DISPLAYING TACTICS; Superb strategy but drab screens Scott Munro's games round up SOUL NOMAD *** PS2.

Byline: Scott Munro

NIPPON Ichi's Disgaea and its sequel introduced many people to the strategy RPG genre and both are now widely regarded as PS2 classics.

But the Japanese company are always looking to expand on their whacky ideas, and their latest title doesn't disappoint.

With Soul Nomad, Nippon Ichi  have taken elements from Disgaea and added a dash of Nintendo's Advance Wars to create something different, albeit with mixed results.

The story focuses on events from the past, when three giant World Eaters, led by a dark and mysterious figure, almost destroyed your world.

Fortunately, these behemoths were stopped in their tracks when their leader was imprisoned by the forces of good in a black onyx sword.

Now that your character has come of age, it has been decided your soul is to be fused with the soul of this dark being, in the hope that a mixture of good and evil will finally destroy the remaining World Eaters.

The game is, once again, strictly turn-based. But rather than the pleasing isometric view from their previous titles, Nippon Ichi have resorted to a flattened view.

As a result of this aesthetic change, the game loses quite a bit of the charm that made their other titles so memorable.

In fact, there is a lack of charm throughout.

Menu screens are drab and extremely basic, with only the battle scenes offering a splash of vibrancy and colour.

Thankfully, gameplay isn't as bland and Soul Nomad turns out to be an absorbing and deeply tactical experience.

Each character represents a battle squad, made up of more than one character. Each squad can be tinkered with, and you can arrange party members into slots, such as front, middle or back. In battle, you don't directly issue orders to these team members. The game decides on what attacks to use instead.

While this is initially jarring, it works quite well in the heat of battle.

The real challenge is figuring out where to place each team member for maximum advantage. Add in the ability to create new teams, characters and special moves, and Soul Nomad reveals itself to be far more complex than you imagined.

The voice acting in Nippon Ichi's games is always pretty well done and, for the most part, Soul Nomad continues this tradition. But some of the voice acting is irritating.

If it all gets too much for your ears, you can replace the yapping with the original Japanese dialogue or just turn the voices off.

Strategy game enthusiasts will definitely get their money's worth from Soul Nomad.

Those who have yet to sample the delights of a SRPG are advised to start their quest elsewhere, as Soul Nomad's complex tactics, lack of explanations and bland visuals could put people off the genre in general.

It is something of a miracle that Soul Nomad has been released in the UK, as it is definitely a niche title.

But again kudos goes to publisher Koei for having the confidence to put it out over here.

With no word yet of a UK release for the fabulous looking Disgaea 3 on PS3, Soul Nomad should keep you ticking over nicely until that announcement is made.

CAPTION(S):

BRIGHT IDEA: Only battle scenes have a splash of colour