“El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron” is a trip, and not just from the beginning to the end of its incomprehensible title. In the tradition of “Eternal Sonata,” a roleplaying game based on the life of composer Frederic Chopin, “El Shaddai” is the rare game you’ll walk away from knowing a bunch about a real-world subject. Or at least a bizarre Japanese interpretation of a real-world subject.
That subject is the Book of Enoch, one of those ancient Hebrew texts that reside just outside biblical canon. Named for Noah’s great-grandfather (and supposedly written by him), the Book of Enoch tells a fascinating story of angels revolting against God and descending to Earth to live among humans. God responds by choosing mere mortal Enoch to round them up — and somehow deal with their offspring with humans — before He floods the planet.
Enoch, with his androgynous hair and big white blouse that snakes down his legs, looks less like a holy warrior than one of those dudes up there dancing on the catwalk in “Purple Rain.” And the Earth he’s tasked with saving is one of the greatest visual creations in all of gaming.
| ‘El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron’ |
| » System: PS3, Xbox 360 » Price: $59.99 |
| » Rating: 4 out of 5 stars |
Every level of this game looks completely different. I’m not talking a jungle level followed by an ice level. In the span of an hour, you could be playing through what looks like an Enya music video raining “Forrest Gump” feathers, a breathtaking side-scrolling level set against a monumental wall of stained glass, and a forest being destroyed by meteors while some elephantine enormity lumbers in the misty distance. And it’s not just themes — the game’s visual style changes every time you enter a new area. Some levels are stark, recalling silent films, some flow like a flipbook of watercolors on parchment, some are translucent, like they’re made of Swarovski covered in Vaseline.
Playing this game, helmed by Takeyasu Sawaki, a character designer in several prominent video games, I’m reminded of fashion designer Tom Ford directing Colin Firth in “A Single Man.” It isn’t his first job, but dang if he can’t do it.
“El Shaddai” takes its place next to “Muramasa: The Demon Blade” as the best-looking game of this generation, a game that’s so visually interesting, it’s almost a distraction. Which is a good thing, because the fighting that comprises “El Shaddai’s” core gameplay is far less compelling.
The folks behind “El Shaddai” at least try a couple twists on the standard beat-’em-up formula. Your performance as you go around clocking angels depends on mastering timing with one attack button, rather than finger gymnastics with every button on the controller. The resulting simplicity is admirable, but it also limits the game’s sophistication. Aside for a couple of experimental levels, new wrinkles dry up after two hours, which means the game at hour two is intellectually and mechanically identical to the game at hour eight.
But somebody looking over your shoulder at hour two and coming back at hour eight might not even know you were playing the same game. How many games can you say that about?
