Game #992: Urban Reign

  This game sure took a beating from critics...

 This year, for whatever reason, I decided that it was time to play all those sub-par PS2 beat'em ups, like Final Fight Streetwise and Beatdown: Fists of Vengeance. They didn't disappoint, Urban Reign, however was just as poorly received by critics... but turns out it's nothing sort of a gem in the rough. Heck, even Adam Sessler, who I used to like before he became unhinged, trashed the game.

 There are no two ifs or buts about it, if you don't like pummeling guys for hours on end... this is not your game. The game is made up of 100 exceptionally brief missions that should take a player about 2 hours to complete, and then you unlock Free Mode, in which you can replay missions with any character, and Challenge Mode which is a survival of sorts. There's also a multiplayer VS and, through cheat code, you can even play Free Mode and Story mode with a buddy. There are a gazillion different characters for you to unlock, including Paul Phoenix and Marshall Law from Tekken, donning their Tekken 5 looks.

 The story mode has barely any story. There's flavor text before each mission, but I won't lie, I didn't care one bit about it. Interestingly, as you complete stages you get stat points so that you can slowly develop your character. It also does a good job at easing you into the game, because you unlock new techniques, such as different super moves, running on walls, grappling enemies on the air, learning to fight with an AI partner AS you advance through the story mode. It's a shame you are forced to play as generic bald meat-head Brad Hawks, or however the hell he is called, but then again, most character designs try very hard to look gruff and tough. And then you unlock Paul Phoenix and his goofy 'do.

 What makes the game so special is how good the combat system is. You perform a basic combo by tapping circle, or you can target different body areas(Head, Torso, Legs) by holding Up, Down or Left/Right when you press circle. Different characters have different moves, some get single, powerful 'region' attacks, other get combos. Triangle is used to grapple, and once again, different directions hurt different areas. Hurting an 'area' makes the enemy take more damage, and once they are in the red, get dizzy from getting hit there. Square is used to dodge attacks, with the right timing, and if you press the right direction before getting hit you'll deflect the act with a strong counter. You can even deflect attacks mid-combo, provided you're not getting juggled that is.

 Juggles, we got them. Doing combos in the game is so much fun, and the animations look powerful and getting hit looks painful. For example, with Brad, you can do a Torso-combo to pop the enemy into the air and then try to kick them into a wall with Up+Circle. Or continue your juggle with a neutral circle attack. Or press triangle to perform a powerful grab while they are on the air. And as you deal damage you Special gauge fills, and you can use Triangle+Circle+Up/Down/Left or Right/Neutral for a very powerful special move. Special moves not only deal a ton of damage, they get very generous invincibility frames AND you can pull them off at ANY moment, even when getting hit, so there's a lot of strategy to be had on how you use your special attacks. All this depth and I didn't even get into fighting alongside a player or CPU ally, since you can even perform dual-grapple attacks. Man, there's some very stylish combos you can perform without even relying on the special dual-attack animations, something as cool as using Up+Circle with Brad to send your enemy flying, and while they are going through the air your CPU ally catches them in a combo of their own. Or you see your CPU buddy popping the enemy into the air so you rush in and perform an aerial attack. This game is AMAZING. And as with any beat'em up worth its salt, there are also weapons you can grab and use during battle, some characters even excel with weapons and should try to keep them.

 And that's not even getting into how good the game looks. Sure, the art direction is a bit uninspired, since just like Final Fight Streetwise and BeatDown: Fists of Vengeance, they tried TOO hard. Thaaaaaaat said, the overall graphical polish is top-notch because environments are highly destructible. It feels SO good to pound enemies against furniture and watch it crumple in their wake. And the framerate remains steady all the way through.

 The game's biggest sin is its camera, it's quite unwieldy. And it seems like it inverts if you're moving? Look, when fighting it won't bother you, it's only an issue when your CPU ally is out there fighting baddies out there and you need to find them to help them. Eventually I just gave up, and when I had to find something I just stood still, moved the camera and carried on.

 So here's the thing, the game's got depth for a beat'em up, but there's only so much you can do with a single attack button. It was good enough for me, and I think the animation and overall gameplay are fantastic, so much so that I didn't care about how uninspired the Story Mode was. And Story Mode does have you fighting tons of repeated dudes, even though the overall character roster is fairly decent... there are 100 missions, so you'll fight some characters more times than you can count. However, the engine allows the player to get a TON of mileage out of its very simple control scheme, and the animations and overall feeling of hitting and getting hit are deliciously painful. If you ask me, this is one of the PS2's most hidden gems.

 8.5