Shipwreckers! (PSOne Review)

Always a bridesmaid, never a bride. That's what I always think of whenever I see that little Psygnosis symbol down on the bottom of a CD case. It always seemed that whatever they created, it was just "this close" to being a monster game. I always thought of them as the "little company that almost could." Unbeknownst to me at the time, they were one of Sony's in-house development companies acquired in 1993 before the Japanese launch of the original PlayStation.

For those familiar with the early days of the original PlayStation, there should be a plethora of known Psygnosis titles rolling off of your tongue. Colony Wars, Destruction Derby, Formula 1 and WipeOut are probably their best known titles with a multitude of lesser-known cult classics hiding in the shadows (Discworld anyone?). No matter how good these titles were, there just seemed to be a little something missing from each one to vault them into my favorites list. Nevertheless, I could always feel safe in knowing that seeing the Psygnosis label meant that there were some good times a'waiting to be played. So now, let's step away from the mainstream and lean more towards the cult classic flavor and check out one of Psygnosis' lesser known titles, Shipwreckers!

Most people would think that pirates and video games would go together like peanut butter and jelly. Nevertheless, nothing could be further from the truth. Really, one should expect to see pirate game after pirate game in one of the most bloated genre-exploiting explosions rather than the bare handful of titles spanning three separate console generations. If you take away the expected Pirates of the Caribbean tie-ins, you probably could have the rest of the genre counted out on one hand. Luckily, Psygnosis wasn't afraid to break from the crowd and bring us some Yo-Ho-Ho goodness.

Shipwreckers! gives players a top-down view of the Seven Seas with some of the best water effects available on the PSOne. However, players are not given full polygonal goodness as the whole game, minus the cut-scenes, are done via pixels. Although back in the 90s this might have been a negative, for today's gamers this is a refreshing trip down memory lane and gives the title a feeling of nostalgia. Nevertheless, this title doesn't offer much extra in the eyecandy department, even though the graphics are all clear, have no pop-in or ghosting at any time. There also are no in-game hesitations to distract you from hitting a target at the exact moment that you need to sink an opponent. Everything is pre-loaded before anything is accessible, which does create some rather extensive loading times, especially in this day and age of streaming.

Gamers are given plenty of depth with 20 different levels to play and three difficulty levels to play them at. For most of the levels, you simply have to find the assorted treasure chests, take over the seaside towns and obliterate the competition. Each of the end world levels pits your ship up against a big boss where quarters are close and the strength of the boss is intense. Level design is rather inventive. Hidden sections are scattered across the worlds. Some of which have to be blasted open, others are simply hiding behind waterfalls. All these hidden sections become more easily findable as you acquire floating map sections scattered throughout the level in the form of little green bottles. Players can also pick up additional weapons, ammunition and health floating in the water. Moreover, when you capture a town, usually a plethora of extra pick-ups appear to assist in your endeavors. More importantly, these captured towns work as checkpoints, so you aren't forced to start completely over when your ship gets inevitably sunk.

Over time, you ship's weaponry does increase in power and range, making things a bit easier to lay to and blow up structures from a distance. Players are also graced with weapons besides the everyday cannonball. Flaming oil slicks, MX missiles, depth charges, floating mines, flame-throwers and even Tesla-like electric weaponry all can be acquired and leveled-up while you sail the seven seas. This does give extreme flexibility for individuals to use whatever methods they find best to proceed through the story level. Perhaps using the broadsides multi-cannonball shot for taking out the competition is too difficult for you? Well, you do have the option for firing single shots from the bow or drop mines from the rear instead of trying to get yourself parallel to the quick moving targets. As the levels progress, your arsenal also grows to allow you to pack a punch big enough to take down anything you might come across.  

On the other hand, Shipwreckers! just doesn't stand pat with the regular enemies. As your ammo and weapons increase, newer and more challenging enemies make themselves known in the most rudest fashion. Regular sailing ships now pack flaming ammunition, bomb dropping birds appear along with crew-napping UFO's to keep things hopping. Mantas and baby sea monsters attack you from under the waves while airships attempt to drop explosives onto your deck. Although enjoyable at the beginning, as the levels progress things do start to get a bit repetitive, even with the introduction of more exotic weaponry that your ship can weld. Nevertheless, this game keeps you on your toes and doesn't give one inch unless you can take it.

If you are expecting a simple run to the end, you are going to be sorely disappointed. Even on the easiest difficulty setting, this game is no cakewalk. Players only have three ships to start, while additional ones can be acquired during gameplay, that's all you get to make it thru the 20 levels. This can up the frustration factor excessively, especially when you are down to your last ship and are up against one of the many boss battles. However before you get to the point where controllers are in jeopardy of being destroyed, there is a password access to use via cheat codes to sidestep the down to one ship frustration, if you are willing to compromise your gaming integrity. Shipwreckers! also does have memory card support, so you do have the ability to save your progress once you complete a level. Nevertheless, you'll start to hate that parrot sitting on the lit bomb loading screen after watching it for the umpteenth time when you keep losing your last ship over and over again.

However if you get bored sailing the seven seas by yourself, you can break out the multitap and have a 5 player free-for-all in the multiplayer part of the game. The multiplayer can go as far as 9 rounds of either timed or untimed action. Also, you can choose whether the health of the ships recharge at the end of the round or damage carries over in a survival mode. Players also have ten different arenas to choose from for their multi-ship action. This alone is worth the price of admission, as there really are very few good multiplayer games where players don't need to have an excess of experience to have a good time with their friends.

When you are looking for an example on how to do controls for a game correctly, you can use Shipwreckers! as the number one example.  To begin with, the default controller layout seems pretty much natural for anyone's preferences. Nevertheless, if there is something that you don't like, there's no need to fear because the entire button configuration can be customized to however you like it. The only downfall of the game is that it was designed before the DualShock came out, so the thumbsticks are not utilized. Besides that, this is exactly how all games should be done. Letting the consumer decide what works best for them without having to memorize some unnatural button layout when it's just as easy to let the user program their likes into the game. Surprisingly, this is not common practice two generations later and it's still only rarely done in games today.

The audio section of Shipwreckers! is also just as impressive, especially when you take its release date into consideration. Not only do you have the standard mono or stereo selections, there also is a Dolby sound option, the beginnings of what would eventually become surround sound. Moreover, you have the tuning option for the individually tweaking the BGM (BackGround Music) and the game's sound effects to your personal tastes. All of the BGM feels right for the game, varying from a bouncy lite island theme in the early stages to a heavy brooding dramatic score when the going starts to get a bit more tough. The only thing missing would be actual voices for the characters in the cut-scenes instead of the primitive grunts and groans used to barely convey a conversation. Anyway, that's a minor complaint and it barely scratches away at any of the overall rating.

All in all, Shipwreckers! gives players a decent, if not overly challenging, ride on the deep blue sea. The added multiplayer can give gamers a reason to keep it around after they somehow complete the 20 demanding levels of the single-player mode. Although I can pretty safely say that besides this, the replay factor just isn't high enough to expect much more. Shipwreckers! could have been gaming gold but, like most of my experiences with Psygnosis' products, it just falls slightly short. Enjoy the ride while it lasts, just don't expect to be completely blown away.

Difficulty: 6
Control: 9
Audio: 9
Visuals: 7
Replayability: 6
Overall: 7.4