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Parasite Eve 2, where do I begin? It was a highly anticipated game to those who had enjoyed Parasite Eve. Finally, another chapter in the story of sexy city cop Aya Brea, what could go wrong? Ever heard of Murphy's Law? If it can go wrong, it will. How? How the hell could someone possibly ruin the sequel to an almost perfect game? How about take everything that made the first installment great and chuck it into a wastepaper basket.
Parasite Eve 2 opens with the familiar Squaresoft logo, but over a cityscape. The very first thing you hear is a grotesque sodomization of the opening theme from Parasite Eve. It plays along to an utterly confusing montage of scenes in the game, while overlapping confusing terms like "telomerase activity" and "Hypervelocity Gun SDI Project" to look important (they aren't). Finally, after getting to select "New Game", you're treated to another scene of just target practice and a brief recap of Parasite Eve. Sure Parasite Eve was the "Cinematic RPG" (according to the box) but this is ridiculous, let's get to the game already.
Plot: D
This was horrible, despite the incredibly short length of the game, most will never complete it. Not because of nonexistant difficulty, but because it is incredibly dull. Those expecting the intriguing modern sci-fi plot of P.E. will be disappointed beyond comprehension. You will not be spending the game in the city of L.A. (as they would lead you to believe) No. after the first level (a nightime visit to a skyscraper in peril) you are sent to the middle of nowhere, the deserted town of Dryfield which is in the middle of the desert. You will be spending the rest of the game going through sewers, a government facility, and a nature preserve. Yawn. The biggest obstacle the plot faces is sheer unoriginality. Every plot twist is expected, and instead of furthering the plot of the first, it ignores it completely. In fact, the only thing that really carries over, is Aya herself. There are hardly any mentions of any of the other cast of P.E., and the ones there are, are insignificant to the game itself.
Gameplay: C
The RPG aspects of Parasite Eve are gone, P.E. 2 is at best, a Resident Evil clone, a very bad Resident Evil clone. Suck all of the fun out of Parasite Eve and Resident Evil and you'll have this. P.E. was challenging in a good way. The challenging aspects of Parasite Eve 2 come from how much of it you can take. Combat is in real time (right down to pulling the trigger). However, encounters are surprisingly spread out and the enemies will use cheap tactics, exploiting the horrible camera angles over anything else. You will learn to expect getting killed by something you'll never see until you're practically touching. Items are hard to come by and you will find yourself holding on to what few healing items you have. Aya's mitochondrial abilities are back, but that's not a good thing. You will have to earn points to unlock them and upgrade them. Most will just stick to the healing powers since they're all you will probably use.
Graphics: B
For a late generation PS1 game, the in-game graphics really didn't stand out. In fact they seemed kind of buggy, Aya's guns will go through her leg quite often, and walking looks extremely strange (especially turning in place). Characters look slightly better than the ones in P.E., however, it still fell short compared to other games released around the same time. When you consider the maps and backgrounds, you can really get a feel of how inferior the character graphics are.The cinematic scenes were nicely done and well detailed, giving a realistic and modern feel. They are probably one of the few positive points P.E. 2 can offer. While on the subject of the FMV's, why not address one of the points to draw in the fanboys. I'm talking about the infamous shower scene. While nicely done, it served little purpose other than fanservice. It was even put in during an awkward moment in the game (right before a fight with a giant...thing). Now don't get me wrong, I have nothing against a shower scene, but it should serve some sort of purpose and not just be shoved in to please a bunch of fanboys.
Music: F
The music is hardly worth noting, it's horrible. You won't remember any of the tracks after playing, in fact, you may just be tempted to press the mute button. Honestly, the intro theme is probably the best one (the sodomization of PE's intro). Naoshi Mizuta has done much better music since P.E. 2, contributing to Final Fantasy XI, Rise of Zilart expansion, and Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicals. But what went wrong this time?
Characters: C
P.E. had likable and memorable characters, more importantly, you would find yourself actually concerned when they were in a perilous situation. There is absolutely no character development in Parasite Eve 2, save for Aya thinking to herself. The characters range from quirky nerd Pierce Carradine to grizzled old gun nut, Gary Douglas. Then throw in potential love interest and part time partner Kyle Madigan, who is supposed to be all mysterious and dark. There are other characters, as advertised by the intro, but you will never remember them, most make an appearance at the very beginning of the game and won't be heard from afterwards.
Overall: D+
It all comes down to potential. Parasite Eve 2 had the potential to be just as great, if not better than the original. But instead of making the sequel an RPG, Square tried their hand at survival horror and failed miserably. The phrase "If it aint broke, don't fix it.", comes to mind. In this case they not only fixed it, but then beat it with a hammer when they were through. If you're a fan of the Survival Horror genre, or a sado-masochist, you will probably get some enjoyment. If not, and you're still interested, try to borrow a friend's copy because it's still not worth the $12 used.