Amuze reckons it's time for more Headhunting, but what this sequel lacks is heart.
With Headhunter: Redemption I am however granted with an opportunity to get on with the ripping, and will surely do so in a minute.
First of all, let me explain how I ended up with this pile of tripe. Headhunter for Dreamcast was, at the time of release, a most competent Metal Gear substitute for water eyed Sega fanboys glancing over at the neat re-newed concept of stealthy gaming. I was pretty much one of them at that point, and rejoiced when I took control over Jack Wade and found that beyond the initial impression of bland Metal Gear clone, it was actually a cool game. Puzzles ranged from utterly contrived to sort-of-clever, and the action, amplified by solid sound effects, was great. It had a cool story, cool motorbike sessions between missions, cool locations, cool boss fights, and a fairly surprising and smart ending.
Then Amuze made a list of all that, sort of like I did just now, and had it removed in time for the sequel.
I don't know what the hell went wrong, but Headhunter: Redemption feels, in every aspect imaginable, like some kind of alpha version of the first game. The reason I bought it despite the cold reception it had gotten in reviews was that I couldn't believe they'd gone and made a worse game than the first. Well, I suppose I was wrong.
The first thing you'll notice when you take control over Leeza X (which is just a stupid name, by the way) is that it feels sort of like vacuum cleaning. You don't really feel like you're controlling the character, but rather something that in turn controls the character. Perhaps an invisible bird on her shoulder, whispering directions into her ear. I don't know, your guess is as good as mine. Shooting actually works okay, which is a good thing since most of the game relies on action. It uses a functional targeting system that requires you to keep the enemy locked in sight for a while for better accuracy, and lets you tweak your aim for headshots. There's also some stealth elements in there, but they're laughable even compared to the first game. Sneaking up on enemies from behind lets you kill them instantly, but really, do you care?
Some will have you believe that the graphics in this game are somehow stylized to look like they do, and come across as futuristic and/or appealing in some manner. They're just being nice. While I can appreciate what they're trying to do with the white, sterile environments as far as atmosphere goes, the word "sterile" should probably be kept far, far away from level designers.
Note to developers; Crates aren't sexy. You can't rely on crates to make an exciting game. And last but not least, when you make a room, try thinking about things to put in it besides crates.
Should you put up with the physical abuse this game casts your way, you will eventually get to play as Jack Wade, the badass from the first game, and sure enough, he's badass here too. The problem isn't so much him, or even the story, though. The fact that the game feels completely hollow otherwise is. The locales feel about as populated as Project Gotham Racing, and the enemies that lurk there come across as ghosts wandering aimlessly around in a game that everybody else has already left behind.
And rightly so, as should you.