Ecks vs. Sever

"A great FPS!"

I had never heard of Ecks vs. Sever before I stumbled across some screenshots. They looked amazing and from that point forward I knew I wanted this game. I searched for a month and a half before finding out that the game has been discontinued and no one seems to have a copy of it. I was annoyed since I had heard that this game is great. I recently got lucky and found a used copy and found out that what all the hype is about.

Story: 8/10 - The used copy I bought did not include the manual so I don’t know what is in there. However, you learn the plot as you go along. The whole game is the recollection of events through the eyes of FBI agent Ecks or NSA agent Sever. The two agents must uncover a large conspiracy that began years before. The recollections in the courtroom before each mission are a bit long, but are quite detailed and in some cases helpful for completing the mission.

Graphics: 9/10 – The only reason this was not a 10 out of 10 is due to the dullness of the colors. It almost seems as if everything has a layer of grey over it. However it does work for the setting of the game, which is mostly in warehouses and the like. That is a very small problem compared to what the graphics in this game have going for them. First of all, the framerate NEVER drops. You can be fighting for your life against eight SWAT team members and the engine will cope fine. The weapons are all very realistic and well done. The character models are good as well. They have firing and dying animations. But what makes the graphics really stand out is the attention to detail. The environment is highly responsive. Chairs spin around when shot at. Glasses break, barstools explode. This all may seem trivial, but it helps to make everything seem more real. Hell, the hand holding the guns even look different depending on which character you are! Overall, the graphics are simple and to the point, but get the job done quite well.

Sound: 9/10 - Normally, I would moan and groan about the lack of music during gameplay. However, in this case, it works quite well and enhances the overall sense of realism. There is intro music and it works well with the title. The lack of music during the game allows for more sounds of your environment. All the guns have a VERY realistic firing sound as well as an acquiring/selecting/reloading sound that is different for each gun. All enemies as well as the two main characters have 2 or 3 individual grunt sounds for when they are hit or killed. Different types of doors have different opening sounds. All in all, the sound effects help make this game more realistic.

Gameplay: 9/10 – Ah yes, the category that really matters. And this game does extremely well in that category. I can’t say enough about the gameplay. If I hade to sum it up in one word it would be REALISTIC. Before this, the only FPS I had played on GBA was Wofenstein 3D. The gameplay was unvaried and started to get a bit old after a while. Everything was on one level and all the missions were the same: get to the other elevator by navigating the maze-like corridors meanwhile killing the same five types of enemies with the same four weapons. It got old. I am happy to say that this is not the case here. First of all, almost all the levels have stairs or elevators in them, which is great. There are tons of different guns and they differ in way other than how fast they fire. The game also incorporates crouching, which allows you to take cover in many more places. The level design is linear in most cases, but not all and is never a maze. There are some secrets, but you won’t have to take 20 minutes to find them. However, what makes this game so great are the missions. There are 24 missions total- 12 for Ecks and 12 for Sever. However, the two characters are not merely sprite changes, but actually have two different sets of missions, which are really two sides of the same story. This adds a degree of originality that you do not see in other games. The missions themselves are not simply go from point A to point B while shooting people, although that is the case in some missions. In one mission you will have to use a sniper rifle to kill Sever while dodging her grenades. Another features a fight in a dark hotel basement. There are just a few small things that bring down gameplay. The only reason gameplay is not a 10/10 is due to the difficulty. Some missions are tough while others are downright frustrating. But if you stick with it, this game is fun and I think it is a good thing you can’t beat this game in a week.

Controls: 10/10 – Given what there is to work with on the GBA, the designers did a great job. The controls are compact and easy to learn. A shoots, B opens doors… But what makes the controls above average is the idea of implementing the crouch feature by pressing L and R together. Crouching add a whole new level to the game.

Multiplayer: 10/10 – If the single player game wasn’t good enough for you, the multi-player sure will be! There are three modes: Assassination, Bomb Kit, and the famous Deathmatch. In Assassination, one player must protect a VIP while the other tries to kill him. In Bomb Kit both players must race to make and arm a bomb. And death match is the famous one on one to the death sort of thing. The only bad things about multi-player are each player must have their own copy of the game.

Nit Picks: Two things. First, Password Save??? No way! This is a very annoying part of the game, but is more than made up for by the spectacular single and multi-player modes. The other is, as I mentioned above, the fact that this game has been discontinued. This makes it incredibly hard to find. Your best bet is to look for a used copy, which is good since it will be cheap!

FINAL SCORE: 9/10 – This is a very well done and original game!

Difficulty: Hard

Buy, Rent or Don’t Buy: If you can find it, then for the love of God, buy it! I seriously doubt you will be able to rent it anywhere.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 08/31/02, Updated 08/31/02