Guilty Gear X2 #Reload

"No guilty conscience resulted from this purchase"

Introduction: I've never really been a big fighting game fan. I never really could hit that 1 bagillion hit combo with anyone, couldn't beat MK3 on a difficulty over normal, and couldn't ever exactly time the presses of a d-pad in a circular motion correctly. However, around Christmas 2004, I had $20 to spend, and after purchasing Guilty Gear X2 with that money, I can't say I'm disappointed one bit.

Graphics (10/10): While I'm one who favors solid gameplay over stellar graphics, I was honestly impressed by those found within GGX2. They have a retro quality to them, obviously, since this is a 2d fighter, and they look incredible. Bright colors fill the screen when you perform a special attack or an instant kill, and the characters looked ripped straight from a Japanese manga. Overall, the graphics are really impressive; the flashy colors, keenly designed characters, and beautiful stages add much to the game.

Sound(8/10): The music in the game sounds great. When you enter into a battle, you'll get appropriate music, and the menu music sounds nice and relaxing. Every character has his own neat shouts and sayings, although unless you speak Japanese, your more than likely clueless as to what any of the dialogue means. The Japanese language also serves as the voiceovers for story mode, but thankfully, subtitles have been provided for those who haven't learned the language. Overall, the sound is good. Can't say it's the best soundtrack ever, but it fits the game. My only true complaint is the lack of American dialogue and speech.

Gameplay (8/10): Guilty Gear has many of your standard fighting game modes. It includes a normal arcade mode, where you duke it out with many different fighters all leading up to a battle with the game's "boss", I-No. Then you have Man of Millionaire mode, which is a standard survival mode, except when you hit your opponents, they drop gold and items of value (which add to your score, hence the title of the mode), and they also drop food (which replenishes your health).There is also a mission mode you can go through, which consists of around one hundred missions, each with different objectives and increasing difficulty. The meat of the game, however, is the Story Mode. In this mode, you pick a character and go through their story, and depending on how you defeat (or don't) them, your story can go one of three different ways. Traveling through the various story paths results in rewards. The fighting system itself is actually innovative. Every character has their own unique moves, each looking excellent. Some look damaging, some are humorous, others, such as a few of Faust's, are just, well...strange. Every character also has their own instant kill which you can perform at any time. Yes, this will kill the opponent in one hit, however there are a few drawbacks; first, it can be difficult to hit and your opponent will frequently block it. Second, you have to build your bar up to have enough time to execute it (they are fairly lengthy), and by the time your bar is that high, your opponent is likely near death regardless. Overall, great gameplay.

Controls (8/10): Simple controls. I've never experienced any controls not responding within the game, and executing combos is simple, for the most part. You have your choice of using either the d-pad or analog stick for moving your character, and x, b, y, and a all perform different types of attacks. You also can program the white button to do a certain combination of buttons, making it a little easier to go into IK mode. Overall, no control problems.

Replay Value (8 out of 10): The game will keep you playing for awhile. Mission mode can be very challenging, and can keep you playing for awhile. Story Mode will take you quite a bit of gaming to get all the way through, and hardcore fighting game fans can always play M.O.M mode aiming for higher scores.

Rent or Buy: I bought this game, not knowing what to expect. In the end, I was immersed in this game for quite some time. If you don't like fighting games too much, I would suggest renting, but if your a true fighting game fan, purchase it and enjoy. Twenty bucks is a steal for this game!

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 01/04/06