Fenrir: First Operation

Fenrir: First Operation Review by ZPE

Filesize: ~ 2 MB (unzipped)
PC Specs: CPU speed at 433 MHz and 256 MB RAM. There were moments where the game lagged especially in boss battles but it was still playable even at low specs.
RTP was pre-installed regardless if this needed it.
Play Time: Under one hour and a half (completed game).



Introduction

Fenrir: First Operation is the first part of the Fenrir series by Sam. It's a top-down shooter (read: Active Battle System) which is a break from the conventional RPGs that are released on this game engine. Most of these ABSs are flawed though but how does Fenrir: First Operation stand besides them?

Did You Know?

• The word Fenrir is derived from the huge wolf in Norse mythology who is said to be tied up until the end of time. What does it represent in this game?

Story

Much of the story is told as the game progresses and the jist of it is that scientists have been working on beasts (called Fenrir presumably) and something has gone terribly wrong. These creatures have turned on their creators and most of the ones that have escaped harm have gone insane. It's nothing new but I thought it was okay. The only problem was actually figuring out what was happening as the dialogue was very minimal and was often given in short bursts so you have to be very attentive to the game.

Gameplay

The game starts with you being lead by your captain on board a ship along side another character. A small tutorial stage explains the controls which is easy enough to follow. A strafe mode is included which helps a great deal in tight situations.

A HUD system is used to display your health and ammo which works flawlessly. In it's early development Fenrir: First Operation didn't have an ammo system but there's one included in this full game although I rarely ran out of ammo thanks to the abundance of checkpoints at the start of every map. These checkpoints were very helpful when I got careless.

Enemy AI is decent although very primitive and easy to exploit. The main enemies (bosses) are a little more intelligent and require you to take cover momentarily or shoot at the right time. Personally, some moments proved impossible to overcome while another try often resulted in an comfortable victory.

• Tip: When short of ammo or health just find a location where there's a lots of pick-ups like before boss battles then return to the previous room and more refills will be waiting for you!

Graphics

Nothing really looked out of place except for the fact that the graphics looked a little too cutesy for a game like Fenrir.

The graphics are taken from the Pokemon GBA games but used very nicely and the enemies are edited to make it merge in with the game's theme. The character you control is also is customized and looks like a soldier.

There are some mapping glitches where you can end up walking through the wall although nothing game-killing. In one area where you can only see yourself in a small circle, the HUD completely disappears.

Audio

The music sounds a little monotone. I thought it sounded similar to Theresia on the DS which shars a lot with this game's overall theme of disastrous experiments. However, it was hard to tell if it was ripped or original but it worked regardless and it was vague enough for me to take it as original music.

The sound effects of health replenishing and bullets firing didn't make my ears bleed and were tolerable.

Final Thoughts

Fenrir: First Operation leaves me wanting more, more story and character development that is. The ABS on the other hand works well so far but one has to wonder kind of new things Sam will introduce here, maybe grenades? Whatever he does I wholeheartedly recommend this game to others.