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System:
PS2
Genre:
Action Adventure
Publisher:
Eidos
Developer:
Crystal Dynamics
Players:
1
Release date/year:
10-31-2001
Other systems:
-
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- Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 2
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2001 Crystal Dynamics - Eidos - PS2
I've seen some strangely conflicting arguments about why this game sucks, yet I must say that I disagree with all of them! Anyways, enough exposition. This review is going to be divided into 3 parts, Gameplay/Controls, Story, and Graphics. I'll start from the end, with
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Graphics-
The graphics are incredible, maybe I'm just stupid or blind, but I'm not seeing everyone else's problem with them. The outdoor environments are gorgeous, the character models are stunning(who knew Raziel could make so many facial expressions with no lower jaw?!)and the indoor models(like the beginning stronghold)are good...albeit repetitive. In fact, the opening stronghold has several corridors that are identical, from the layout to the window spacing, to everything! Fortunately though, the outdoor environments must be seen to be believed!(seriously, I don't see why people seem disapointed)I remember one review saying these graphics are on par with earlier PS1 games, if by on par he means surpassing in every regard, then yeah, he's right(I don't think he meant that however)
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Story-
I'm a big fan of RPGS, and thus I love big epic plots, but I'm also a big fan of action games like Soul Reaver 2, and I understand that the point of an action game is the action, the plot is often optional. Really, as long as it makes a decent excuse to be killing stuff, I'm satisfied. With Soul Reaver 2, I can safely say that the plot is one of the best I've ever seen. It's a time travel tale, which have the potential to be just confusing and bad, or really good. Soul Reaver's is very good! Twists, backstabs, manipulations, you name it, this story has it! It is, however, quite intricate, and it's easy to get confused, so the game has an option on the menu entitiled the ''Dark Chronicle.'' This is a dialogue log of every major plot event in the game, plus it even goes so far to EXPLAIN it to you! For example, it'll have some dialouge, then it'll say ''at this point Raziel realizes...'' and then proceed to un-confuse you. Very nice touch.
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Gameplay/Controls-
Again I'm confused at complaints. The game controls smoothly, fluidly, and responsively. Every complaint I've seen has always compared it to Soul Reaver 1, saying that 2 ruined it's otherwise perfect control scheme. I'm afraid I must laugh at that claim *haha* the controls are pretty much the same, if not better. Combat is the same as SR1, hold down R1 to autoface your opponent. All movements are then done in a circular fashion around your target, x makes you dodge in which direction you hit the stick, square and triangle are your attacks. And you also have your lunge attack, which one review on here falsely cried ''DOESN'T EXIST!'' Just to make sure I wasn't missing something, I quickly opened the manual...yep, lunge attack. I then activated the game and performed a...you guessed it! Lunge attack. 'Nuff said, I believe. The only control complaint I did notice to be valid was the person complaining about the sluggishness of the glide function. If by that he means the small delay between hitting the jump a second time and waiting for the character model to unfold his wings and glide, then that does exist, but seems to me it is completely intentional. There is an abscence of technical ''boss'' enemies, but there are several ''normal'' enemies that are simpler far more powerful than all the others. Notice my use of quotation marks. Now tell me, what is the traditional boss enemy? Indeed...*scratches nonexistant beard*if you've missed my point thus far...never mind. Also, one person complained it was to easy to die when faced with multiple enemies. I believe the word he was looking for was 'it's a challenge.' And thank goodness, I did find the first game far too easy. The AI from the 1st game has been upgraded from ''blind drunk'' to ''just stupid'' and when surrounded by several enemies, that's the only time the game gets hard. And that's really my only major complaint, the AI is kinda dumb. Still, look at the AI in DMC, excluding that game's masterful boss fights, they're dumber. And for those wondering about length, it's longer than SR1, but not by much.
You don't need an overview of my review I don't think, but just in case, here it is, I liked it, go get it. It's good.
9/10
//Shadow Hunter V
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