Good
Resurrection is an eccentric, whimsical adventure, sprinkled with subtle elements of dark humor. The story focuses on a legendary hero by the name of Sir Daniel Fortesque -- a knight who courageously died in battle while defending his village from the evil sorcerer, Zarok. Well, as it turns out, that story only was half right. You see, Sir Daniel was quite the coward, and Zarok's defeat was not by his own hand. Forced into battle, Dan ended up being the first casualty of war -- suffering an untimely death from a wave of stray arrows. Meanwhile, Zarok was chased away from Gallowmere (crushed ego and all), and vowed to return and finish what he started.
Apparently, he needed a 1,000 years to fulfill that promise. Using his black magic, Zarok cast a dreadful spell that eternally turns daylight into night, followed by a massive revival of the undead army that he would lead to conquer all of Gallowmere. Little did Zarok realize that his antics inadvertently resurrected a certain someone who now had a chance to redeem himself. Yes, that would be Sir Daniel, who now was nothing more than a skeleton of his former self, but "alive" nevertheless. With the odds weighed heavily against him, Dan partners with a sidekick (Al-Zalam), who claims to be a powerful genie -- or is he? And so the adventure begins as this uncanny duo set out on a perilous quest to rewrite history and restore Gallowmere to its former glory.
Like its console brethren, Resurrection draws its influences from Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas. The levels have a haunting beauty about them, complimented by ambient, chilling tones that sound like something out of the aforementioned film. Dan, who could easily pass for a long-lost descendant of Jack Skellington, is a fairly likeable character. Often you'll find he's the subject of ridicule from his allies on account of his cowardly nature and the absence of his lower jaw. Overall, the dialogue is heavy on the stereotypical accent, among other British nuances which should come as no surprise to players seeing as the game was designed by a British development team. It's safe to say that if you've loved any show from the UK (Dangermouse, Monty Python), Resurrection is bound to evoke a laugh or two.
Jumping into the game is really easy, thanks to a series of tutorials offered in the "training area." Compared to the original, the combat engine has been greatly expanded, allowing players to unleash a series of attacks designed to break up the conventional button-mashing concept. Dan's attacks are aided by targeting sprites, a concept that reminded me a lot of the combat aspect of Mark of Kri -- only, it doesn't feel quite as effective here. Often I felt as if the sprites were neither helpful or necessary, since the game lacks a "lock-on" feature as seen in The Wind Waker.
Thankfully, Dan is now equipped with a greater variety of moves, 200 in total. While I applaud the fact developers have endeavored to offer more diversity to the combat engine, I seriously doubt the average player will go out of their way to either use or memorize all the available moves. In fact, a lot of Dan's more advanced moves merely look like variations of his more basic moves, which I've found to be just as effective. In addition, Dan can also take advantage of a variety of weapons (20 in total) ranging from wooden swords, crossbows, and clubs.
