It's important to know three things. First, I am by nature a forgiving soul. Second, I am by nature an eager devotee of the female form. Third, I'm looking forward to the game that knocks Ms. Lara Croft down a peg or two and shows what would be possible with the action-adventure genre if developers would only put some care and effort into their designs. This open insight into my mind is important because, first, it lets me forgive many of Drakan's flaws, bugs, and design limitations. It also makes following the impossibly narrow butt and extra-polygons-up-top form of lead character Rynn a welcome task. And it gives me a small amount of satisfaction that developers Surreal have surpassed both of the last two tomb raids, even though Drakan doesn't accomplish much more than that.

Third-person action-adventure games of the Tomb Raider ilk have so far followed a simple formula of third-person perspective, attempts at character development and plot, and detailed locations and puzzles. Drakan certainly fits the bill, with the emphasis on attempting character and plot development, rather than actually succeeding. The storyline - rescuing your brother from a great evil of yore - quickly falls by the wayside. By the time you reach the tragically impotent ending (which, after some 30-plus hours of adventuring, is a woeful and disappointing payoff), your brother Delon's existence has been forgotten. Throughout this, Rynn is sadly devoid of any character development. Nothing is learned of her past or where her skill with the swords, axes, bow, and mace came from. It seems she was a rather vapid, unquestioning gal before we meet her in the game - and fails to grow beyond that all the way to the bitter end.

The puzzles are strictly average and very formulaic. There are so many levers that need pulling in this gameworld that it's almost a relief to finally be searching for a key. Many of Drakan's 11 levels are vast, but an excellent map function supplies a basic idea of where you're supposed to be heading, with the objectives scrawled on and crossed out as they're completed. The well-structured level design constantly points you in the right direction. Exploration is rewarded with caches of armor, weapons, or health potions in hidden coves. Many of these areas are littered with the skeletal remains of the previous owner, implying that they were too stupid to use their own potions.

It's not long before Drakan plays its ace in the hole - Arokh the dragon. Your partner through much of the game, Arokh is a huge red dragon used as a conduit to the history of the characters and items you need to recover. He's also a very powerful weapon. He looks incredibly cool, moves amazingly well, use virtually the same control method as when you're on the ground (surprisingly avoiding control issues as Arokh adds a third dimension to movement) and has some bad-ass flame breath. The fireball is cunningly vital to some of the end-game sequences when you're tempted to use the more powerful poison, ice, lightning, and exploding options picked up after defeating bosses.

Dragon-to-dragon dogfighting is the game's highlight in both single-player and multiplayer (see sidebar). After proving adept with a sword, slashing and sashaying all in the same move, it's a delight to find Arokh and get to the real good bits. The beastly Wartoks that had caused problems when fighting on foot now flee like the polygonal scum they are from the mere sight of the mighty red dragon. When you're confronted by another dragon, the enemy AI exhibits some very adroit maneuvering, which sadly can't be said for the ground-based enemies. Any appearance of actions resembling AI are generally scripted moments that occasionally manage some comic flair - such as the ill-timing of the rock fall trap that takes the hapless Wartok with it, falling to a deep-valley death.

Key moments are captured with game-engine cinematics, though the early ones have a pretty lame tendency to use camera angles that seem primarily designed to highlight Rynn's ample cleavage. The engine does manage to convey some beautiful terrain effects, from cascading waterfalls to eerily lit lava-filled caverns (via the inevitable icy tundra-style level), but while Drakan excels graphically with some fantastic textures - the giants and dual-sword-wielding guardians being the highlights - its visuals are let down by these enemies' overly square shapes. An adjustable fogging distance creates limited visibility to keep the frame rates acceptable at the cost of obscuring much of the wonderful vistas.

In creating this fantasy world, the sound effects of weapon clatter and mood music are expertly used. While support for 3D audio is a luxury, the most benefit comes purely from a solid subwoofer to add resonating bass to the pounding explosions of dragon-to-dragon combat. With such excellent sound, it's a shame that Rynn doesn't have anything interesting to say for herself.

It's also a real shame that there are so many damn bugs running rampant. Clipping problems plague the engine, undermining the solid level design, and require liberal use of the quick-save feature to guard against falling through the scenery to a bitter death (which happened to me three times). Other crashes occurred when trying to change items in the inventory while invisible.

By the end, the epic battles, intense puzzling, and terrific textures had me forgiving those deaths at the hands of bugs and scenery clipping. It's a shame that the designers seemed more interested in working on Rynn's physique than imbuing her with any personality, but that's more than made up for by Arokh, who is, without a doubt, the showstopper. Drakan has its problems, but it's still a worthier action-adventure than any of the recent Tomb Raider wannabes.

-Rob Smith