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Final Fantasy VII: Dirge of Cerberus | 
 enlarge | From: Square Enix
Category: Video Games
List Price: $19.99
Buy Used: $7.99
You Save: $12.00 (60%)
New (28) Used (33) Collectible (2) from $7.99
Rating:  79 reviews
Platform: Playstation2
Genre: role_playing_games
ESRB: Teen
Media: Video Game
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Batteries Included: No
Age: 12 - 20 years
Operating System: Playstation 2
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 0.1 x 0.1 x 0
MPN: 90606
Model: P2SQE 662248906065
UPC: 662248906065
EAN: 0662248906065
Release Date: August 15, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Features:
| • | Unravel the past to protect the future as Vincent Valentines story is finally told. | | • | Modify Vincent's weapons, including the Cerberus, with five different varieties of parts that directly affect firepower, range, firing rate, and more. | | • | Three customizable gun types allow for three distinct playing styles | | • | When enemies get too close, break out powerful melee attacks or Vincents signaturelimit break technique. | | • | Witness cutting-edge cinematics that challenge next-gen graphics in a way that only the Final Fantasy series can. |
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Product Description
Final Fantasy VII: Dirge of Cerberus traces the story of the mysterious Vincent Valentine, a popular character in the classic Final Fantasy VII. Three years have passed since the events of the hit game. Buried alive following Meteorfall, a mysterious group known as "Deepground" emerges and begins raiding the city of Midgar, ultimately threatening the world. The enigmatic Vincent Valentine is somehow connected to these attacks, and he may be the only one who can save this shattered society. When the world becomes shrouded in darkness, his gun will toll a dreadful dirge.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 74 more reviews...
 This is a great game, except... November 8, 2008
Feelah the tigress
Well, as I said in the title, this is a great game, except...it's not fun. But more on that later.
Let me start my review with some qualifying comments. Firstly, I am a huge fan of RPGs, and the bulk of my experience is with RPGs, not shooters. Dirge of Cerberus is a shooter, and I knew that going in, but the draw of getting to play as Vincent (my favorite character from FF7) helped me overcome my hesitation. So that's why I picked it up. That being said, please understand that I don't know much about shooters (as I don't have much experience there) and that my opinions will be tempered by this background. It is entirely possible that someone who plays primarily shooters will have very different critiques. However, this review will probably be helpful for fans of FF7 and RPGs in general, like me! Anyway, on to the review.
Graphics (score 9/10): Firstly, the cutscenes are very nice. They look just like the Advent Children movie to me. The in-game graphics are slightly less impressive but still fine enough for me. They look somewhat similar to the graphics in FF10.
Music (score 7/10): The music itself is fairly good. Nothing jarring or irritating. However, there's nothing terribly memorable either. Still, it's pleasant enough. Plus, the voice acting is excellent.
Characters (score 7/10): Hmm... This is a bit of a mixed bag. On the one hand, Vincent and other characters that were part of Final Fantasy VII are portrayed excellently-- with their proper personalities intact. On the other hand, new characters (mostly villians) are barely given time to develop (with the exception of Shelke) before they are dismissed from the story. Also, don't expect to get equal amounts of exposure to all the main FF7 characters--I'll just let you know right now, the only people who get screen time worth mentioning are Vincent (duh!), Yuffie, and Cait Sith. Why, Red VII only makes a brief appearance and has no lines. This was somewhat sad to me as Red VII is my second favorite character from FF7. Thankfully, Vincent is my favorite, and we see plenty of him.
Story (score 9/10): The real value of the storyline here is the intimate look into Vincent's past, something which isn't well-explained in the original FF7 game. These parts are pure gold and worthy of a 9/10 score for the story section. However, the new parts involving the new villians are rather lackluster. I think this really is due to the fact that they are given little time to develop as characters. It's just that the whole story feels a bit generic--some random people are trying to destroy the world again. After having watched Advent Children (which falls before this chronologically story-wise), I'm just starting to feel a little jaded with the whole "Shinra's evil experiments" thing. However, this game is well worth playing since it gives some illumination on Vincent's past (and those parts are superb).
Battle System (score 7/10): The battle system isn't too bad. You basically have a gun and you shoot things. The auto-targeting makes it easier for people like me (who have poor aim). Overall, I did not find the game overly difficult. My only complaint here is that there isn't much else to do but shoot things. The other attacks at your disposal are melee attacks, magic (which you also shoot at enemies), and Limit Breakers (which involves transforming into a monster and fighting with its special attacks). You won't really use these other things too much though, for various reasons, but mostly because you don't really need to. On the bright side, you do get different kinds of guns and the ability to customize them, so that using the guns themselves doesn't get too boring.
Gameplay (score 2/10): Speaking of boring, this is where this game falls on its face. Remember how I mentioned in the intro. that this game wasn't fun? Well, it's because the gameplay reminds me of the words "boring" and "tedium". Everything is so repetitive that it almost hurts. The only reason I continued was to see the next cutscene. There are several factors that contribute to the boring feel:
1)The environments are bland and not very interactive (and why can I jump over some boxes but not other, identical boxes?!).
2)The levels are very linear and don't really remind you of FF7, even though they are set in the same locations.
3)Most locales consist only of hallways of varying colors. This makes for a dull experience.
4)The enemies are incredibly unvaried. You'll see mostly soldiers, and they are all similar in their blandness.
5)The final nail in the coffin here is the repetitive chapter system. Every level uses the same formula--cutscene at the begining, several sections of hallways to shoot things in, and then a boss at the end, followed by a cutscene. Then the whole thing begins again with the next chapter.
Overall (score 5/10): NOTE this score is not an average, it's my subjective overall score. The terrible gameplay is really what lowers the overall score. It was a real struggle just to keep playing because the actual gameplay was so un-fun and boring for me. Ultimately, it was only the story and my love for Vincent that kept me playing this game. If I had to sum this game up in a single sentence, I'd say: "Dirge of Cerberus has a great story for the FF7 fan, but (really) boring gameplay". I do recommend this game for avid fans of FF7, just because it involves Vincent. I wouldn't pay more than $10 for it though. And as for people who've never played FF7 and just want to pick up a shooter game, I suggest you stay away, because I suspect you would find this game dull too. It's really a pity that Square-Enix didn't do better with this game, there was so much potential here that this game could've been spectacular. Now, unfortunately, it's become just another bargain-bin game.
Decent on it's own; disappointing compared to VII September 22, 2008
Jennifer Fortner (South Carolina, USA)
I would say this game is only worth renting.
The gameplay consists of some pretty restricted jumping/walking/kicking/punching movements (restricted compared to the stunts Vincent pulls during cutscenes, at least) and non-stop shooting, although there are some interesting aspects to it, like being able to add accessories and materia to your gun. Limit breaks are really only helpful if you're about to die.
Vincent's past was the best aspect of the overall story, I think, because it sticks within the guidelines set by the one cutscene provided in the original game, and it does a good job of clearing up the events of those guidelines as well. Really, the only thing I don't like about Vincent's past is some bad characterization of Hojo (and Lucrecia at times) and the parts that relate to the totally new story going on in the present (set three years after the OG). The story that goes on in the present with Deepground, Omega, Chaos and all that... it all seems so unnecessary. But then again, this game isn't necessary at all. It's an extra, so it shouldn't really be expected to live up to Final Fantasy VII. When you look at it that way, this game actually does a decent job of doing what it was made to do.
The music for this game is pretty good as well. I also thought the extra missions provided some mildly fun challenges.
A story worth hearing not playing. September 10, 2008
Jules Cantin (MI)
I got this game when it first came out, mostly because i think vincent has the most intresting story to tell in th Whole Final Fantasy 7 Universe if you ever actually used him as a charecter and witnessed all the hidden scenes. This game was stunning to look at, that was about it. the game play was boring but if all you wanted to do was shoot stuff and just feel like your running in circles than yeah.
Do not get me wrong the game wasnt as bad as some others i have played, the gun customization was cool and like i said before the graphics were awesome. the only thing that makes me not give this 1 star is the story and the past you see about Vincent if this was a stand alone game and was not tied to Final Fantasy i would say just leave it be and never touch it.
 I happened to like it... June 24, 2008
Sandy (USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I can't forget how excited I was to learn more about the dark, broody character of the Final Fantasy series. Vincent Valentine has always been my favorite, and getting the chance to actually play his side of the story was a real treat. The gameplay itself was incredibly different this time. You're actually required to run around a aim during battles, something that I, for one, found a nice change of pace. The overall graphics were on par with anything else by Square Enix, and the cutscenes were just as good as the Advent Children movie. The game was fairly short, and I didn't find it very difficult- not counting the secret targets to unlock the bonus missions. Some people might consider this not worth buying when you can rent the game and be done in less than a week. As a true Final Fantasy fan, however, I can't imagine not seeing it on my shelf beside the rest of the series.
It's a very well-presented chunk of the FFVII "experience" June 17, 2008
Jody Bissoon (Jacksonville, FL)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
It's a very well-presented chunk of the FFVII "experience", an engaging piece of storytelling for existing fans. For anyone who isn't desperately in love with FFVII it's impossible to recommend Dirge of Cerberus as anything other than a curiosity. Jody Bissoon
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