‘Patapon 3’
Marching to the beat of a different drummer
(E) ***
Sony Computer Entertainment
PlayStation Portable
Those familiar with the rhythm-based, real-time strategy combat of the first
two “Patapon” games are going to notice very quickly that “Patapon
3” marches to the beat of a different drummer. Previously, you played
the part of Patapon god, issuing commands to your large army of eyeball-shaped
warriors by tapping out a sequence of beats on four holy drums, mapped to the
face buttons. While you still give orders via percussion, you’ve been
demoted from deity to superhero, with a single, over-powered Patapon warrior
as your avatar. Similarly downgraded is your army, which has been whittled
down to a squad of four (plus your essentially useless flag-bearer). You might
think that these subtractions would simplify things, but you’d be wrong.
Initially, your primary warrior will have no problem single-handedly plowing
through enemies with his progressively more ridiculously large weapons, and
he’ll earn plenty of traditional experience points along the way (a
new addition to the series). You’ll completely forget about your three
back-up singers, all of whom can we swapped out for different classes, skills
and equipment. But then you’ll come upon a boss whose only weakness
is a specific class, a specific skill and a specific piece of equipment — all
of which you’ve neglected to level up while your one-man army was stealing
the show. Thus, the grinding begins. The 2D art style is prettier than ever,
and the drumbeat game play still feels fresh, so it’s a shame that “Patapon
3” is so determined to eventually scare off all new players, while
appealing to only the most masochistic veterans. CV
