Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever II

"So much better than the first it's scary"

I'll get straight to the point. I didn't like Ecks vs. Sever. The first game looked like it'd be awesome, but it wasn't. The missions were dry and frustratingly difficult, and it took me until halfway through the game to realize how the story was being told. The only good point was the graphics. I didn't really care about Ballistic. I saw some screenshots, however, and it peaked my interest. The graphics were even better, and it had some sort of sweet new gun. Well, I gave it a try, and I was pleasantly surprised.

Graphics: 10/10
Wow... I was blown away. These are easily some of the best handheld graphics ever. The weapons are large and very cool looking. The environments are pretty much the same as the first, which is anything but a bad thing. I'd say they tweaked it a bit. The first level (for both characters) looks like something from Counter-Strike. The enemies look good from a distance, though that goes down as you get closer. It's still not enough to take away a perfect score. Just look at the pistol. It's enough to make the wimpy thing in the first one feel ashamed and go cry in the corner. Even the menus look way better.

Story: 9/10
It's told in an understandable way... And Ecks and Sever are working on the side of the law. Also, Ecks and Sever have different stories and, happily, completely different levels. That's really all I need to say in this category.

Gameplay: 10/10
I can't begin to tell you how much better this is. They've added tons of classic and wonderful first person shooter elements. You can't kill civilians. You have a knife in case you run out of ammo. And, get this, YOU CAN AIM YOUR GUN!!!!!!!!!! As far as I know, this is the first handheld first-person-shooter where you can do this. Even my past favorite, Doom, couldn't do this. It could use some tweaking, like going faster, but it's a huge step forward to be able to do it at all. The screen also tells you what the B button does at that moment, and if it says nothing, it does what it should: switch your weapon. When you open a door, you immediately take a step back. This can let the door open faster and be used as a tactical advantage. You can swim underwater, which is kinda rare for an FPS in general. You can talk to people by pressing B, which adds a new depth to how interactive this game is. The firefights are a lot more fair and fun, and it's not frustratingly difficult. A big, huge thumbs up in this category.

Sound: 9/10
The music is great and fit the action theme well. It gets a bit repetitive though. They also recycled some of the more annoying sounds, like the explosions. But the voice samples that the guards use are great and clear, and the other sounds are top of the notch too.

Replay Value: 8/10
It's a first person shooter, so it's always fun to play through again different ways, or just to kill. Multiplayer is also really fun, though sort of limited in gameplay. Also, there are two characters, two stories, and two different sets of levels, so in order to experience it all you have to play through at least twice.

Overall: 10/10
It's clear that they spent a lot of time on this game. That, or they just tried a lot harder. Either way, Ballistic blows Ecks vs. Sever out of the water. It blows Backtrack out of the water. Doom. Dark Arena. It's easily the best FPS for Game Boy Advanve on the market.

Rent/Buy
If you like first-person-shooters, this is a must-have. I can't really tell you what to do, though, so I'll always say this: rent first to see if it's up your alley. I'll leave on that note.

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