Phantom Crash

Phantom Crash received "mixed or average" reviews from review aggregator Metacritic, with an average score of 72%. Reviewers praised the extent of detail and customisation available in the game. Describing the game as "wonderfully deep", Hyper praised the "astounding selection" of upgrades "in consideration of the fact that it's possible to configure the performance of individual components". IGN highlighted the "interesting twists" to the game's upgrades and customisation system, with a "nice range of accessible and hardcore". Xbox Magazine highlighted the "strangely addictive" appeal of customising SVs and fine-tuning their performance between battles, although noting "the depth of the customisation...can be a little confusing and occasionally awkward". GameSpot wrote "the level of customization in Phantom Crash is just amazing, and it lends the game a real role-playing feel". Critics were also impressed with the visual presentation of the game. IGN praised the SVs as "extremely detailed and animated beautifully". Hyper described the game's graphics as "quite impressive", writing that "animations are fluid, explosions are meaty, and the tremendous variation in the sizes, styles and colours of the SVs certainly keeps things interesting". Electronic Gaming Monthly described the game as the "best-looking" mech shooter on consoles. Describing the presentation as "a look that oscillates between retro and cutting edge", GameSpot praised the game's "great amount of detail" and "quasi-mechanical touches" on its SVs, but faulted the game's "low-res and blocky" character images and "minor slowdown". Reviewers of Phantom Crash were mixed on the game's localisation and narrative. Eurogamer cited the game's "unnecessary storyline", faulting the game's "unskippable cutscenes" and dialog "in a form of broken Japlish", finding "little escape from the story" throughout the gameplay. GameSpot described the story as "inconsequential", but noted "the fun banter between the characters does a good job of setting the mood". Electronic Gaming Monthly critiqued the game's writing, citing its "bizarre storyline" and "nonsensical dialogue". Xbox Nation similarly faulted the "nonsensical dialogue to wade through". GamePro described the storyline as "genuinely weird". Critics expressed disappointment in the multiplayer mode of the game. Eurogamer cited the lack of Xbox Live support as a "fundamental flaw" of the game. GameZone described the multiplayer elements as "hardly worth mentioning", citing the desire for matches with team play or variable conditions and the lack of arenas. Xbox Magazine critiqued the lack of "different game modes" and "variety on the battlefield", observing the absence of team games such as a capture the flag, domination or tag game. Electronic Gaming Monthly noted the multiplayer had "limited customisation", writing that the mode "ain't all it could have been". Xbox Nation similarly noted the "glaring shortcoming" of the "lack of variety" in the multiplayer mode. GameSpot also stated that "the game could have benefited from a greater number of arenas, more diverse variety of SVs, and more gameplay modes".