The hero of 3DO's Warriors of Might and Magic, Alleron, makes another appearance in the spiritual sequel Shifters. This RPG-lite action adventure combines the running about of typical 3D adventures with the ability to change, or "shift" forms between man and beast. The question is whether 3DO was able to learn from their mistakes on Warriors, a truly rancid game. Did they succeed? Like the car rental ad says, "Not exactly."

The shape-shifting part of the game is interesting, and in better hands might have succeeded. As your hero gains points and experience, new shapes are made available to him, from undead forms to strange steam-punk mecha to animals and more. There are various levels in each of these forms, meaning that a first level shift will look much less impressive than the highest level character. The ability to choose whether a shifter leans towards magic-casting or weaponry is in your hands as well. This would be a lot cooler if the enemies you face weren't exactly the same as you as you progress through the levels. While the enemy character design in the CG cut-scenes is fairly imaginative (they look very similar to what I've always pictured the Trollocs in the Robert Jordan "Wheel of Time" series would look like), seeing them real-time is nowhere as impressive. And since they're performing the same attacks as you do when shifted, the thrill of performing something new is lost, since everyone you face can pull off similar attacks.

The look of Shifters isn't appealing at all - with drab corridors and dubious lighting effects everywhere, running around and key-collecting has never been so uninteresting. To break up the monotony, there are some Diablo-style towns where you can talk with townspeople and purchase items if you wish. Side quests can be found here, although it's just more of the same Fed-Ex style gameplay that the main quest offers. It's a shame that the design of the quests is so bog standard and boring - it could have been so much more interesting with some different kinds of missions.

The AI in Shifters is absolutely laughable. Enemies get caught up on walls, chairs, corners - standing to the side of a door and repeatedly hacking an enemy in the head kills the heroic atmosphere deader than Cher's career. The animation of the main character is absolutely hilarious, as the armor-clad Alleron dashes about like he's doing the 100 meter dash. You can sneak up on characters from behind and kill them, but it's no Metal Gear Solid. The hack 'n slash gameplay gets tiresome, quickly. Thankfully spellcasting and projectile firing is actually done pretty well, with target aiming quite easy. Cycle easily through your inventory using the directional pad - frankly, the game's control is the best part of Shifters. Too bad the game itself discourages you from playing it.

When it comes right down to it, Shifters represents a lot of things that are wrong with the entertainment software industry. There are some good ideas to be found, but the lack of polish and production put the dagger in the back before it can get off the ground. 3DO needs to seriously consider exactly what they're doing with Alleron - do they want to establish their own RPG adventure franchise with this character? If so, this is definitely not the way to go about it. A total disappointment on all levels.