Shenmue II

"An experience, everything the original never was."

The original Shenmue was hyped beyond belief and despite bieng innovative, it was too small and fell slightly short of some people's expectations. A lot of magazines rated it 10/10, meaning that Shenmue II should be off the scale. Shenmue II carries off from where the original left off- Ryo arrives in Hong Kong to continue the vengance of his father.

STORY: 10/10
Shenmue II is much MUCH bigger than the original. Hong Kong is confusing at first and you never really will get to know your way round properly. At first it seems daunting, but unlike the original this game gathers pace straightaway. You'll meet new characters and interact with them, and people in the street are far more helpful than before. Remember asking someone a question in the original?
''I'm busy'' or ''Are you trying to pick me up?'' was the usual reaction. Not anymore- people will give you directions and even lead you to places; you very rarely meet someone to busy to help you.

You'll meet some very individual and believable people, some friends and some enemies, and some you like but don't trust. And considering Ryo never washes or changes his underwear, he gets a lot of female attention.

If you thought the original had a good plot, then this one will blow you away. It twists and turns and is basically much better than its prequel; there's not a bad thing you can say about it. It moves location more than once, and you wonder how they managed to fit so much on each disc. It also makes you realise that the original Shenmue wasn't pushing the Dreamcast at all. The game is so much longer and richer in this department that it's can't find fault with it. All I can say is that disc 4 seems slightly out of place in terms of pace and story- it's different, but it's still good. You'll see what I mean when you get there.

GRAPHICS: 9/10
Will blow you away. Yeah it's a cliche but the amount of detail exceeds any other console game I can think of. It borders on the obsessive. Buildings actually look real and they all seem to look individual. It's almost ridiculously detailed; there are so many places and buildings that you'll never use or even look at most of them. Disc 4 is beautiful in it's own right... I really couldn't believe just how fantastic it looked at first, but I don't want to give anything away.
The characters are also very realistic. The smoothness of some of the female ones- phwoar. The matrix style blurs also pop up once in a while and fighting in the game looks and feels far less wooden.
The framerate is around 30fps, which is pretty good but not perfect. There is also the occasional slowdown when you pass through a large crowd of people but neither of these aspects affect the gameplay. The graphics are as close to perfection as the Dreamcast can get, and although you may see better on PlayStation 2 and Xbox, nothing yet can rival the sheer scope and detail of Shenmue II's graphics.

GAMEPLAY: 9/10
Controlling Ryo is pretty much the same as the first game. It's easy and it works. There's nothing wrong with it and it's never difficult; nothing outstanding but then I never really think controls can be better than fine for any game- it's either fine or it sucks. And Shenmue II's controls are fine.

There are some important aspects to the gameplay of Shenmue II, such as QTE's- Quick Time Events. These are events where the player is given a command on screen representing a button press, such as an arrow facing left or an A button. These test your reactions and if you fail to press the correct button within about a second, you could see Ryo land in some serious trouble. They are often used for short fight scenes or when walking over planks of wood, and you many sometimes have to press a string of commands as shown on screen, for example Left Left A. These are called CQTE's.

Free fights are the other aspect of the gameplay and are fun. You'll be surrounded by bad guys and left to kick their butts- easy. There are several moves and you'll soon work out the best ones that the bad guys find hard to avoid. You can dodge, punch, kick, throw, etc. It's much better than it's predecessor as it flows more smoothly. Taking out five Mafia guys with one circular kick or throwing one guy onto the other is good fun.

Oh, and no more waiting around for a certain meeting or time- it gives you the option to skip the wait this time, speeding up the gameplay a great deal, paying heed to the criticism levelled at the original.

SOUNDS: 9/10
The sounds suit the game. Voices are all in Japanese with subtitles now, and to be honest it actually suits the game better. I thought it might be a little offputting but you'll be used to it in minutes. No more hilariously fake sounding acting then. You'll also notice that no-one seems to have the same voice. It can only be logical that they do, for there are so many people. But you won't notice it anyway.
The music is, as before, sort of classical but not as in Beethoven. I mean dark, scary music in seedy buildings and tinkly music in happy cutscenes. It suits the game perfectly and believe me it never ever gets on your nerves. Some love it, no one could hate it. It's just another perfect part of this game.

OVERALL: 10/10
You can't find fault with this game. Boring? No way. It's far more action packed, far better looking and even better playing. The story is engrossing and huge and you won't feel at ease until you've beaten it.
Shenmue II is a fantastic game. In my opinion the best I have ever played, and that's saying something. If this game doesn't captivate you I don't know what will- it truly is a work of art.

A masterpiece.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 01/13/02, Updated 01/13/02