Crimson Sea 2

"Generic Sci Fi - Ad Nauseum"

Oh no, the human race is under threat of certain annihilation once again! An alien race of enigmatic origin is ravaging the populaces of various planets, destroying all in their wake and assimilating the entities they encounter into their own malignant kind through their method of reproduction. This is accomplished by one of these aliens inserting a “plug” into another being (wipe those dirty thoughts out of your head) which causes them to mutate into a slimy, scaly, glowy eyed thing. This parasitic race has been dubbed the Menace (I bet it's because they aren't white) and it is your job as “that guy who previously saved the universe” to go out and do it again by pumping up every last one of them buggers with lead. Yehaw.

I wish I was kidding. Sadly, I am not. That is the actual plotline for Crimson Sea 2. Sure, it's not bad, but we hasn't seen this done before? How many times must random alien races appear out of the miasma of space and need a good ass kicking? Why am I ranting about so minor a point? Well, I'll tell you why. It is for likewise reasons that CS2 suffers from being a relatively stale and disengaging game in my eyes. It bares much potential to be great, but instead falls short and is extraordinarily… well, ordinary.

As though to compliment the plot of meager interest, the gameplay follows suit by being merely sufficient. It is strongly reminiscent of Koei's Dynasty Warriors series, with dozens of swarthy critters of all shapes and size swarming the screen and ripe for the slaughter. However, your primary weapon is a gun instead of a melee weapon. Often times you'll be best off at a distance, circling the hordes of brutes that desire to “plug” you. You also have more or less unlimited ammunition. It is limited to the clip you have, but if you stop shooting your clip will quickly recharge. Even if you do overwork your gun and it runs out dry, it still will take only a few moments for to fully recharge.

Therein lies the problem. Most of the time you'll want to be at a distance, and due to the fact that accuracy is only a minor set back for the hero and his limitless reserves of ammunition, the regular level maps will become tiresome quickly once the novelty that comes from cutting through the hordes like a knife through butter wears off. And it will wear off after playing through about three missions, of which there are sixty. Oye.

This is not to say that the gameplay is absolutely atrocious, however. You do have an energy blade along with your stock of guns. However, the blade is a bit slow, awkward, and generally is no where near as effective as the guns. This begs the question: why even bother with the energy blade? The programmers were clever enough to incorporate some powerful combos together that force you to start out with the blade, and thus you won't constantly be holding down the fire button, but it isn't enough. Most of the time you'll still want to just keep a good distance and fire into the mobs of Menace until they all plop over dead. The fact that most of the grunts have the IQ of a twig doesn't help to make it anymore interesting either. The saving grace from after the disappointment with the general missions comes from the boss battles. Most of the big baddies are well designed and smart enough to put up an entertaining fight, and they tend to feature the best effects in the game. I only wish I could fight them over and over again instead of wading my way through the sea of half wits and tedious gameplay in order to get to them.

Speaking of effects, that's another element of CS2 that seems to fall just short of being good. The flashes of the bullets leaving your gun, the explosions, and the smears the corpses of Menace leave on the ground won't disappoint, but they also fail to impress as well. The levels all feel the same after a while; dozens of burnt out cities with dusky scenery and poorly lit corridors twisting onwards into more of the same. You'll see jaggies, you'll see dark skies, you'll see all forms of alien in the Menace. They have insectoid Menace, reptilian Menace, humanoid Menace, you name it. But despite the diversity, they all seem so familiar. Despite having much to offer, they're still your average bunch of aliens that you can find in any number of movies and similar games. Many stereotypical models and not enough unique ones are delivered.

The sound effects are the same. Gun shots sound like gun shots, the aliens got splat when they fall over dead, robots go beep, and that is that. Nothing leaps out at you, surprises you, smacks you across the face and goes “KABOOOOOOOOOM!!!”. Once again, everything is sufficient in doing the job but falls short of being impressive or immersing you within the atmosphere of the game. It doesn't have that ability to truly draw you into the game. Same can be said about the music, which is almost impossible to hear over the gunshots and explosions at times, and even when you can hear it you likely won't notice it. It's just as bland and vanilla as the levels you will be trudging through, usually some sort of techno-esque piece that never really builds up to anything. The only musical number I really liked is the one for the opening before the title screen, which is probably why I watched it several times before I actually played the game. Sadly, nothing within the game itself matches up. It only seems to prove that so much more could be done to make CS2 a great game, but no one wanted to go through the bother of doing so.

Is CS2 a crappy game? No, not really. I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed the first few hours of play. As you play more and more, however, it lacks the feeling of achievement, the levels begin to feel the same, the missions outsides of boss fights get tedious, it has relatively low challenge, and the story is bland enough that it helps to disinterest you after a while. I prefer to say that CS2 is a decent game hampered by numerous negative niceties that add up in the end and drag it down. If you absolutely love space movies with aliens in them this game might have more of a lasting appeal to you. To everyone else a rental might not be too bad of an idea, as you can burn out on the fun to be had within a few days. Otherwise you might find yourself returning this game after a few weeks for a reduced sum of store credits. Remember, no one can hear you scream in space.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 05/19/04