Viper V16

Reviewed by Craxton (craxton@erols.com)

Publisher: Hobibox Europe U.S. Distributor JAST USA Japanese Publisher: Sonya Cost: $39.95 Genre Animated AVG

Having seriously underwhelmed the Bishoujo game scene with Viper M1 last year, Hobibox now follows up with the much-improved sequel, Viper V16.

Instead of last year's lackluster triad of demos, Sogna here offers two more fleshed-out games, each on a seperate CD. (Though I suspect they could fit both on one CD, if they really tried). The first, Rise, has gotten all the press. Nearly every screenshot on the Hobibox and JAST USA websites, and all but one on the game box, is from Rise. The plot is a basic breeding-invasion setup common to hentai anime: a race of underground dwellers -- led by a villainous long-haired bishonen -- kidnap a trio of waitresses from downtown Tokyo to serve as their "maternal wombs." But one of them is a gifted martial artist, so they break out and head for the surface. After the intro, the player must navigate a "maze" (a tunnel with two left-right branches), beat up a couple of guards, and finally cross swords with the bishonen to escape.

Rise is okay, I guess. The sex scenes are good, plus they're animated instead of stills with text, which you can't find in a lot of games. There are themes of domination, rape, and impregnation, which are offset by a campy attitude. Whether this is an advantage or disadvantage is a matter of personal taste. Although the cast is only barely developed, the storyline doesn't ask much of them, aside from the occassional bit of self-sacrifice. There are eight seperate paths through the game, based on your two left-right decisions and your success in combat. Two of these paths get our heroines back to the surface, and the rest dead-end in rape and enslavement. Though the plot is nothing to write home about, it does progress logically in all cases, and there's a surprising twist at the end. Finding all the paths is a simple matter of a few save/restores and the willingness to throw a fight or two.

The combats are worthy of note -- similiar to combats in M1's "My Mothers," you and your opponent each have a health meter and you beat each other up until one meter hits zero. Unlike "My Mothers" however, there is some strategy involved. Each round, you choose "Normal" or "Continuous" attack. Call them "Low Stakes" and "High Stakes". Then you choose "Punch," "Kick," or "Chop." Call them "Rock", "Paper", and "Scissors." Based on the move you've chosen, and the move your opponent has chosen, one character is hit and loses health. Although this can initially seem random and annoying, the enemies have preset attack patterns, and thus a little trial-and-error will easily land you an effective strategy.

In terms of production value, Rise fares better then you'd expect. The character designs are appealing, although the waitress costumes are a matter of personal taste. The animations are smooth, held back only slightly by the mosaics. Although the sound isn't remarkable, it doesn't grate on the ears either. Likewise, the voice acting is competant. The translation, however, is exactly what you'd expect from an Italian company. At best it's passable, at worst laughable.

In the end, Rise is competently done, and works well within its limitations. Though I would have liked to see it a bit more fleshed out, it still makes for an entertaining evening.

The second feature, Imagine, has gotten seriously short-changed in the marketing department. Only a single, tiny screenshot adorns the back of the box, despite the fact that Imagine has more bredth, if less depth, then its companion piece. Imagine is a classic first-love story -- you're Io, student at a small arts college that teaches singing, acting, stage and theatrical production, and computer science (?). Over the course of a few days, events lead you to fall in love with one of three girls -- one mature, one tomboyish, and one girlish. If you've played True Love or Tokimeki Check-in, you know the deal.

It's somewhat ironic that a game called "Imagine" could be so uninspired. There are good games, and there are bad games, and then there are games that are just sorta... *there*. Imagine is one of the latter. Though it's not bad, it doesn't really stand out much. But the first-love story is repeated time and again in the bishoujo game genre for good reason -- it *works*. The basic appeal of falling in love at a young, innocent age speaks for itself, and has throughout history. To create a good first-love story, one merely needs some reasonably well-developed prospects, a decent set of circumstances, and the ability to string them together and tangle the strings as needed. Imagine fits the bill.

Not without some difficulties, of course. The plot branching isn't always logical -- the first fork is based on two seemingly unimportant decisions -- and the translation is on about the same level as Rise. There are also some shaky areas in the plot, including a long sequence about Io mourning the fact that Haruka's not a virgin during which I just wanted to reach through my monitor and smack some sense into him. And though there are six paths through the game, two of them are merely variations on preexisting paths, so going for 100% gets a bit tedious. And yes, the mosaics are annoying.

Still, these flaws don't really detract much from Imagine. The bigger problem here is that the setup is neither unique nor particularly involving. You can go through all the different plot branches in two nights easy. Furthermore, though appealing, the characters will not be classified as anyone's favorite B-girls. Imagine is playable and enjoyable, but not memorable.

So is Viper V16 worth it? Good question. While entertaining, it has an air of "just another game" about it, and so it definately won't appeal to everyone. Ask yourself: Do you like your CG pictures to move? Can you tolerate mosaics and hideous Japanese-to-Italian-to-English translations? Are you okay with paying full price for a game that's over in half the play time? If the answer to these three questions is "Yes", go ahead and give Viper V16 a try. You might like it.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5