Review #516: Fear Effect 2 - Retro Helix

 It's called Retro because it's a prequel, get it?

Some things never change. Like Eidos' penchant for unnecessary fanscervice.

 My experience with Fear Effect 1 was a bit disappointing, but I wasn't done with the franchise, oh no, there's a sequel/prequel left for me to play. Actually, there was one, because I'm just done with it and... it's more of the same, for better or worse. Mostly for the worse.

 Remember how the cast of main characters was easily the best part about the first game? Wouldn't it be nice to get to know them better? Well, the game delivers... a bit. The first half of the game has you playing as Hana and her lover, newcomer Rain Qin, as both girls get embroiled in far more than they bargained for. If you liked Deke or Glas... you're for a disappointment, since, as previously stated, you're stuck with Rain for half of the game, and she's kinda bland. Both Deke and Glas make their official appearance halfway through the game, but you only get to play as Deke on the first half of a single disc, which is completely ridiculous. On the whole, we get to learn more about Hana as a character, we learn Glas' past, we learn a tiny bit more about Deke and we're introduced to Rain. As for the plot itself, it's the same pseudo futuristic modern day era meets Chinese mysticism. And it works well. The game is longer than the first one, and there're many more cutscenes, as well as more, well, plot, than in the previous game. As far as how good the story is... it's about as good as the first one, but it feels like they should've done more with Glas and Deke... or at least make Rain half as interesting as any of the other three.

Hana is as great a character as you remember her.

 The game plays exactly like the first one: Fixed camera angles, tank controls, stiff movement and unreliable dodging, clunky real-time inventory, passable auto-aim and the 'fear gauge' doubling as health bar that goes up or down depending on things like doing well in combat or being around enemies for too long. It's practically the same game, but now with new environments. I will grant them that they made the collision detection much better, there were fewer times, albeit it still happened rarely, in which my shots would hit an invisible wall as opposed to my target. There's a new option for '3D movement' but it's very clunky, so just stick with the tank controls.

 The game feels much fairer too, don't get me wrong, some encounters still feel like luck-based affairs, but they are rarer, since your characters seem to be able to take more punishment, and there're more weapons available. Dying and retrying was a pain in the rear in the previous game since there were long loading times, but that's a thing of the past, retrying is now instantaneous. The game is quite longer too, each disc has two 'parts'... although the game will have you shuffling discs all the time, you go from disc 1 to disc 3(!!!) to disc 2 to disc 1 again to disc 4 to disc 2 again... you'll have to swap discs at least 8 times, so don't get too comfortable on your chair!

Rain, the new addition, is such a boring character... and you're stuck with her for half the entire game.

 The game has more than double the amount of puzzles the first game had, but... they have aged horribly, requiring almost Sierra Adventure Games-ridiculous levels of thought processing to solve them. Just a tip, play the game with a guide at hand. it makes for a much more enjoyable experience rather than running around trying to use every single item on every single interactive object you can find. Some don't even make sense, like why would you try to fix your shovel by melting the goblet and then pouring it on top...? Argh! Trust me, don't bother trying to solve them, just keep a guide close by.

 Fear Effect 2 is definitely better than the first game: Environments aren't as pixelated, the shooting has been tightened, the difficulty is more balanced and it's a longer game... but the game is still horribly dated, it still looks ugly and grainy, the shooting is still janky at worst and passable at best, some moments still feel as if they require more luck than skill and the game might be longer, but you have to swap discs all the time! If you're not too sure if you'd like the franchise, I'd suggest starting with this one, it's a prequel so it makes sense to play it first and you don't need to have played the first one and it's not as unfair as the first one. And, if you end up not liking it, at least you played the game at its best, so you won't have to endure the age-induced sloppiness of the first!
 5.0 out of 10

Now Playing: Fear Effect 2 - Retro Helix

 Retro Helix? The hell does that mean?!

Yeah... there seems to be even more fanservice this time around. Me no likey.

 Fear Effect 1 was probably good at its time, but as of now? It's very, very dated. Fear Effect 2 is almost exactly the same... but seems like it'll be a better game.

 The game plays exactly the same as Fear Effect 1, but it feels... tighter. I still shot at invisible walls a few times, which was annoying, but the game seems more lenient. Hana can definitely take more punishment than before. It also seems to have cut back on instant deaths, coupled it with removing load-times whenever you die and restart, which is a godsend. This first disc took me an entire hour, so this game might be longer than the first one.

 The instructon booklet, as well as the intro cinematic, promised me Glas and Deke, but they seem conspicuously absent from the game's boxart and backside, and considering they weren't playable on this first disc... I think they might be NPCs this time around, which kinda sucks since their replacement, Rain, kinda sucks. At least Hana still kicks butt.

  It might be too early to tell, but this one seems to have aged better. Hopefully.

Review #515: Fear Effect

 It's scary how dated this game is.

Meet your (anti)heroes. They're a loveable bunch.

 Fear Effect is an interesting game, published by Eidos after their hit series Tomb Raider was ending its run on the PS1, it's quite a different beast altogether. Mixing full motion backgrounds, with a dark, mature storyline as well as very stiff gameplay making for something that feels like Resident Evil but is anything but.

 The game follows a ensemble cast made up of three no-good amigos: Hana, Glas and Deke, who team up to rescue a kidnapped girl... so that they can ransom her instead. What begins as a crime story about murderers and low-lives soon turns into the supernatural, turns out this girl might be more trouble than she's worth. The story isn't fantastic by any means, but the cast of characters is an interesting bunch. The story focuses mostly on Hana, as she gets the most background information and development, and she's quite an interesting anti-heroine. That said, throughout each chapter, or disc, the game will periodically change your playable character between all three. They play exactly the same, although Deke gets access to dual shotgun-guns, that neither Hana or Glas get to wield. All in all, it's a decent, but unremarkable, story featuring good characters.

The game... is very cheesy in how fanservicey it can get.

 The game has full-motion video backgrounds, think pre-rendered backgrounds but animated, and they... haven't aged very well. They look like a pixelated mess. The game has fixed camera angles as well as tank controls, like Resident Evil, but this game has a bit more action... which works to the game's detriment. The controls are abysmal. Firstly, your inventory runs in real time, so you must scramble with Square and Circle to select the appropriate item, in the heat of battle, and press triangle to equip or use it. It's particularly annoying when the game, as it often does, puts you directly into a gunfight with nothing equipped. There's no way to avoid getting damaged at times. Plus, there's a dodge mechanic, by holding L2 and pressing a direction, but the rolls never come out in the direction you want, and characters often times get stuck on invisible barriers. Which also happens to bullets, sometimes it looks like your bullets will hit, only to hit invisible walls. It's very wonky. The controls are so bad, and the shooting is so mediocre that some encounters and boss fights feel like luck-based affairs.

 You'll die in the game. A lot. It spans four discs, but it's very, very short, each disc should last about 30 minutes, if only it wasn't filled with cheap deaths. To be fair, the developers came up with a few interesting cinematics when your characters bite the dust, but upon death you have to endure a rather lengthy loading screen. It can get pretty bad when you have to deal with pattern-based bosses or situations, since every failed attempt will result in a loading screen. Pro-tip: Try to sneak up on human enemies, stealth kills are one-hit kills and allows you to save your ammo for the supernatural. On another note, whenever you aren't shooting at stuff you'll be solving puzzle, and they can get rather challenging, y'know, gotta sell those Prima Gameguides.

Don't run! Stealth is your friend, particularly in the early going.

 The last gameplay element worth talking about is the Fear Gauge, y'see, the game was too good for traditional life bars, instead you have a fear gauge, which decreases when you are too close to your enemies, taking damage, running out of ammo and a few other things. It goes from green to red, and afterwards... you die. There're no health packs, instead, you recover health, or fear gauge, by doing well in battle, solving puzzles or, sometimes, the game will completely restore you after triggering a certain scene. I was not a fan of this system.

 Fear Effect is... a very dated game. You can have fun with the game, the characters are engaging and there's a certain charm to the gameplay that keeps you coming back for more. However, you'll have to contend with dated gameplay that seems to involve luck more than anything, a very unfair amount of instadeath traps and some dated, obscure puzzles to solve. It's a game best appreciated if you're into late 90s games and their sometimes unfair shenanigans.
 4.0 out of 10

Now Playing: Fear Effect

 .... I am scared alright, scared of how bad the controls are.

Hana and her entourage seem like an interesting bunch.

 Alright, so I was kinda in the middle of Grandia Xtreme, but... Fear Effect 2 arrived and I think that one of the discs might be busted, so I decided to play the Fear Effect duology asap. I've never been much interested in the franchise 'till until a few months ago, and my first impressions are less than positive.

 For starters, the controls are awful. Whenever you roll, which is pretty much required, you have to keep in mind that left mean's Hana's left, not the left-left that would make sense. It's so dumb. The first boss mauled me over 10 times because of poor controls and poor collision detection, even if it looks like the way is paved for your shots to arrive on target... don't trust your eyes, only trust the in-game icon that says you're locked on.

 The health system is kinda dumb too, there're no recovery items, instead, your health recovers, or lowers, depending on how you play. It makes little sense honestly. I was at full health, but oh no, the boss scared Hana so much that her health lowered to orange. It's so dumb!

 Overall? I think there's a reason people forgot about Fear Effect.

Now Playing: Grandia Xtreme

 Xtremely Boring.

What the hell is Evann wearing on his head!?

 I used to really like Grandia Xtreme, I think I even liked it more than 2. How foolish I used to be. After enduring one of the most boring introductions I've seen in recent years, featuring a CG intro that made no sense and explained nothing, followed by an absurdly long introductory shot that alternates between Evan, the protagonist, training and some random weirdo riding a bike. And then you have to stomach a ton of un-fastforwardable, unvoiced dialogue....

 Still, as soon as I got into a fight... it got fun. It is Grandia alright, and it plays pretty much just like Grandia 2, but with less framerate issues or bugs. That said,a s fun as the combat is, I wonder if it can make up for having such an uninteresting story. I'm not too hopeful.

Review #514: Spec Ops - The Line

 Will you cross the line? That line. Yes, that one.

Meet the hero of his story, Martin Walker.

 By now you've heard of Spec Ops - The Line, that game that tries its hardest to look like just another military shooter, but is anything but. It's an interesting game, one that was a bit neglected by gamers back in the day of its release, and has received the attention it deserves only years later.

 The game pits you as Martin Walker, a military captain who is joined by two soldiers under his direct command, Adams and Lugo. The three of them infiltrate a disaster-stricken Dubai in order to search for survivors. But the journey through a land covered in sand will test their mettle and their psyche. In case you haven't heard about it, hidden beneath its generic military shooter exterior lies a deconstruction of all the tropes associated with the genre. Overall? The story is pretty good, although it takes a bit of time before it gets really good-- but ya gotta respect the hustle, they had to sell you the lie so that they could begin twisting everything that felt so familiar. I'd also like to  mention just how good the scenery is, the game employs a lot of browns and oranges, befitting of a country sunk under sand, and it looks brilliant. The game has some fantastic environments for you to explore and shoot in, and you'll be looking forwards to whatever comes next.

The game has some beautiful scenery.

 As far as gameplay is concerned, well, it plays like any other modern third person shooter: You can stick in-and-out of cover, which is a must since you'll find yourself pinned out by enemy units quite often, and Walker has regenerating health too. You can only carry two weapons at a time, there're three different kinds of grenades and you can punch your enemy with the circle button. Enemies grovelling on the floor can be executed with the circle button, which rewards you with ammo for both of your equipped weapons. The game's only original mechanic is the R2 button, you can use it to direct your allies to shoot down that particular enemy, and at times you'll be prompted to press R2 so that they can throw a flash grenade, it usually happens when you're pinned down by multiple enemies. All in all, it's pretty much what you'd expect out of any other game in the genre, everything works well enough.

 The game can get pretty challenging at times. At times it's almost sadistic how little ammo and how many enemies there're to contend with. And this is when executions come into play, since you'll often find yourself tempted to break out of your cover to execute an enemy and get some ammo. Needless to say, you'll probably die quite a few times, which is extremely punishing because loading times are brutal. Yeah, the worst part about the game are the loading times, you'll try your hardest not to die because you don't want to suffer through them.

Shootout can get pretty intense, remember to direct your allies and keep your head down!

 No, Spec Ops - The Line won't make you question yourself about all those silly war games you've played, but the plot gives a very interesting look at these games. And even if you fail to understand what's implied you're left with a relatively unique tale, at least as far as military third person shooters are concerned. It's very easy to recommend Spec Ops - The Line, and even in the off chance that you hate the genre, the game is relatively short and offers multiple difficulty settings, so if you're interested in it you can be done with it in a short while.
 8.0 out of 10

Now Playing: Spec Ops - The Line

 Which line?

I hope the cover is so generic to drive their point home.

 By now everyone has heard of Spec Ops - The line, so while I could feign ignorance about it being more than just a third person shooter... I won't. I will say that what little I've played, the entire first chapter, it really was little more than just another Third Person Shooter, with not a single noteworthy thing to its name.

 I'm enjoying the imagery though, all the bright and dark oranges, and the desert landscapes... it's quite pleasing, surprisingly. I hope the story is as good as people say...