Parasite Eve II

"Ms. Brea, my your cells are alive tonight."

Introduction:
Ahh...what can you say about the lovely Aya Brea and her lovely mitochondria wandering around her body, probably doing more damage than good? Well, you can sure say a lot. SquareSoft decided they could say a lot more too about her and those lovely cells. In the follow up to the highly acclaimed “Parasite Eve”, Square has brought us another fantastic and exciting title in primo SquareSoft fashion.

Overall Rating: 8/10

Story: 9/10
“Parasite Eve 2” follows up on the life and times of Aya Brea. In the previous game, Aya was a New York cop who found herself center stage in a secret battle between good and evil. A battle so secret it’s title is only known as “The New York Incident”. She ran around the streets of New York trying to solve a mystery that leads her to looking at the smallest of clues. In fact, these clues were so small she could only view them through a microscope and found a DNA cell labled “Parasite Eve”. Later she discovered that the same cells that she was trying to destroy resides in her body.
In PE2, Aya leaves the NYPD and is now a FBI agent working in a special co-ops group titled “MIST”. For three years, Aya tracked down all the mutated DNA and terminated them until the fated accident in a building complex in Las Vegas. Aya has now discovered that the infamous DNA cell “Parasite Eve” may still be alive and must now go on the hunt again to track it down and destroy it. Aya’s “worldview” has now grown larger. She travels to a “ghost town” in Vegas which leads her to a labratory with mutated genetic monsters and plot darker than the original title.
I gave this title a 9 because the plot is deep and makes you question the morality and humanity of genetic engineering. This is not simply a shoot ‘em up game like Resident Evil and it’s not ''someone’s kidnapped go save ‘em'' like “Silent Evil”. The plot is thought provoking and dark...really dark. I also enjoyed the fact that Square focused on Aya again. Square is known for using new main characters for new titles but in PE2 you will see other sides of Aya not fleshed out in the first title.

Gameplay: 7/10
If you are a fan of the original title you may be dissapointed, at first, with this follow up effort. PE2 is no longer a “cinematic RPG” (whatever that means). In fact, the game is totally revamped and plays nothing like the original. I suppose changing careers to a street cop to a FBI agent alters everything. The genre is now a horror survivor game that feels like the Resident Evil/Silent Hill games. Like PE, you control the character “Aya Berea” in the third person view and control her in beatifully pre-rendered backgrounds.
Like all games, there are at least two modes of play “Battle mode” and “Search/Walking mode”. In “Battle mode” this game no longer uses the “Bubble mode” that is used in PE and “Vagrant Story”. Instead, the action is real time and what-you-see-is-what-you-get. For instance, in PE you never see your enemy until the screen switches to battle mode. In PE2, you see the baddies lurking around. “Search Mode” is much like “Silent Hill”. Simply, you walk around searching for clues hitting the “X” button.
Furthermore, remember how you could re-tool guns and armor, you do not have that option in this game. Instead of re-tooling you reward yourself with better equipment by cashing in “Bounty Points”. BP’s are given to you when you kill monsters. The “Mitochondria Skills” have changed too. The system is more of a “magic” system where you ignite your cells using experience you get for killing monsters. There are several other changes but these are the major ones.
If you never played the first PE but you enjoy Resident Evil/Silent Hill game than you will like PE 2. The gameplay is similar.
I give this section a 7 because the “camera angles” are annoying at times. There will be times when you are shooting at something but you will not know what it is because of the camera angle. Square “flirts” with non-player characters aiding you in real-time (a la FF8) during battles but they could have used this new idea more in PE2. I also liked the ''leveling'' options PE offered. Finally, some of the puzzles are dumb. There are typical locked door puzzles and blocked entrances. I hate these puzzles because why would you need a key or remove this or that when you have a “rocket launcher” in your arsenal of weapons. In other words, the puzzles detract from the realism of the game.

Graphics: 9/10
What can you say...it’s SquareSoft. The real gems are in the CGI’s. I think Aya’s shower scene will go down as the most sought out CGI in history. The people in the CGI’s look real. You do get a sense that Aya and her friends could be real! Square has done a great job evoking some emotion with the CGI’s Overall, the game is dark but that is to set the ambience for the dark plot. The shading and gradients are hands down the best ever. Finally, Square is doing better with making people look more human like. The hands are not so block like and facial expressions are much better.
I gave this section an 9 because the CGI’s are in a league by itself. The game graphics are typical Square excellence. If you have played recent Square games you will know what I am talking about.

Audio/Video:7/10
This area is fine too. The game sounds are cool. The guns sounds real when you “lock and load”, the footstep sounds are on point when Aya runs and walks. I also like the ambient sounds. Square did a great job dropping sounds here and there to persuade you to speed up progress or slow it down. For instance, one point in the game you hear a woman screaming. Woman screaming usually needs assistance. So I worked faster. The music is good. I personally like the original PE score but this one does the job. A couple of times the music gets annoying. When you are in “Drysville” you will know what I mean.
I basically gave this section a 7 because the above information is typcial and up to par with games. It does not improve or detract to the industry. Finally, characters do not speak (After playing “Metal Gear Solid” I think all games should have talkies)! In the original this was ok because it felt more like an interactive book than a video game. Since this game is a different genre I think they could have thrown in the voices at least during the CGI’s.

Replayability :8/10
I have not beaten PE 2 yet. I do know there are two endings (one good and one bad ending). I also know there are several play options once you beat the game. If you like this genre or the game you will not have any problems playing at least once or twice earning your money back. If you never played a horror surivial game I would rent it and try it out.
I gave this game an 8 because I know this game can be beaten in 10 hours or so be aware of the game length. Personally, I like games that go fast but can be played over a few times but I know I am not in the norm. However, you think they would span the game to a third disk at least.

Overall Rating: 8/10
PE 2 is a wonderful and fun sequel which does a fine job continuing to provoke emotion and thought concerning DNA/Genetic engineering. I think Square created a quality game which offers many bangs for the bucks. I do wish they could have tweaked certain parts to add to the realism. If you are a fan of PE and do not mind game changes go and buy it. The plot is deeper and the game fun which makes the Aya experience worth it. If you like horror survival I would rent it. This game, I think, speaks to a maturer audience that may turn off younger game players.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 09/19/00, Updated 09/19/00