Do you like to wander around???
User Rating: 7.4 | Shenmue II XBOX
I remember playing Shenmue way back in 2001 for the Dreamcast and thinking, "Wow, now this is the way I role playing game should be!" Being able to interact with everyone in a realistic environment, learning new combat moves to take down enemies, and not to mention the Quick Time Events that really gave the game a cinematic feel. (Remember, this is 4 years before Resident Evil 4) Now, 2007 arrives and I see a little game called Shenmue 2 sitting in my local Gamestop's bargain bin. Why not give it a shot? Well, I can see why this game flopped so bad when it arrived for the X-Box. Even though there are a great number of things to actually like about this game, the first half is probably the most bored I have ever been playing a video game. Friends, there is almost no action until the introduction of an evil female character half way through. This is no way to design a video game. You will find yourself wandering around from area to area talking to people trying to find other people who will give you clues about how to find someone else. It feels like you are traveling in circles not really getting to the meat of the story. But eventually you do get to the action, and things to pick up considerably. The QTE's return, and they are just as good as you remember. Unfortunately the regular fighting engine, although still a lot of fun, will have you button mashing a lot of the time. The second half of the story does have a great number of twists and turns as you strive to find your father's killer. (you don't really) The story does come to a climactic conclusion in a high rise apartment building that you have to fight to the top of. This section of the game is heat pounding and thrilling, well worth playing through the laxidasical first half for. Once that section is over the game isn't , although it should have been. I do not jest, you will find yourself going on a very long walk through a forest at the very end of the game, and that's about it. So once you finish the high rise section, you might as well turn your X-Box off. See ya!
