Release Dates	Statistics
- 17th November 2006 - 26th January 2006 - 15th August 2006	Title: Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII Developer: Square-Enix Publisher: Square-Enix Platform: PlayStation 2 Genre: Third-person shooter and RPG Players: 1 Disc(s): One Our Rating: 8/10

Plot - 8/10
Graphics - 9/10
Music - 6/10
Battle System - 8/10
Gameplay - 8/10
Difficulty - 8/10
Overall - 8/10

Plot - 8/10

Three years after FFVII, a new danger is threatening the planet, an organisation of the name Deepground seek the Protomateria to initiate the weapon 'Omega', the world's end. The main character this time is Vincent Valentine, who played only a secret character in the original game. It is now your task to stop Deepground at all costs and save the world before the 'Chaos' inside you takes over.
The story and plot development of Dirge of Cerberus is not as good as it's predecessor but it still features a compelling story which reveals much of Vincent's past.
Although the story may prove confusing for those who have not played FFVII, it definitely has something to offer, and fans of the original game may find it clears up a few things.

Perhaps one of the disappointments here though was not involving more FFVII characters and locations in th story, that could have brought the whole game together a bit more.

Graphics - 9/10

As always Square-Enix has once again proved it's visual mastery. Everything from backgrounds to full-motion-videos, (FMVs) are rendered beautifully. Though it is somewhat amusing to see Vincent's cape fluttering perfectly in every situation, even in a room where there should be no wind at all.
They even included a bonus FMV at the end of the game if you collect all 'G Project' files in which a character named 'G' for 'Genesis', played by the singer Gackt, is seen in a CGI environment.

Music - 6/10

The music of Dirge of Cerberus was a little mediocre this time. The main theme and Gackt Camui's "Redemption" and "Longing" songs that were composed especially for the game were certainly great songs and memorable, but the in-game music was dull and repetitive.
The voice acting was a little better, the voices of Vincent, Shelke, Lucrecia and sometimes Rosso, suited their respective characters perfectly. But other characters, additional voices in particular, were not pleasant.

Battle System - 8/10

Although there wasn't a battle system as such in Dirge of Cerberus, it still contained items, weapons and magic. The main menu could be accessed at any time during combat, making a nice change, allowing you to use potions or make adjustments to your weapon at any time.
Throughout the game you can find three types of gun, Vincent's Cerberus, the rifle and machine gun. All three are useful in different situations, so changing frequently between them can be beneficial.
Magic and Limit Breakers introduce more variety. Fire, Blizzard and Thunder materia allows you to cast powerful spells at your enemies. But unusually it is not the element of the materia that is different between those three, but how it reacts. Fire materia creates an explosion that can harm several enemies, Blizzard materia hunts down one enemy, and Thunder materia shoots in a straight line. Materia is used by sacrificing a small amount of MP.
Limit Breakers cause Vincent to turn into the Galian Beast, increasing his stats. Apart from becoming more resistant to attacks, this limit is not very useful, and is sometimes better to sell it than to use.

Gameplay - 8/10

As for gameplay, it must be said that aiming using a controller is difficult. It takes perhaps half an hour to forty minutes to get used to the controls, and then a good few missions before you get the hang of it and get a higher accuracy rate. It's a good idea to go through the in-game tutorial accessed through the start-up menu before you begin your game.

Apart from a few tricky controls, there isn't a lot to the gameplay. Each level of play is done in a mission format, and every time you complete a mission you are given experience and gil. You can then decided whether to exchange your experience for gil, but it's usually best to keep the EXP.
Each level involves battling numerous enemies, and there are few, (if any) secrets or sidequests. Despite this however, gameplay is highly addictive, possibly due to the way in which one mission quickly goes onto the next.
Cutscenes are fairly well balanced, but at times there are too many in one go and you just want to get back to some more shooting, but fortunately there is an option to skip the current scene if you press START, though this isn't a good idea if it's your first play because you may miss some vital story points.

Re-playability isn't that bad, it's interesting going over the story again and picking up some extra items, but the missions can get almost tedious at times when enemies refuse to stop reappearing. Don't let it put you off though.
Another feature of this game are the Exra-Missions, these contain difficult tasks that test your skill and unlock prizes in the Art, Character and Sound Galleries.

Difficulty - 8/10

Dirge of Cerberus contains two difficulty modes, Normal and Hard. The original Japanese version also had an Easy mode, but it was removed for the American and European games. Normal is definitely recommended for your first try, as the battle system takes a while to get used to. Though towards the end of the game you begin to think that the bosses are getting a little too easy, so if you're in for a challenge try Difficult mode the second time 'round.

Overall - 8/10

Dirge of Cerberus, known as the end of the Final Fantasy VII Compilation, it feels like it fails to pick up a lot of what made FFVII so great. Despite this however, it's a very enjoyable game with a lot of 'shoot-'em-up' fun and action to offer and a brilliant storyline for FFVII fans. Certainly, if you're into RPGs or some third/first-person shooters, then this is a must-have.
It also feels a little rushed, the average gameplay time is a little over ten hours I'd say, making the game feel too short. The end certainly makes up for it though, it returns to Square-Enix's spontaneous apocalyptic environments, larger than life bosses and stunning FMVs.
Overall, 8/10 for a very enjoyable game from the renowned Square-Enix.

(By FFFreak)

Official Screenshots