Level Up: Xena: Warrior Princess

Femme-month continues, and now I get to talk about my favorite fictional character: Xena: Warrior Princess. I may have just gotten into the series a couple of years ago, but I could go on and on about why I think Xena is amazing. From how skilled she is in fighting, to her constantly search for redemption, I just can’t get enough. In a time of ancient gods, warlords and kings, a land in turmoil cried out for a hero. She was Xena, a mighty princess forged in the heat of battle. The power, the passion, the danger… her courage will change the world… Ok, that might have been directly quoted from the show, but it doesn’t make it any less true.  Not wanting to contain her awesomeness to just TV, there was of course a video game based on the series. Let’s get right into Xena: Warrior Princess for the Sony PlayStation.

It’s worth noting that this video game was released in 1999, just a few episodes into season 5 (the second to last season).  I bring this up, because the story is played out more like an episode from the first or second season. I suppose that makes sense, as when people think of Xena in the mainstream, it’s probably those times they go to most, but I still find it kind of weird, and I’ll explain a bit more later.

The journey starts off with Xena and Gabrielle when they come across a town being attacked by pirates. Turns out this was a plot to distract Xena so a king named Valerian could kidnap Gabrielle. After the attack, Xena leaves to save her friend (… ok, soul mate) by following some clues. She then arrives at an island where she is greeted by a Cyclops. This pattern continues for a bit: Xena finds some clues to Gabrielle’s location, follows them, meets a monster and repeat. Eventually, Xena does rescue Gabrielle, only to promptly get kidnapped again just a few levels later.

Gabrielle’s role in this game is probably what bothers me the most about when this game was made. By the fifth season, Gabrielle was far beyond the helpless girl that needed constant saving as she’s portrayed in this game. I’m not even sure if she was ever this helpless, but by the 5^th season she was a warrior by her own right. Playing this now a day, it might be easier to mentally place this game as a first season filler, but I can’t help but sympathize with people who might have played this when it was new.

The game play is a pretty simple, early 3D hack and slash game, which is pretty much what you’d expect from the Warrior Princess (oh my god, a 2D Xena beat ‘em up platformer would be amazing: someone make that!). You (of course) play as Xena as you smack around opposing warriors, monsters and whatever comes your way. While the Sword is Xena’s main weapon in this game, the Chakram had to be an important element (beyond just being the art for the disk itself). You can actually control it’s direction which helps you solve some puzzles, beyond simply being a good range attack. There are also items to collect, such as scrolls for completion’s sake, defense and strength upgrades and temporary power items. All pretty standard stuff really.

But of course, as I said earlier, this feels like a very early 3D action game, so sometimes hitting your mark can be a little iffy. Hit detection isn’t what it should be, and mixing that with controls that aren’t great, fighting can be frustrating if you’re outnumbered or fighting a strong boss. What this game really would have needed was a targeting system, either an active one like Z targeting in Ocarina of Time, or an automatic one like in Batman Arkham Asylum. Considering this could be categorized as an action-adventure game, the action part of it is not really up to standards.

Xena: Warrior Princess is almost what I expected, but definitely not what I had hoped. I know that it’s my favorite show and that my hopes would have been a bit too high, but still this game comes in as average at best. The game play is clunky and the story is cliché, not reflecting what Xena was actually doing at the time of its release. However, it does have its positive points; the levels are diverse and fun to travel across, and some of the puzzles are neat (though they may be simple, they still fit well in the game). Really, I think, other than the story, this game’s main problem is the limitations of when it was released, as I’m pretty sure you can find a lot of similar “clunky” combat games from that time. For how awkward it feels though, it’s still very playable. I give Xena: Warrior Princess for the PlayStation 7 levels out of 10.