they play are growing up. Games have become more action-violence orientated as a whole and the traditional platform title can't really get away with that as it just doesn’t feel right. It's all very well having a violent racing game or a violent action title, but who wants to gun down that bad guy in a spray of bullets and then quickly jump from dissolving lily pad to dissolving lily pad? Not me, that's for sure. In fact, is it any wonder that nearly all decent selling platform games (Jak and Ratchet & Clank being a prime example) heavily involve weaponry of some sort? Is the platform game trying to grow up too? And if it is, why are the game worlds filled with such garish, kiddie-orientated colour schemes and star such cutesy, cuddly heroes?


Gimme five, brother!

Which brings me nicely on to Scaler. It's the story of a young boy called Bobby 'Scaler' Jenkins who's quite into lizards and has stumbled across some kind of plan to take over the world involving some kind of big evil lizards. After being captured and interrogated by a fat guy who I think is his neighbour, Scaler escapes through some weird portal, but not before being hit by the big lizard ray which turns him into a funky blue lizard. Now trapped in a psychedelic lizard land, it's up to Scaler to find his way back home battling a truckload of similarly freaky creatures in the process. At least I think that's what's going on; the opening intro sequence isn't entirely the most comprehensive you've ever seen. It seems to start a few seconds too late as if maybe the first bit didn't come out too well in the editing or something, leaving you feeling like you've walked in on a TV program just after the first commercial. When you start the game itself you have no idea who those mean-looking lizards were behind the glass, or what you were doing in what was apparently your neighbour's basement in the first place. Did the cut scene budget run out? What are the odds of a 'save the lizard' enthusiast living so close to a guy with a big ol' lizard transformation ray gun thing in the first place? I suppose we shouldn’t worry about that kind of stuff.

But when the game actually gets going, things initially look very good. While being a little bright for my eyes, the environment and character graphics are pretty smart and Scaler has the usual set of abilities for a game of this type. He's got a Yoshi-style tongue lick, a rudimentary triple claw attack combo and a jumping dive swipe maneuver, so as combat platformers go his bases are all covered. In terms of movement he has the standard jumps and double jumps (whoever first thought up double jumping in a platform game must be gutted they never patented the idea), plus there's a rather neat vine ride move that's a bit like a massive skateboard grind. It also doubles as a cool way to purvey the world you're in as most vines loop round a sizeable chunk of the playing arena, often giving you a good idea of what you have to do and who you're going to come up against. The enemies themselves are also well animated and are vicious in the relentlessness of their attacking strategy, so there's always a lot to keep you busy. And with so much going on I was pleasantly surprised that very rarely did I ever feel confused or lost as to what to do next. The nice flow is assisted by the mentor character Leon (a bright orange lizard thing) who you befriend early on and who flies you from level to level on the back of his pet dragon creature. He also guides you through the various peculiarities the game has to offer, like the many transformation modes.


I've got it! I've got it!

Ah yes, the transformations - this turns out to be the most original aspect of the game. It's devishly simple actually - on some levels you just have to vanquish a small number of a certain baddy and you gain the ability to transform into that creature, albeit a slightly larger mutant blue version of it. This in turn gives you the added ability to throw bombs, fly, roll around as a big spikey ball (like a certain hedgehog I could mention), snipe enemies and even use a freaky charged underwater attack on occasion, depending on what level you are playing. For example, on the second level you quickly learn how to turn into a bomb dropping monster and have to use that to demolish walls that are blocking your path, but it's also great fun rolling bombs along the floor and taking out meaty bad guys from a far. Even though these abilities are neat while they last, they're short lived as you can only use them on certain levels and the abilities only last until the end of that level, but they do break up the jumping and swiping monotony that would plague the game if this option hadn't been included. In particular I really liked how, once you acquire a new transformation, you always have the option to transform from Scaler to this new monster and back again whenever you like, which opens up new avenues of level exploration and can make boss fights that little bit more interesting.


Say, didn't I have a back pack when i started this level?

And that's the real trick; is Scaler actually that interesting in the long run? Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with Scaler, in fact I'd even go as far as to say that a lot of the graphics are visually quite stunning. This is especially true of the PS2 version, which stands up to the Xbox version quite admirably except for the inevitable spot of slowdown when things get a little too hectic. The game play too is pretty smooth and even the camera has an unexpected habit of behaving itself most of the time, but none of these things bring to light the real, fundamental problem that's hidden beneath that glossy surface. The real issue with the game is that when you step back and take in the big picture, Scaler is ultimately just one big platforming cliché.

I've jumped and doubled jumped up blue grassy stair cases before. I've leapt on to stepping stones which crumble if you don't keep moving before. I've timed jumps onto moving platforms before. I've slid along giant rails before. I've tongue whipped psychedelic nasties before. I've unleashed triple attack combos on bosses twice my size before. And I've collected umpteen flashy orb things and traded them in for power ups before as well. So the big question is do I want to go and do that all over again, even if I do only have to pay £20 for the privilege?

The choice, as they say, is yours...

Thunderbolt score: six out of ten

Players: 1

Online: No