SINBAD: LEGEND OF THE SEVEN SEAS

Journey beyond the end of the Earth with Sinbad!

From the DreamWorks animated feature film, Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas, comes a thrilling PC adventure filled with non-stop swashbuckling action. It's a voyage like no other, filled with untold dangers, supernatural enemies and magical monsters.

Join Sinbad on the adventure of a lifetime!

• Battle a variety of dangerous enemies.
• Defeat mighty mythological monsters.
• Travel and explore incredible locations.
• Stop at nothing to retrieve the Book of Peace.

~ from the back of the box

Along with Disney's Home on the Range, the failure of Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas spelled the death for traditionally animated movies produced by both companies. Unlike the former, I find DreamWorks' 2003 star-studded feature to be more than a little underrated. It's an action-packed fantasy sporting some stunning animation that rivals - perhaps even tops - Disney's efforts at the time. Alas, the tides had turned and computer animated movies were the new thing. It was perhaps this sea-change that kept Sinbad's tie-in game exclusive to PC.

Developed by Small Rocket, a UK-based team, Sinbad was to be their last ever game, though with a business model that included digitally distributed titles, the company managed to prop itself up with older releases until 2012. I can't say I've heard of much of their earlier work, though their best known releases had the help of bigger publishers like Activision or, in this case, Atari. The new Atari to be precise, have just bought out Infogrames a few short months before Sinbad's release becoming Atari Europe.

Collect this Magic symbol to progress to the next area of the level (left).
Shooting ghosts in an on-rails gallery shooter section (right).

All of these factors combined explain the unpolished feel in an otherwise promising game. There is no spoken dialogue at all in the game, which is probably for the best as the script is beyond basic lacking any attempt at character. We see no compressed cut-scenes ripped from the movie, only the odd still between levels to movie the story along. Even the gameplay, which has some interesting design quirks going on, feels under-baked and repetitive as if funding had been cut and release dates brought forward. I even encountered a few bugs here and there.

That being said, my overall impression is rather positive. You take the role the handsome sea pirate in what is essentially a beat-'em-up. If you have any preconceptions of how that might play, throw them out as this game does something very different. This game makes use of the mouse. You may see in the screenshots that there is a cutlass floating around the screen. This is your mouse cursor and holding the left mouse button will have Sinbad run in that direction. A click of the right button will have him dodge out of the way which is useful when coming up against a hoard of skeletons or armed pirates.

Collecting the Dragon Tooth will summon some Harryhausen-style skeletons to fight on your behalf.

Beyond the mouse, three keys provide attacks and blocking. By default, X is your standard attack, Z gives a heave attack and C blocks. Quick combinations of these keys will trigger an impressive range of other moves including a spin attack, an uppercut or a dive. I did find a fair amount of them had too long of an animation making them close to useless in hectic situations, but one boss in particular requires you to know one of them. This is the third boss referred to as the Elemental King. Defeat his minions and dodge his moves until he gets his spiked club stuck in the ground. While he's in this vulnerable position ,sneak round to his backside and give him the old Hard Smash by pressing X then Z. If you're feeling particularly feisty, Hard Smash Extra (Z, Z, X) will wear him down quicker.

While there aren't many of them, the levels themselves are decently large. It follows the beat-'em-up formula by pitting many combatants on you before you can go further, but instead of the word 'Go' flashing up screen after you've downed the last enemy, you'll instead have to pick up a magical talisman to unlock the arbitrary blockade. While not exactly implemented in the best of ways, it's a mechanic that works well delineating each section nicely. Beyond this and the standard extra life, health and weapon power-ups, there are some rather unique ones too. Most impressive is the skeletal army. Collect a Dragon's Tooth, and three armed skeletons will rise from the ground ready to do battle by your side. Their AI isn't terribly programmed either, meaning they are actually useful. Extra kudos must also be given for affectionately harking back to the Ray Harryhausen skeletons in The 7th Voyage of Sinbad.

Once you unlock them, you have access to two super moves. Lighting will emit a ray of light
destroying all in its path (left) while Earthquake is a screen-clearing hand of god (right).

It's not all sword swings and shielding. Each stage has their own shooting section where you take control of the ship's harpoon gun to shoot anything that moves. These shooting galleries aren't as varied as the on-foot sections, and most enemies - be they grenades, ghosts or sirens - are easily destroyed before they come anywhere close to your vessel. Visually, they are just as appealing as the rest of the game and coupled with their reasonable length, they make for a welcome diversion. I did encounter a bug during the boss fight with the Roc. This icy flying beast flies in and out of the mountains and can be hit whenever it is on screen. When you do so, it will drop in altitude a little which isn't taken into account with its path-finding. Shoot it before it hides behind a mountain, and it won't reappear presumably getting stuck on some unseen geometry. I only encountered this once, and couldn't repeat it on subsequent playthroughs but I thought it worth mentioning.

Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas attempts a lot, but doesn't quite stick the landing. There are hints at a complex battle system - particularly as the difficulty ramps up in later levels - but combat can get repetitive if you stick to the more reliable tactic of button mashing. The graphics are visually impressive, successfully transposing the 2D designs into 3D, but there isn't much of a wow-factor. It's a little too easy, taking me a little over 2 hours to complete and not once did I once come close to losing a life. Then again, this is perhaps aimed at a younger audience and with this in mind, I imagine it will blow them out the water.
 

To download the game, follow the link below. This custom installer exclusive to The Collection Chamber runs natively on Windows. Manual included. Read the ChamberNotes.txt for more detailed information. Tested on Windows 10.

File Size: 340 Mb.  Install Size: 502 Mb.  Need help? Consult the Collection Chamber FAQ

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Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas is © Atari Interactive & DreamWorks LLC
Review, Cover Design and Installer created by me

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