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(the US version should be fairly similar)

It's been a while coming, but it's here (well, anywhere but the US anyway - you'll get it in early May)! The third in the series, Panzer Dragoon Saga takes a completely different stance. It's not a shoot 'em up like its predecessors, rather an action RPG. And what a game it is, as you'll soon know...

The game takes place a few thousand years after Panzer Zwei, and the world is trembling in its sandals about the threat of the Ancient Age. The Empire (as they're known) has stepped up its efforts to uncover more artefacts in order to help overcome its neighbouring factions, who have also found various artefacts. No one feels safe. And now, a rebel faction under Lord Craymen launches a deadly attack at the Empire, wiping out its capital city and thus announcing war. The reason? An ancient being is found in the mines, believed to have the power to integrate with the "Towers" (ancient ruins which control the environment, though have weakened) and restore the land to its former glory.

You are Edge (pronounced Edg-ee in the Japanese script), a young lad, working as a guard at the mines when he gets thrown into the struggle. After Craymen has his captain and comrades killed, he almost loses his own life and falls into an abyss, where he miraculously escapes from drowning in an underground stream. Saved by a mysterious dragon from certain death at the hands of a group of heavily-armoured mutants, a bond is established between the two. Edge's objective - to hunt down and kill Craymen. But, he has a deep desire to uncover the truth about the girl in the ruins, named Azel...

Of course, nothing ever goes to plan. Not only will he have to battle Craymen, but the Empire becomes aware of the dragon and begins pursuit. In the end, Edge will not know who to trust.

That's only half the story. I won't spoil it for you. Now, the review...

As becomes apparent when you boot the game up, there is an FMV intro. Although the screen has been stretched and the colour depth decreased, it's still great. The video in the game itself exhibits the same limitations (the optimisation is most probably due to the slow CD drive of the Saturn), the emotion of the characters is breathtaking. The game has been given subtitles instead of being translated. Cost-cutting? Maybe, but the emotion may have disappeared if it was translated.

FMV-aside, the presentation graphics are stunning. Sure, the pictures have the same stretched feature as the FMV, but they're in hi-res, so that doesn't matter. Also, they use a massive amount of colours.

The start of the game introduces you to the Walk mode, where you are behind Edge. The controls are simple. The D-Pad lets Edge walk in that direction, while the B button allows him to run. Click A or C to use your sights, and click the either button on anything that you want to look at it, pick it up or eavesdrop on conversations. This is about 10% of the game in total and is mainly for selling and buying items with your money, talking to people for info and searching through houses and tents for items. Be warned - the plot develops most in these places. The graphics are excellent - brilliant light shading adds realism, and everything runs smoothly. In the camp sections, you get to create and maintain a relationship with your dragon, and his movement is really good. You can make out just about anything visually. Sometimes, cut-scenes are used in place of video, where 3D graphics are used to portray a conversation, and wile these sections are few and far between they are certainly good and quite funny in most examples. The best scenes would be when Edge talks to Paet. There is a really good feature where you can speed up or slow down the speech and hence the actions of the characters, just by pressing L or R.

The flight sections are where the major part of the game (60%) takes place. You're on the back of your dragon, and it is quite similar (in a way) to the walk sections. You explore the landscapes and access items using the same sights. These areas look absolutely spectacular, from the rugged mountains in the valley to the beautiful transparent rippling water areas of Canyon Deep Gulch and Uru. The effects seen are equally brilliant, from sky- bound electric sparks to transparent mist and cloud effects. You get a number of cut-scenes here too. The controls here are easy - hold B to fly, and A or C to access objects. Your dragon moves incredibly smoothly and the sense of vertigo is sensationally accurate. Also, if you press Start, there is an option to look at every enemy you've faced in the game, complete with the best rankings achieved, and data about them! You can even zoom in and rotate them.

The combat system is the best. You are instantly teleported to the action when your radar in flight mode goes red. It's turns-based, like normal RPGs, but with a difference. You have a three-part gauge that fills up when you are stationary, and when you have one gauge filled you can fire Edge's gun (great for exploiting weak spots of enemies) or the dragon's homing lasers (great for all-round damage but not so cool when individual targeting's required). You can also use any item that you have, from enhancing chips to healer spells and even portable explosives. Two or more gauges filled allows for usage of any berserker attacks that you may have. You get these as your dragon goes up in level, and once your dragon turns Valiant Wing, you can (at any time, or when you have one gauge filled in battle) morph your dragon's abilities to suit your needs! Three gauges allows for type-specific spells of no cost to berserker points which enhance your dragon (for example, an Attacking dragon can boost its laser power for that battle). The special effects seen on this mode are absolutely brilliant. Spinning blades, rainbow- coloured lasers, coloured spheres, lightning, multiple explosions, even a dragon that sports flame wings! Just brilliant. Controls are very simple - A to lock on with the gun, and A to fire, B to automatically fire homing missiles and C or Start for Options. Also, tactics have a big part in the game. Using left or right on the D-Pad, you can flank around your enemy to face its weak point or get to a safe area, just avoiding a potentially lethal attack. There's nothing more satisfying that using the Sniper customisation on your gun to take out the bosses via their weak points and watching them bite the dust spectacularly.

Sound-wise, this game is breathtaking. Using MIDI, the Saturn proves that there is little that CD can do that MIDI can't, and this also allows for extra CD space for other things like graphical effects and video scenes. Okay, some of the early music isn't too special, but the musical score for Uru, coupled with the wind buffeting that you receive at high altitude creates an unsurpassable atmosphere. And that's not all. The echo of the underground ruins is remarkable and the music is more urgent for the bosses. The sound effects are really sharp and fit in well.

The game is huge. So big, that it comes on four CDs. Don't expect to complete this in a hurry, although it isn't too difficult. The real test is beating all of the enemy types on the game with Excellent!! ratings, exploring every area, destroying at least one from every type of enemy, and wiping out all of the targets on the game. This will take even the best gamesplayers a long while. It's so good, you'll want to replay it. And for £39.99 (possibly about $40, despite exchange rates) there's no reason for not buying this. It's a classic, and while people will undoubtedly compare it to Final Fantasy VII on the Playstation, it is in a league of its own and in my eyes superior to THAT game. And what's more, the US version should be without the stretched video and picture quality that blighted the PAL version. The best Saturn game of 1998 so far and it's only April, but I can't see anything topping this.

Graphics: 97% Audio: 95% Originality: 65% Lastability: 94% Gameplay: 95%

Overall: 95% By Stephan Dolby (stephan_dolby@yahoo.com)