"Does this gun go with these stripes?" The Fifth Element (1997)...
Adapted from Luc Besson's $90 million sci-fi extravaganza, this week's Game On travels to the farthest reaches of the galaxy for a whirl on what Gamespot critic Lauren Fielder branded as "... the worst game I've ever played." Ouch! Not that this series has established a pattern of success for tie-ins, but can The Fifth Element really be that bad?! Let's find out...
Inspired by the illustrations of Jean Giraud and Jean-Claude Mézières, Luc Besson's The Fifth Element opened to a bewildered Cannes crowd on May 7th, 1997, winning unified critical acclaim for its stylish imagining of New York City, 2257. Moebius creator Giraud received the sole credit for 'design', but Mézières - who felt his iconic '71 strip 'L'Empire des Mille Planète' had been shamelessly plagiarized by Star Wars (Lucas, 1977) - was the primary creative force behind the film's towering sets, which were built at London's Pinewood Studios. The Parisian artist had every right to be mad at the film industry, and no doubt he envisioned The Fifth Element as his score-settler - the opportunity to create a unique futureworld which would rival Lucas' megabucks franchise. Mézières' lavish interiors - beautifully captured by DP Thierry Arbogast - are the undoubtable highlight of Besson's high-octane spectacle, and they ought to have earned him an Oscar nomination (it remains unknown why he was discredited). The film boasts fantastic performances by Bruce Willis and Gary Oldman - the latter draped in a gushing haute couture cape, appearing like he just stumbled out of a 23rd Century Ramrod - but the real standout is Milla Jovovich, an actress with enviable screen presence whose dedicated turn here is a career best. By the end of shooting she could hold entire conversations in the Divine Language, and the naturalism with which she speaks it convinces us that it's her native tongue. Featuring costumes by Jean Paul Gaultier and an echoing soundscape courtesy of Eric Serra, The Fifth Element is an astonishing sci-fi fit for exhibition in the Louvre. So, will it have to dust this tie-in under the proverbial rug?
The cover art for Kalisto Entertainment's PS1 tie-in, The Fifth Element...
Actually, I was pleasantly surprised by this title. Sure, it's not going to bring home any awards for innovation, and I certainly wouldn't recommend it past a rental, but The Fifth Element is nowhere close to being the worst game ever made. As far as movie tie-ins go it's actually pretty good, albeit heavily reliant on formula. Each mission is preceded by a cut-scene to inform us of the plot point we'll be following, and Kalisto have taken the cop-out route here by using film footage rather than building their own cutscenes (this even pissed me off as a kid). Anyhow, the game's 20 missions loosely chart the main arc of Besson's source, obviously taking liberty with sub-plots in order to expand and deepen the gameplay experience. You'll start the game as Korben (looking at the blob of pixels on display I can't be sure that the rights to Willis' features were secured), and your objective is to blast through a nuclear research facility in search of Leeloo. The graphics are immediately unfriendly, with blocky, one-tone exteriors only unfurling inch by inch before you, making it particularly hard to anticipate jumps and enemies. The non-analogue controls mean that your lack of anticipation is married with jerky character control, and if it weren't for the deeply linear structure this might have become infuriating. Actually, a cooperative camera means that you won't die as often as initially expected.
The game also establishes a pretty furious pace in its opening mission, rushing us from rocky rooftops to the facility's labyrinthe networks (protected by laser barriers and hazmat-wearing goons) within minutes. The game's most damning issue becomes apparent early on - Korben's aim feature, or lack of one thereof. Credit to Lauren Fielder here, because this might be the worst targeting system I've ever seen. You'll have to get within centimeters of an enemy to become effective, and the lack of an on-screen reticule means that you'll even struggle to land a hit at close range. Holding ten flimsy rounds, your basic pistol appears to be half filled with duds, because the enemies take an absolute age to die, even when you're standing on top of them. Of course, the close-quarters proximity also opens you up to attack, and Korben's health (shields are practically useless) will drain after three successful strikes. Did I mention that Zorg's thugs can shoot through walls? Just as well too, because their A.I. is shockingly bad, even for a PS1 title. To the game's credit, the level structure is precisely measured and quite spacious, so you can use the R1/L1 buttons to dodge all major attacks, and you'll soon slip into a pretty fun rhythm. The gameplay style is very similar to that of Roswell Conspiracies, but the environments are much brighter and cleaner here, and allow for less glitching.
You should be able to clock each mission in about 15 minutes, and there's plenty of variety to ensure that they never become a chore. The two playable characters control in markedly different ways, with Leeloo's movement feeling much lighter and more responsive - she runs faster, climbs ceilings and can use effective melee attacks to take down enemies (the second mission introduces police bots, by far the game's most annoying opponent). I was pleased to learn that checkpoints are frequently activated throughout the game, and enemies won't respawn once you've dispatched them in the initial run, so navigating your way to the end-goal is never dull. Add into this a healthy number of lives, atmospheric music and plenty of explosions (still not sure about the Carnage-like aliens), and you've got an effective little tie-in, perfect for whiling away a few hours. The only trick they missed was not including Zorg's ZF-1 (top picture), which includes rapid-fire rounds, rockets, net, flamethrower and ice options. Come to think of it, can you imagine that kind of weaponry in a multiplayer mode...
Game On will now be a fortnightly feature, and the next entry will be PS1 Disney tie-in, The Emperor's New Groove...
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