"One" for Playstation

[mbd30]

I've been curious about this game for years. So I finally bought it yesterday for around $5 at a used games store. I ripped it to the hard drive and I've been playing it with epsxe.

 

GOOD GRIEF, this game is HARD. The level one boss is as far as I've gotten. The controls aren't too bad, but the game has so much platform hopping and it's real easy to screw up and die. It's frustrating but also kind of addictive.

 

Nice graphics for 1997. Besides for the usual blockiness they're still somewhat attractive today and would have made a great PS tech demo back at the time. They probably look even better on an old tube TV rather than stretched to fit an LCD display.

 

Interestingly there is an option to calibrate your analog stick. I'm not sure how much difference it makes but I've been doing it every time.

[mbd30]

Finally beat the first level!

 

The second level is where the game really starts to show its stuff.

[Austin]

I just bought this at a local shop about an hour ago because reading this thread. I never heard very good things about it, but I like another game by ASC Games--Mass Destruction for the Sega Saturn. Plus it didn't hurt the bank too much, being just under $4 or so, CIB. I will load it up later tonight and post my thoughts as well.

[mbd30]

I just bought this at a local shop about an hour ago because reading this thread. I never heard very good things about it, but I like another game by ASC Games--Mass Destruction for the Sega Saturn. Plus it didn't hurt the bank too much, being just under $4 or so, CIB. I will load it up later tonight and post my thoughts as well.

 

The Video Game Critic graded it 'B-'. It's a good action game hampered by some control issues. http://videogamecritic.net/ps1op.htm#One

 

Here are a couple things you should know right from the start. You can flip-jump by pressing 'X' twice. This makes the platform jumping a little easier. Blow everything up that you can. Destroying things replenishes and adds to your life meter, and makes your dude more powerful.

 

You should read the instruction manual or faq and familiarize yourself with the controls because all of your moves come in handy.

 

Tip for the first boss: You have to hop the platforms all the way up to the top before you can destroy it. You can't shoot at it directly. If you can tough out the first level, the game becomes much more interesting.

[Austin]

All right, I just gave it about a half an hour's worth of play.

 

For the price it costs, I think it's all right. Graphics are about average for the time. The gameplay works and wasn't tough for me to get used to (strafing attacks, double jumping, the health/firepower system). My biggest issue is the inconsistency with slowdown (sometimes it's smooth, sometimes it's a few frames a second), as well as the iffy camera angles and platforming. For the most part I didn't have any issues, but the part pictured below was a pain in the ass. Either the platforms should have been larger, or the camera should have switched to a top-down perspective. I must have died at least seven or eight times there (got a game over once, which set me back to the very beginning, ugh). I think this game could have also benefit from having a rocking soundtrack as well, versus the "epic" movie-like feel it went for.

 

I don't know if I will play it again any time soon (lost interest by the time I got to the airship part of the second stage), but it's not bad. I don't regret buying it. Thanks for talking about it, because I probably never would have played it otherwise.

 

Edited November 26, 2012 by Austin

[mbd30]

Heh. I just got past that horrific platform section that you mentioned, and then I only had one more life! It sucks that you return to the very beginning of the stage when continuing.

 

The game kind of reminds me of a cross between 3D "Contra" and "God of War" (similar to GoW in that the protagonist is a raging badass who lays waste to everything around him). I like the visual style, the challenge, and the destructibility of the terrain... how you can blow everything up. Unfortunately it needed more development time. With some more tweaking of the controls, better camera angles and more forgiving platforming it could have been really great. I understand why most players would give up in frustration as soon as they died for the umpteenth time due to the lousy camera.

[shadow460]

A friend of mine got One in late 1997. He was always talking good about that game. I just never had the urge to pick it up. If it's a difficult platformer, I'll probably leave it alone.

[Austin]

A friend of mine got One in late 1997. He was always talking good about that game. I just never had the urge to pick it up. If it's a difficult platformer, I'll probably leave it alone.

 

From what I played so far, I personally don't think it's very difficult asides from that one platforming section I mentioned. There's a lock-on feature that makes hitting enemies easy, and as long as you are destroying enemies without getting hit too much, your health is constantly regenerating (it comes back by destroying enemies and objects).

 

My main issue is that it just got kind of boring. It does have memory card saving though, so maybe I need to play it in short bursts.

[mbd30]

From what I played so far, I personally don't think it's very difficult asides from that one platforming section I mentioned. There's a lock-on feature that makes hitting enemies easy, and as long as you are destroying enemies without getting hit too much, your health is constantly regenerating (it comes back by destroying enemies and objects).

 

My main issue is that it just got kind of boring. It does have memory card saving though, so maybe I need to play it in short bursts.

 

What kept killing me was navigating the platforms at the end of the first stage. I kept missing a jump or falling off. But I've been playing it on the PC with emulator. I haven't tried it on the console. The controls might not be as good with my Logitech pad.