  Don't expect to find Odama in your local arcade with a large group huddled around it. |
Here’s why Odama is called Odama. As you play it, you will often find yourself yelling thusly:
“OH!”
“DAMN!”
“AAHHHHHH!!!!!!”
The latest game published by Nintendo for the GameCube is insanely difficult and defies all description (though we’ll try our best). It is admittedly very unique and interesting but chances are, only hardcore gamers will be able to stick with Odama long enough to get their money’s worth. They’re also likely the only ones who will keep their controller intact, as we envision many people who try Odama throwing their controller halfway across the room.
Alright, so here’s the gist of Odama. It’s like a mix between pinball and a real-time strategy game. Seriously. The pinball board serves as the battleground. You have a group of 100 troops and a ‘bell crew’ who start at the bottom of the screen. To finish a level, you have to get your bell crew through the enemies’ gates at the top of the screen. Sounds simple enough right? Well, there’s a LOT more to it than just that.
First, there are enemies who pour from all directions at the top of the screen that do their best to push your bell crew back to the bottom of the screen. If they succeed, it’s game over. Each battlefield also holds several things that block your path, such as rivers, locked doors, etc. It’s up to you to send troops to finish certain tasks, such as taking control of dams so you can control the flow of water into the rivers, unlocking doors, and so forth.
Did we mention that you control your troops using voice commands via the GameCube mic included with the game? It’s true, and this is what adds even more of a challenge to Odama.
Last but certainly not least, you have control (well, some control) of the Odama, which is in essence a large pinball. You launch it at the beginning of each level and just like in a real pinball game, if it falls in the space between your two flippers, you have to shoot another one out. Lose all your Odamas, and it’s game over. The Odama is used as both an offensive and defensive weapon. Launch it toward enemies and crush them to lower their numbers, but keep in mind that if your Odama hits your own troops, they will die too. At certain points in the game, it’s possible to turn your Odama green for a few precious seconds. If you run over enemy troops during this time, they will be conscripted to your side. It’s not easy turning it green and successfully hitting a lot of enemies.
Throw in a strict time limit for each level and you have yourself one of the most confusing, challenging games to come out in a while.
And therein lies the main problem with Odama. As we said, it is a very interesting idea but for a game this challenging, everything has to work absolutely perfectly for it to be truly fun. The controls aren’t all that great, especially considering you sometimes have to have almost pinpoint accuracy with your Odama to hit certain items. The microphone works fairly well, but there were enough times where it didn’t pick up my voice, and just one missed command in a level could be the difference between victory and defeat.
It’s also worth mentioning that if you’re a fan of classic pinball games, or of classic real-time strategy games, you’ll probably have a tough time really getting into Odama. I’ve thrown those two genres out in my description of the game but it’s far from truly being like either one of those games.
I don’t know the Japanese language at all but I’m assuming the speech used in the game is genuine. Everything is spoken in Japanese but you’ll of course have subtitles to guide you through. It adds authenticity as Odama takes place in medieval Japan. There’s also admittedly some humour that makes the game quite amusing while you’re trying to keep your temper from boiling over. Little speech bubbles are constantly popping up from your troops during each battle. It’s hilarious seeing them say ‘are you crazy?!’ when you direct them to a particular objective that just happens to be swarming with enemies or watching them cry ‘I’m on your side!’ as they get accidentally squashed by the Odama.
I love playing games that sway from the norm and try something new, and for that reason alone I was excited for Odama and wanted to give it a great score. Unfortunately, it fails in its execution and becomes a lesson in frustration.
WHAM! Rating: |
6.1 out of 10 |
ESRB Rating: |
E 10+ (Everyone 10+) |
Official Web Site: |
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