A tale of adventure, action, mystery, romance and revenge…
- EU release: 11th June 2004
- NA release: 3rd August 2004
- JP release: N/A
- Developer: Confounding Factor
- Publisher: SCi Games (EU), Atlus USA (NA)
- NGC Magazine: 79%
- Version Played: Xbox
The free gift for the first issue of NGC Magazine was a VHS with trailers from the Spaceworld reveal of the GameCube, with trailers for popular GameCube games like Kameo: Elements of Power, Donkey Kong Racing, Raven Blade and more. These were all Nintendo-published games, with the exception of one: a pirate-themed game from the creator of Tomb Raider, called Galleon. Like the other games mentioned, no such game was released on GameCube. I thought it was cancelled outright but, upon seeing if there was a leaked prototype, it turns out that it was actually released on Xbox, with no fanfare and barely anyone remembering it.
Despite it being planned as a GameCube game at some point, Galleon feels like it’s from an alternate universe. One where games like Super Mario 64 and Ocarina of Time never gave us great examples of 3D movement. Instead of working with established movement and camera controls, Galleon tries its own thing, and it really doesn’t work. Galleon uses a single stick, but it’s not like tank control games where left and right turns the character, and the camera isn’t stuck behind you at all times. Instead it’s half way in between.
Push left and right on the left stick and you’ll turn the camera. Pushing forwards makes Captain Rhama run where the camera is pointing. This makes everything feel odd as turning is very delayed and is different to the turning of the stick. It’s also a platforming game with lots of verticality and no way to look down, which causes major issues
Even interacting with objects is strange. First the game introduces you to a system where you have to enter first person mode, lock on to an object and then walk towards it to interact. Then it tells you that you can just skip most of that and press B – although you still need to push up on the stick. So it’s just a worse version of the context sensitive button from Ocarina of Time.
Once you get a flow going with the movement, though, it’s surprisingly fast. Rhama jumps immensely high, too, and can climb at crazy speeds. Any “rough” walk you can climb freely on, which seems to be utterly broken and ridiculous at the same time. Within levels, the camera will jerk around like crazy and you just have to hope you get where you want to do. Scale a mountain, though, and Rhama will run up the mountain (in a way that doesn’t look intentional, but it also happens in cutscenes) at speeds that would make Sonic jealous. It’s much faster than his regular run.
The dissonance doesn’t end there, as the game barely introduces its own world. It’s set in a fictional “age of exploration” (pirates and such) era, and the main quest involves astounding herbs with healing properties. Captain Rhama seems to have absolutely no reaction to people performing actual magic, but it’s not clear what is supposed to be special or not. What didn’t help the game is that the long development meant that Pirates of the Caribbean did this kind of thing in a much better way.
While Galleon is quite a bad game, I think it’s worth checking out the game for the strange controls and absurd movement – just do the tutorial and run around the first island, swimming round outside and climbing up mountains.
Poor
The melee combat feels laboured, the boss fights repetitive and contrived, while the timed sequences largely frustrate to the point of desperate exasperation. Throw in the camera issues and the brave but ill-conceived control method and what you’re left pondering over what might have been. Scratch that, what should have been.
Kristan Reed, Eurogamer
Did the GameCube Miss Out?
No. Considering it ignores camera and movement staples that the N64 was a big part of, I think it would have been even more ridiculed on Gamecube.
Remake or remaster?
I think it’s worth it to mess around. Sorting out the horrendous loading times would help.
Official Ways to get the game
There’s no official way to get Galleon
GameCube Games by Date
2002: Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec
2003: Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec
2004: Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec
2005: Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec
2006: Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec
