'Fear Effect 2' delivers fright and adventures for the future
ADAM TURNER
Scene Video Game Reviewer
"Fear Effect 2: Retro Helix" takes place in the year 2028, when humankind is plagued by EINDS (Environmentally Induced Nucleotide Degeneration Syndrome).
EINDS stops protein synthesis at the DNA level by preventing DNA from splitting into mRNA and tRNA, effectively ceasing cellular reproduction and killing whomever is unlucky enough to contract this disease.
"Fear Effect 2" takes place from the point of view of four different mercenaries, each with their own particular skills and methods.
As gameplay progresses, players are able to use Hana Tsu-Vachel, an assassin skilled in covert operations; Royce Glas, a specialist in counter-intelligence tactics; Jakob "Deke" Decourt, an insane, cold-blooded killer; and finally, Rain Qin, Hana's companion.
When Hana, Royce, and Deke are all independently contracted to retrieve three separate items on a simple infiltrate-and-recover mission, things go horribly wrong.
The three are forced to put aside their personal differences in order to save the world from imminent death and destruction, using the three items they recover, which can be used to cure EINDS.
"Fear Effect 2" is absolutely massive, spanning four disks to travel to the seamy underbelly of Hong Kong, the walled city of Xi'an, the tomb of the First Emperor of China and finally Penglai Shan, the legendary mountain island of the immortals.
Each mission is jam-packed with puzzles, enemies and mutants, promising a bloody fun time for everyone, especially fans of the original "Fear Effect."
The cinematic sequences flow seamlessly throughout the game, which look fantastic, in a cartoon sort of way. The best feature of "Fear Effect 2" is the elimination of load times except for the very beginning of each mission.
Load time has always been the major drawback that Playstation game designers have had to deal with, and the Eidos team found a way to load only once per mission, even after a death sequence, which is unheard of.
This feature creates very, very addictive game play and a new standard for the rest of the industry.
There is one major flaw in "Fear Effect 2": the fighting system. Sometimes you stumble into a room of guards and you end up dead.
You are given the ability to evade gunfire by rolling on the ground, but as soon as you stand back up the guards have their sights right on you and are probably already firing.
Lacking the ability to avoid getting shot repeatedly is very frustrating. Realistically, if these characters were highly trained assassins, they wouldn't just stand in one spot and fire their guns until everyone was dead. That kind of basic stupidity was better spent on games like "Doom" and "Quake."
Another strange snippet in "Fear Effect 2" is that the movies look like Saturday morning cartoons gone absolutely wrong. Some things are better not portrayed by cartoon images, and giant bloody mutants fall into that category.
Fans of the first "Fear Effect" will love this game, and people wanting to get in on the action by jumping right into the sequel won't be disappointed with what their $40 can buy them.
Aside from frustrating battles and scary monsters, "Fear Effect 2" delivers a warm, content feeling for all.
All Scene Stories for Wednesday, April 4, 2001
