Fighting Force 2 Review

Forced Fight Part Deux

I love my cable TV. How else should I spend my Saturday afternoons when I’m

not playing video games? So, I was watching old Saturday Night Live episodes

on Comedy Central when they had one of those Hans and Frans sketches. You know

— the two Austrian weight lifters that pump iron and hurl insults, “You

puny little girly-man, we’re gonna pump you up.” These two guys are focused

on image, all talk, and at the heart of it, there just isn’t anything there except

a memorable tag line. Segue to Fighting Force 2.

The

first Fighting Force was a god-awful

game that tried to rejuvenate the button masher days of Final Fight. So,

why is there a sequel? Probably because it sold pretty well.

Well, at least they’ve gone in a new direction for the sequel. It’s only a

one player game this time, and rather than straight button mashing, it’s more

of a third person game like Eidos’ other recent release, Tomb

Raider 4. Plus, your goals are supposedly closer to a those of subversive

tactical mission. Those are some hefty promises of improvement… promises all broken.

Hawk (the hero) is your cookie cutter, dime-store tough dude. He’s back from

the first game for more freedom-fighting action. Ask me if I care. Lacking anything

that can be called real characterization, Hawk serves no other purpose thanto

be a set of legs kicking at the steady waves of thugs. He also has fists to blow

up insolent office chairs (everything you punch explodes!), and a small arsenal

of weapons to shoot things. Yes, those are the breadth of his attacks. Limited

would be an understatement.

The game opens up with a little background information. Seems like the Knackamiche

Corporation has some sort of evil plan underway. What’s the plan? It’s irrelevant

– the game doesn’t even seem to care. Genetics and human cloning bent to nefarious

deeds, no doubt. After that, you get to see Hawk pumped full of strength enhancing

drugs. Gee whiz, didn’t mommy say steroids were bad?

With the camera behind you like in the Tomb Raider series, you plod

Hawk around the straightforward progression of rooms and doorways. With very little

exploration, you are essentially pointed from one place to the next. In each room

you must push a huge boulder up a hill… err.. I mean, you are damned to kill

all your opponents before you can proceed. After the last one is felled, a key

card is left; use the key card to open the next room and repeat, repeat, repeat

ad nauseum.

There

is also a failed attempt to use changing objectives. Let’s say you were a real

spy sent on a covert operation; the details and goals of your mission can change

as you progress. Metal Gear Solid

had a certain subtlety that created the feel of infiltration, coupled with changing

objectives. In comparison, Fighting Force 2 is the proverbial bull in the

china shop. Even when objectives do change, you are still led by the hand to the

next task, and that task is always to just beat up some more guys.

The enemies are morons. Sometimes they’ll just stand there, complacently waiting

for you to make a move. When you fight them, its always the same – a few punches

or kicks, and they topple. There aren’t any actual combos either, just simple

pseudo moves executed by a three button sequence. The times that the enemy does

manage to hit you, it just feels like a cheap smack.

Handguns. Shotguns. Clubs. Grenades. Yes, there’s some weapon variety, but

they all function under to three basic constraints. Shoot it. Whack it. Or throw

it. When a gun is emptied, do you reload? Nope. Hawk throws the gun at the enemy.

Lets just say that Hawk just doesn’t seem like the brightest of boys.

Graphically, there is no prevailing sense of style, and a few problems that

don’t help either. The dreamcast version is nice and sharp, but the textures are

unbelievably bland, and the characters all look primitive and blocky compared

to those in topnotch Dreamcast games. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, this was quickly

ported over from the Playstation with few improvements. Warehouses, corporate

offices, boiler rooms – they all look bland and uninspired. The same thing can

be said for the enemies. Other than Hawk, they all look the same. There are also

some clipping issues and problems with the camera in tight corners.

I would like to say something about the music, but there wasn’t any. Not one

note. Not even any environmental noise to speak of. Groans of pain and your standard

chopsocky sound effects comprise the total audio package. [I don’t know what

‘chopsocky’ means, but i like it. ~Ed]

Fighting Force 2 is one game that seriously needs to be pumped up.

While it is actually playable, and an attempt at something different from the

awful first Fighting Force, this game is so boring I can hardly stand it.

There’s no variety in fighting foes. There’s no exploration or depth. If you wondered

why I mentioned Comedy Central in the beginning, it’s because this game is a joke.