Painful, that's all I can say. This is just painful.

User Rating: 3.1 | Beat Down: Fists of Vengeance PS2
I will admit that I had very low expectations when I snagged Beat Down. The story is decent enough, but the game is far too shallow to be anything more than a momentary distraction. The soundtrack is straight up hideous. It's like elevator heavy metal music assaulting your eyes for as long as you play the game. The buddy system is interesting in theory, but much like everything else in this game, falls well short of being worthwhile.

The combat system is hideously unresponsive. Many combos require quick button presses, which when the camera is constantly moving, are almost impossible to get right.

The dialogue is worse than in the original Resident Evil, which is really saying something. One of the only positive things in the game is that you are at least able to customize your character to an extent. With a character design system that is fairly deep, you are able to change clothes, hairstyles, even hit your character up with tattoos. But in the end it is far too little to make this game enjoyable by any stretch. If you're looking for a good old fashioned beat em up, move along people, nothing to see here.