'Summoner' Powerful but overwhelming

Games in the "Final Fantasy" or "Zelda" series were the basis for which THQ created its flagship PS2 role-playing title, "Summoner." \nThe game picks up where the others left off and expands upon their concepts and game play through the vast technological advances provided by the PS2's immensely powerful hardware. \n"Summoner" has a cinematic quality to it. The game is chock full of dialogue, beautifully rendered graphics and story clips. There are even intricately produced credits that roll before game play starts. These qualities suit the game seeing as how it, like numerous others of the genre, is essentially a narrative the player controls.\nThe game's story focuses on a young farmer named Joseph. But Joseph is no ordinary farmer; he possesses the immense powers of a summoner, an individual with the uncanny ability to cast spells. Joseph, alongside fellow warriors Rosalind, Flece and Jekhar, must battle with sword and spell the demonic forces that are inundating their homes, murdering their friends and destroying their lands. In a dire mission to annihilate their most capable foes, the heroes must embark on a mythic journey to various villages waging grand-scale warfare and dissipating the monstrosities. \nThe game play is a tad too linear for my personal tastes. It would have been nice to have more control over the heroes' actions, especially during battle, and what control is available is hard to master and overly complicated. Also, the narrative serves the game so well that in many respects it's also very inhibiting. It's as though the narrative carries the player instead of the player carrying the narrative. No matter the action you take, the outcome seems to remain the same, and that's incredibly frustrating. \n"Summoner" is an involving strategy game that will keep gamers occupied for hours on end, and fans of the genre will most certainly be happy with the game. Despite strong graphics and an elaborate story line, the game was inevitably a disappointment. But it's definitely worth at least a rental and possibly purchase because of a side-splittingly funny RPG spoof contained within the disc. "Summoner" is essentially nothing more than a flashy testimonial to the power contained within the PS2 console and a hint of the greatness looming in future titles.