Gun-slinging
bandits. Violence consumes the streets. Prison walls are being torn down. The
man is no longer the man – he’s been overthrown by animalistic humans
who want a better future. And what better a way to obtain those ideals than
with death and destruction? Hasn’t this been the plot of every Bond flick?
They didn’t turn out too well.
State of
Emergency 2 puts gamers in a third-person world where chaos is more than
obnoxious, irate drivers: it’s a way of life. Traffic is the last thing you’ll
think about when armored, gun-toting men start patrolling the streets. Life
ain’t the pretty picture it used to be, with all those surprises that give
people hope. Hence the state of emergency.
Destruction.
Beginning
with a prison break and a whole lot of dead inmates, State of Emergency 2 is
fast-paced action-packed carnage. Run out of ammo? No worries. In this game
the ammunition might as well be infinite. More than half of the bad guys you
kill will drop something – shotguns, handguns and other weapons, as well as
the all-important health pickup. Every weapon pickup functions as a new stock
of ammo for that weapon if you already have it, and since there aren’t too
many (if any) limitations on how much ammo you can hold, there’s plenty of
room to stock up.
With a game
like this where enemies are everywhere, good health care is a must. The
snipers weren’t very clever and I kind of doubt that will change by the time
the game is released. However, there can be a large number of them and they
are often standing in an open area where you’d least expect. You could kill
them if you knew were they were, but there are times when you’ll be dead
before you’ll have had the chance to look for them.
Battles get
even trickier as enemies are replenished. These aren’t the stupid,
sit-around-and-wait-for-you-to-move-type enemies. They act on their own and
will attack whenever they please. They attack in great numbers and rarely seem
to have an ammo-loading problem. There are tricks to getting around them, like
creeping up a steep area and opening fire before they have a chance to spot
you (sort of the opposite of what they’ll do to you).
Destruction!
But for the
most part this is not a game of stealth or clever actions. It’s one of all-out
destruction. Only the strongest will survive, and I’m not just saying that
because it sounds good. State of Emergency 2 is not the hardest or cheapest
game I’ve ever played, but it definitely belongs on my list of top games that
keep me on my toes. Dodge these bullets with ease and you must be a
third-person shooting master.
Arcade
challenges give players something else to do when they’re not going on a
killing spree to save the world. Gold, silver and bronze medals are awarded to
the three highest scorers in challenges that include tanks, helicopters,
mounted guns, and other fun, destruction-filled scenarios. Shoot an innocent
civilian and lose points – run over one with a tank and you lose nothing.
Strange, but I guess it would be a bit difficult to pick and choose who you’re
going to run over while cruising the city in such an enormous,
hard-to-maneuver vehicle.
Want to
share the violence? Hook up with three friends for multiplayer brutality. Last
Man Standing is among the five multiplayer modes, which also includes
deathmatch and flag attack. Let the pain and suffering commence!
MORE
destruction!
Some might think that State of
Emergency 2 isn’t that harsh, so let me clue you in: this is a game where,
whether you think you’re playing as a good guy or a bad guy, you can shoot and
kill anything that moves. Criminals, dictator guards [law enforcement?] –
anyone at any time. Blood splatters all too frequently. It’s a fairly cheesy
effect considering how advanced and realistic-looking games have become. This
was perhaps an effort to counter the violence with some amusement. Or maybe
it’s the developers’ way of laughing at the ESRB’s listing of "realistic blood
and gore" any time a game is violent. The joke is that the blood and gore in
this game is anything but realistic.
Granted, the goal in State of
Emergency 2 is to free the world of some evil organization that wants to
dictate the way the world lives. The organization is violent, thus you have to
be violent. Run through corridors, breach locked doors, take out snipers, or
grab an automatic weapon and open fire on every target that comes within a
deadly distance. If gratuitous violence is what you want, you’ll get your
money’s worth. Look for it in February.
