A worthy but frustrating sequel.
This one really feels like 2 steps forward and a step backwards.
I’ll start off the top saying if you hated the third act of the first game with the reveal of supernatural elements then probably avoid this as this one doubles down on the cult, superpowers, and blurs the line between reality and hallucinations.
The biggest upgrade in this one is the detective aspects of the game which I criticized in the first game as being undercooked and hand holdy. In this one you can actually make mistakes when investigating crime scenes and the player will actually have to select the right forensic tool to use as they go through a crime scene. Your contact Rosa will prompt you to ask and answer questions which will net you a higher score based on choosing the best answer. There’s a lot more agency here and the use of the tools are also expanded upon as you can use them to track, destroy and photograph side objectives within each level.
The simplictic first person combat of the original has also been expanded upon with now having a combo meter, being able to use your fists, being able to reload and holster firearms, a dash attack, and the ability to throw your weapon at enemies or targets.
The combo meter is a little jarring at first but overall it grew on me. The environmental take downs are awesome and gory.
The shooting hasn’t been improved tho which is disappointing because it’s much more prominent here although the mechanic of Ethan being an alcoholic and needing to drink to steady his aim is pretty cool.
There are more memorable locales in this game with the standouts being a museum, a doll factory and a bowling alley with area specific weapons like broadswords and bowling balls.
This game hits lower lows than the original however. The first mission drags on forever and the black tar monsters are totally miserable to fight especially with the black tar environments they spawn in. There’s several levels with these horrible filters and screen effects than made me nauseous and were a slog to get though. These really brought this title down for me because the screen effects were just so horrible. Luckily it was only 2-3 levels like that in the game and pretty much everything else is quite good.
This one is harder to recommend to someone because of the comically over the top edginess, insane story and couple of really ugly borderline unplayable levels. Overall I think I still prefer the first game but this one is a ton of fun and doesn’t nearly deserve the hate it gets. Sad Monolith didn’t get to finish out this as a trilogy.
7/10
This one really feels like 2 steps forward and a step backwards.
I’ll start off the top saying if you hated the third act of the first game with the reveal of supernatural elements then probably avoid this as this one doubles down on the cult, superpowers, and blurs the line between reality and hallucinations.
The biggest upgrade in this one is the detective aspects of the game which I criticized in the first game as being undercooked and hand holdy. In this one you can actually make mistakes when investigating crime scenes and the player will actually have to select the right forensic tool to use as they go through a crime scene. Your contact Rosa will prompt you to ask and answer questions which will net you a higher score based on choosing the best answer. There’s a lot more agency here and the use of the tools are also expanded upon as you can use them to track, destroy and photograph side objectives within each level.
The simplictic first person combat of the original has also been expanded upon with now having a combo meter, being able to use your fists, being able to reload and holster firearms, a dash attack, and the ability to throw your weapon at enemies or targets.
The combo meter is a little jarring at first but overall it grew on me. The environmental take downs are awesome and gory.
The shooting hasn’t been improved tho which is disappointing because it’s much more prominent here although the mechanic of Ethan being an alcoholic and needing to drink to steady his aim is pretty cool.
There are more memorable locales in this game with the standouts being a museum, a doll factory and a bowling alley with area specific weapons like broadswords and bowling balls.
This game hits lower lows than the original however. The first mission drags on forever and the black tar monsters are totally miserable to fight especially with the black tar environments they spawn in. There’s several levels with these horrible filters and screen effects than made me nauseous and were a slog to get though. These really brought this title down for me because the screen effects were just so horrible. Luckily it was only 2-3 levels like that in the game and pretty much everything else is quite good.
This one is harder to recommend to someone because of the comically over the top edginess, insane story and couple of really ugly borderline unplayable levels. Overall I think I still prefer the first game but this one is a ton of fun and doesn’t nearly deserve the hate it gets. Sad Monolith didn’t get to finish out this as a trilogy.
7/10