The apocalyptic, futuristic world of Panzer Dragoon is one of bio-engineered creatures, mysterious yet powerful machines developed by ancient civilizations, and nearly extinct humans who are still fighting and destroying one another. A new Empire has risen from the ashes of the Great Fall. Utilizing the power of artificially engineered humanoid Drones, created by the Ancients, the Empire was able to resurrect the primeval armament production facility: The Cradle. The Empire then succeeded in creating a biological weapon of incredible power: the Dragonmare. With its new Dragonmares, the Empire swept across the entire Continent, wiping out anyone who dared resist. A winged hero, an ancient Dragon, arrived soon thereafter to rescue an imprisoned girl from a Dragonmare attack. That girl was Orta, and she was not an ordinary human.

Panzer Dragoon has always had a very distinct style. The art, the music, the fictitious Germanic-sounding language, the detailed history, and the characters are original and recognizable. With the exception of the 3rd game in the series, which was an RPG, the games have also been centered around the same gameplay concept. You ride a flying/running dragon though several “on rail” (a fixed path of sorts) stages, while shooting, dodging various enemies, creatures, and occasional environmental hazards. Orta has a rapid fire gun, and the dragon has lock on lazer-like shots which can be unleashed at several enemies at once. You can maneuver and look around the screen at will, as well as rotate in any direction to take out enemies coming from the left, right or back. In certain circumstances and boss battles, you can rotate/strafe around a fixed point.

The gameplay scheme has not changed much since the first game, though morphing and leveling up your dragon plays a greater role than before. A new feature is a boost/fall back move, which lets you either jump forward or slow down in respect to your enemies. A great strategy is to let a volley of enemy shots head your way, than boost forward or drop back at the right moment to allow them to harmlessly pass where you just were. There are times when this maneuver is pretty much required in order to take down certain bosses.

Panzer Dragoon Orta is an amazing looking game in many ways. The character and creature designs are stylish, and the enemies, ancient flying machinery and immense bosses are always interesting. Levels are slickly designed, and there are plenty of times where the sheer beauty of the environments will cause you to take a few nasty hits from an enemy. Your adventure will take you from villages carved out of the wall of a canyon, to a huge glacial drift, to lush waterfalls and organic jungles. The Xbox tosses around some great effects in PDO, but Smilebit thankfully doesn’t over do them.

The music in Panzer Dragoon Orta is just as good as it was in past games, and the composition is still unlike much else out there. The audio has a very old, ancient tribal sound to it that is somewhat difficult to describe. The game has a nice amount of voiceovers during the various cutscenes, though like in previous games, the language they speak is mostly fictitious. There are obviously subtitles provided for these speaking parts.

PDO is chock full of extra items and unlockable features, such as playable sub-scenarios, a ton of art and history, and even a detailed encyclopedia which explains a lot about the Panzer Draoon world. However, the best extra has to be the PC version of the original Panzer Dragoon. The sub-scenarios are especially interesting, as they give you an opportunity to see the story from the perspective of an innocent child of the enemy. The game has much more replayability than one may think at first. Multiple paths through each stage and ranking based on how well a stage is completed influences how you dragon grows as well as what new features become available.

I definitely applaud Sega and Smilebit for bringing the series back. Even after playing through the game, it still draws me back and sticks in my head. The simple yet addictive gameplay, amazing and strategic boss battles, and wonderful sense of style make it a keeper and a must have for any Xbox owner. Fans of the series are definitely begging Sega to consider a 5th game... and hopefully PDO sells well enough to convince them to do just that.