Panzer Dragoon Orta

By Tom Bramwell Published 15 October, 2002

First Look - mystical wars, dragons and oddly named young girls - Sega at their best!

Thousands of years after the fall of the ancient civilisation the world is a cruel and unpleasant place, and the few remaining human tribes live in fear of biogenetic terrors - powerful artefacts born out of blasphemy. In the midst of the battle for precious water resources, the Empire discovers a factory in the ruins of the Old Century and manages to shape its own organic weapon - the Dragon. The key to restoring peace to this distorted world is a young girl held captive under ball and chain.

Her name is Orta

'Panzer Dragoon Orta' Screenshot oct022b

Tonight at nine: When Dragons Attack!

Panzer Dragoon Orta is the latest game in a series which has grown in infamy since its release on the Saturn way-back-when. Its exclusivity on Xbox will be enough to sell thousands of the consoles to hardcore gamers bent on playing the latest instalment, and in its own right it looks and sounds like a fantastic game.

Each of the game's 10 stages will be tied together by sumptuously detailed cut-scenes, and will feature a climactic boss encounter. This is of course preceded by lots of fast-paced dogfighting with other sky-dwellers. Orta's dragon companion will be able to take different paths depending on timing as well as observation - a bit of speed at the time will see the pair swoop through a crumbling rock pass, whereas failure to make it in time will seal that door shut and leave Orta looking for another way past.

The dragon's weapons are varied and perhaps a little obscure. The main weapon is a lock-on laser which is fired from the mouth and can hit multiple targets. This weapon powers up as the dragon morphs. As there are three stages of metamorphosis, which sees the dragon upgraded for certain situations, so too there are three specific levels to the lock-on laser. The second stage increases its accuracy and inflicts more damage, whilst the highest dispenses with the laser and has the dragon steal hit points from enemies and unleash a berserker attack with immense destructive power. Furthermore, Orta herself, perched atop the winged beast, can unleash attacks using whatever weapons she happens to have handy. This manual shooting is supposed to be a fair bit more accurate than the dragon's own attacks.

Graphically, Panzer Dragoon Orta is clearly going to wow a lot of people. The screenshots and footage released so far top almost anything so far shown on the Xbox, and if Sega can pull off the level of detail they're promoting, and couple it with a compelling enough adventure, Panzer Dragoon Orta could be one of the biggest and most successful Xbox titles since Halo.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (32) Latest comment 9 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Tiitiz #1 9 years ago

    /me drools into a puddle

  • AOFanboi #2 9 years ago

    Must... resist... urge... to... buy... large... console...

    Wait a minute: If I buy an XBox and this game, that means Microsoft lose money and SEGA make money? That would be a very nice reason.

  • Xensor #3 9 years ago

    Here in a nutshell is one of the major problems with the Xbox - the lack of a true AAA killer app, exclusively released on Xbox. The PS2 has GT3 & MSG2. The Gamecube has SMB & SMS. Halo would fit the bill, if it wasnt going to come out on PC. And frankly i'd prefer the PC version - higher resolution graphics, much easier control system, no doubt net multiplay ready out the box.

    So is this game - which smacks of 21st century space harrier - the killer app the Xbox needs to woo john the plumber from leeds away from the PS2 herd? In a word, no. It looks very good indeed, and probably plays quite well to, but i get the feeling this game will preach to the converted, rather than sway the undecided. I hate to say it, but a big brand football title, Fifa 2002 or PSE2 would probably sell a shitload more consoles than PDO and a price cut ever will.

    Even tho i am a stauch supporter of the PS2 and would rather burn in hell than buy a M$ labelled product, then endless price cuts are starting to pique my curiosity, over and above the Gamecube. If I can pick one up, with the new controller S, and a couple of games for around £150, i might just bite. Maybe. But i need to see that must have, killer app.

  • sam_spade #4 9 years ago

    me follow molineux projects wherever they go hehe.. BC and FABLE anyone/

    Molineux's projects are great but they are short-lived. B&W, Dungeon Keeper, Populous are all great games initially but after you scrape back the surface of technological advancement there's a big satisfaction sized hole underneath.

  • otto #5 9 years ago

    Ah now come on, Dungeon Keeper was great!

  • brutal #6 9 years ago

    "MGS2 PS2 exclusive is it! "

    so what?? it was a rubbish b movie with playable sequences!!!

  • Xensor #7 9 years ago

    Where do it start????

    Gran Turismo will never leave Sony consoles, ever. Certainly not to PC. MGS2, is and probably will always be PS2 exclusive. The Substance update is just that - an update. Same with JSRF - an update of the dreamcast game. Amped?!?! a triple A killer app? purleeessse! SSX Tricky bitch-slapped it all over the slopes. Project Gotham? Good but no GT3 beater. Rallisport? Not exclusive anymore. And brutal one mans champagne is another mans pisswater.

    B4 i get flamed for the next year, let me say that i know full well the litany of shit that is released each year for the sony slab. The latest dross is that stitch experiment rubbish. Fukin PS1 game on the PS2. Embarassingly poor. But lovem or loathem, Sony's methods do mean more quality software is likely, even tho much more crap is also a result.

    Look people, i aint tryin to slam anything, i'm just callin it how i see it. and what i see is a lack of truly triple a, 100% xbox specific killer apps, specifically designed to woo johnny punter away from the PS2 and Gamecube. As i said, preaching to the converted, not the undecided.

    edit - layout
    Edited by 1 at 15/10/02 @ 16:19

  • Xensor #8 9 years ago

    Why cant you grasp the fact that i'm looking at this from the viewpoint of average everyday johnny the plumber from leeds? Its coming up to chrimbo, his kids have been bugging him about a new console so he has a decision to make...

    You put the PS2/Tricky and Xbox/Amped side by side, let him loose for 5 mins on each, which one is more likely to get a sale? Amped may look a little better. But Tricky is a whole lot flashier. Amped probably has more refined controls, with more scope for nuances, but it takes a little while to get into the flow. Tricky's controls are straightforward, easy to get to grips with, and the on screen results much more immediately gratifying.

    The bottom line is, both games are good in their own right, but Tricky is much closer to the definition of a killer app, i.e. a title guaranteed to shift consoles to you're average punter.

  • BartonFink #9 9 years ago

    Xensor - Tricky is also on the xbox
    Comparing the two Tricky definately would come out tops.
    Edited by 1 at 15/10/02 @ 18:08

  • eviltobz #10 9 years ago

    Best next to halo Mugwum!!!!!!

    so thats a 7 / 10 then :)

  • brutal #11 9 years ago

    "And brutal one mans champagne is another mans pisswater. "

    would you like to drink some champagne??? *hands you a glass.....*

  • #12 9 years ago

    jimbo: if you look from gamerankings.com Gunvalkyrie has gotten low scores from many other reviewers as well:
    http://ga merankings.com/htmlpages4/4986.asp

  • Bill Gates is Evil #13 9 years ago

    duc, you are obsessed with those gamerankings. give it up.

    microsoft will eventually own your soul, too.

  • #14 9 years ago

    Right. Like they own Linux now obviously.

  • reto #15 9 years ago

    Is this game the same as the original panzer dragoon on the saturn but with prettier graphics?
    If so Im not really interested, didnt like it the first time, Im not going to like it with nicer graphics.

  • #16 9 years ago

    reto: yeah, seems to be pretty much the same thing.

  • beep #17 9 years ago

    On the mention of Peter Molyneux, I would have to admit that I have spent more time reading about his games than actually playing them.

  • #18 9 years ago

    The first Populous was pretty good at the time... but Powermonger was weak, and Black and White got boring quickly.

  • binky #19 9 years ago

    well xensor, i was listening to your argument until...

    Even tho i am a stauch supporter of the PS2 and would rather burn in hell than buy a M$ labelled product,

    oh well.

    Ive just got my saturn back from my brother so may well dig out my old copy of Panzer Dragoon Zwei and see if its as fun as everyone said it was. must admit, i bought that one on hype and never got real far in it. the new game does look good tho.

    ooh ooohh (seen as we are in a SEGA mood) I also put SHENMUE back in my DC last night for the first time in a year says the save game, and i think i may well have gotten past the ANNOYING AS FOOK fork lift truck bit. So boring that it stopped me playing the game for a whole year (and i was REALLY enjoying it up until then) I have just got back home and had an evil phone call saying that my birds been kidnapped. cant wait to get home and have another go :D
    Edited by 1 at 16/10/02 @ 10:07

  • otto #20 9 years ago

    I have just got back home and had an evil phone call saying that my birds been kidnapped

    Sorry to hear that binky, let us know if you need a whip round for the ransom. :)

  • binky #21 9 years ago

    /me spies a moneymaking opportunity...

    Yes Please Mr Otto, as long as when u say "whipround" u mean collection and NOT some kind of spanking ritual ??

  • Machiavel #22 9 years ago

    Ah, SHENMUE. Keep perserving Binky.

    That reminds me - I was always convinced I was missing something in SHENMUE 2 where you meet a fellow Japanese student in a convenience store in a city. She seemed particularly 'friendly' and I moved on to Kowloon convinced I'd missed some amorous sub-plot relation.

    Well, I read somewhere that if you play through Shenmue II using your completed Shenmue savefile you have the opportunity to further your relationship with this cutie - although (SPOILER) allegedly she turns out to be a kick-ass karate champion and knocks the stuffing out of you - (END SPOILER) but then what do you look for in a relationship?

    Ah, fond memories.

  • #23 9 years ago

    Damn, I used Shenmue I save file but I never got anywhere with her :(

  • binky #24 9 years ago

    shall i buy shenmue 2 for Dreamcast or do u think the XBX version will be any better??

  • #25 9 years ago

    Xbox version will be dubbed in English, I'd get the DC version with the original voices.
    Edited by 1 at 16/10/02 @ 13:30

  • binky #26 9 years ago

    i actually didnt mind the voice acting in the first one tbh. saved me reading everything really.

    simplygames. are the only people i can see that have a copy of shenmue2. for 26 quid. Can anyone beat that?

  • #27 9 years ago

    I didn't mind either... until I heard the real voices :-)

  • DaM #28 9 years ago

    Good to see I'm not the only person still on the fork lift truck bit that I got to years ago.... Do you have to do anything, or just work really hard..? I've been at it so long I get disappointed that they haven't changed the arcade machines in the cafe...

  • Machiavel #29 9 years ago

    I'd vote for the Japanese voices as well - far more atmospheric (hello comedy crate carrier!).

    And believe me, you don't really want to wait for the Xbox version (though it'd be nice if it was here). Shenmue 2 kicks off apace and you instantly feel it's shed most of the problems of the first one (hello young kitten symbolisms).

    Though shorter loading screens would be nice...

  • DaM #30 9 years ago

    Does Tom (?the Japanese rasta guy)go with you in the 2nd game?! To think someone got paid for that!

    (I actually have it, just never played it, as I am wanting to finish the 1st one)

  • DaM #31 9 years ago

    Was that kitten business supposed to gain you anything (apart from a warm glow at having saved a eh, digital kitten, and the thanks of a small child (who didn't even introduce me to her big sister).

  • Machiavel #32 9 years ago

    No Tom (thank goodness) but loads of disturbingly attractive women whom you can spend countless hours locking onto and following like a virtual stalker. Gulp.

    As for the crates, with you all the way. Treat it like a real job - putter around in last place in the morning races and do the minimum of crate work. Usually an event happens in the lunchbreak and after work.

    Oh, and look out for the old man on your way home...

  • binky #33 9 years ago

    so before i spend money on the second game can some1 plz confirm....

    a) is the bit i mentioned before (the phone call about the girl) the end of the annoying crate lifting ??
    and
    b) am i anywhere near the end ?

    appreciate it..

  • Machiavel #34 9 years ago

    You're right before a Super Hang-On type motorbike sequence. No more crate lifting.

    And you're REALLY near the end...

  • binky #35 9 years ago

    hhmm looks like i may have to order the new one next week then :)

  • #36 9 years ago

    The DVD video is really just cutscenes from the first Shenmue, and the Xbox Shenmue II graphics are hardly improved at all. I think they will add some more capsule toys to the game. But you can't use Shenmue I save file with the Xbox version, and I'd say the original voice acting is a lot more important than all those. Not to mention it probably won't be released in Europe anyways.

  • #37 9 years ago

    They erased it from their web site:
    http://www.xbox.com/uk/Games/catalog.htm?genre=adventure
    And they didn't mention it in X02. So it seems that they are not going to release it outside US.

  • beep #38 9 years ago

    Does everyone know about the Shenmue forklift bug? I remember getting absolutely stuck on the forklift segment for AGES, so much so I had determined it had to be a bug in the game, and sure enough it was (although calling it a bug may be debatable). What happens is this: If you happen to drive your forklift in the opposite direction according to the map diagram, the game will not trigger the necessary event to get you the hell off the forklift segment, and you will be caught in an infinite loop. So, anyone who gave up Shenmue after getting stuck on the forklift bit, take note!!!

  • DaM #39 9 years ago

    Thanks beep, I might try that! I'm left handed, so probably go the wrong direction as my brain is wired back to front..... I think my copy is the "65" version, where you have to work till you retire, and then take over at the Dojo......

  • binky #40 9 years ago

    well i got past the forklift bit at last. and i let a massice cheer when i got fired LMAO!!

  • Machiavel #41 9 years ago

    All this talk of Shenmue has made me dust off my Dreamcast and continue Shenmue II, after originally getting bored fighting all and sundry in Kowloon.

    Well, it builds to a good climax on Disk 3 and apart from one or two hella-irritating QTEs at the end of seriously tough fights, I enjoyed it.

    Well I'm at the start of the (reputedly short) Disk 4. Time to admire the scenery. (There'd better not be any long planks atop those mountains...)