A underrated survival horror game that fans of the genre will truely enjoy
The game does have a story line but it isn’t very well done and flawed in many areas. No spoilers will be mentioned. I often wonder in survival horrors “why don’t people just blow the door open” or “climb over the damn obstacle to freedom.” All survival horrors lack proper realism and this game doesn’t pack much in ‘realism’ terms. What all survival horrors lack in realism, they always deliver in fright factor and gore and this game although the gore is not Silent Hill or Resident Evil like, the scare IS there.
Like I mentioned before, it mimics Resident Evil Outbreak series, however only control 2 characters at a time, similar to Resident Evil 0 for the Game Cube. You can rotate between characters during game play and if you have a friend to play with, he/she can plug in the second PS2 controller and join you in the game. The game has a nice and variable cast of playable characters. All of them have their own special ability, such as picking locks, seeking out hidden items etc. Once a character dies, that is it…he/she is gone for the entire game…which is a very good step in realism *thumbs up*. You can tell your CPU controlled partner 4 commands or you can rotate between characters. Your characters gather at ‘gathering spots,’ there you can switch who you want to play as and/or select a partner to carry along with you. Like always there are a lot of puzzles to solve and yes, there are some that require both players and some that require their special abilities to solve. Items collected by all characters (including ammo) can be used buy anyone from you team, in other words items are universal and you can carry any amount. Weapons however has to distributed among your team because whoever collects a weapon, keeps it, I would also like to mention that in order to save your game you will require dics, similar to Resident Evil’s ink ribbon, this discs can be used to save your progress anywhere. All survival horrors aren’t long so it’s no surprise that this game isn’t long!
The graphics are simple, nothing too spectacular here and not too much detail. It’s no where as good as the Resident Evil Outbreak series. There are barely any lighting effects and the playable character look plain, without any details and texture. The game really suffers because of the horrible character renders and models.
The controls are good, almost identical to Silent Hill 4 (PS2) and the Resident Evil Outbreak (PS2) series. However different characters respond to the controls differently which is good. Some move sluggish and slow, other are quick and speedy. This is a plus because not everyone is the same and has the same abilities. The game also loaded with some nice FVM from time to time to break the tension from the mediocre graphics, but please not the FMVs aren’t that amazing link in the, once again the comparison to the Resident Evil Outbreak series.
The overall audio was done very well especially in the FMVs but the sound effects needed serious help especially the horrible sounds of the gun firing, it was loud but it was poorly done. Characters and monsters have their sounds and voices. The game has full voice acting which is good because this day in age, we need voice acting in games, no more reading! However there are still files to read that help advance the storyline and help solve puzzles.
Overall I like the game, even if you don’t like the Resident Evil Outbreak series, give this game a try, it’s flawed in some of the areas, but it excels better in game play. For those of you who haven’t played either game, give obscure a try. Survival Horror/ Horror fans will love this game. It is an underrated game but you will enjoy the game despite its shortcomings.
Strengths (+)
Unique Game play
Cast of Characters
Acceptable Controls
Voices
Music
Carry Unlimited Items
Very Frightening at Times!
Weakness (-)
Flawed Sound Effects
Average Graphics
Short
Story
Too Dark at Times
Challenging at Times
Camera Angles