CooperWasRight
12-Mar-2009, 12:36 AM
I was in Blockbuster and I reluctantly picked up a copy of Shellshock 2, I remember seeing a trailer that looked something akin to Jacobs ladder meets full metal jacket.
At first I was somewhat intrigued but then I found there was no multiplayer aspect and that is was getting mediocre reviews AND its a budget title. But I had my monthly free rental coupon and I had to feed the gamer score.
So the game opens up like the trailer... Your in a dark room and the fist thing I notice is the graphics and lighting engine is nice....Not great but nice, You are led through a room and there is some what typical military jib laden with profanity for that authentic "nam" feel as your superior gives you the sitrep.. You are given a mystery shot from a syringe and told about something referred to as "Whiteknight".... You are led to a room in the back and told the reason for pulling you in is to talk to your brother whom is somehow connected to Whiteknight and get him to talk.
http://www.dignews.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/shellshock-2-18.jpg
Not to go into too many details your brother escapes and from there the game revolves around catching him... You run through any alley after him with a some what typical easy opening level that serves as a tutorial. The first level opens set in a urban Vietnam town looking abit like a set from Full metal jacket.. Shoot, Reload and repeat...
http://o.aolcdn.com/gd-media/games/shellshock-2-blood-trails/pc/tn_565_2.jpg
There are also some quicktime events called beat downs where an enemy will pop up and grab you at which point you are prompted to hit a series of button and if you fail to do so you die, if you complete them you will perform a kill depending on the weapon you are holding, sometimes you will get an option at the end to do a melee kill or a head shot.... The first head shot you preform is pretty jarring and spectacular. There are 2 forms of head shots in the game, the first is a run of the mill head shot knocking enemy dead on impact.... The other is known as a decapitating head shot... Think woolly's gone apeshit in dawn of the dead 78 head shot.
The first couple of levels are pretty much play out like by the numbers war fps but then something pretty crazy happens it turns into a zombie slash war fps and by the mansion level it turns into a survival horror fps!
http://o.aolcdn.com/gd-media/games/shellshock-2-blood-trails/pc/tn_565_20.jpg
I started to get a old school resident evil feeling during the mansion you only have so much ammo until you get to certain points in this decrepit rotten old house and there are plenty of zeds awaiting every other corner... The music is minimal and almost 80's Harrison/Carpenter-esque and there are various zombie moans and screams in the background witch is played very good effect(5.1 really ups it)
http://o.aolcdn.com/gd-media/games/shellshock-2-blood-trails/pc/tn_565_22.jpg
I wont ruin the whole game but there are even a few "Boss battles" with out going to over the top and all in all the gameplay like the graphics are "good" and there is enough variety in level design to keep you distracted from the fact that there is really only to enemies in the game: Soldiers/Zombies. If you play this game on it's most difficult setting you might get about 5-7 hours out of its 10 levels and it will surely stretch the gameplay... Im personally going for the achievement that requires no death at the hands of infected... This adds a new layer of appreciation to the game...The infected are early on in the game push overs but trying to play the game with out being killed by even one adds massively to the tension I would highly suggest you play this way and the 9th level will be quiet the experience.
To some things up this game is pretty much not at all what I expected from the early trailers I saw this game is not "Jacobs ladder" meets "Full metal jacket"... Its Zach Snyders "Dawn of the dead" meets "Full metal jacket". The Zeds run abit in the games but for the most part they walk. But its pretty much what would happen if Romero directed a Nam flick.
http://o.aolcdn.com/gd-media/games/shellshock-2-blood-trails/pc/tn_565_19.jpg
Is the game a classic? Maybe not... But its the closest thing to a Romero fps we have on this generation of games so go get some!
At first I was somewhat intrigued but then I found there was no multiplayer aspect and that is was getting mediocre reviews AND its a budget title. But I had my monthly free rental coupon and I had to feed the gamer score.
So the game opens up like the trailer... Your in a dark room and the fist thing I notice is the graphics and lighting engine is nice....Not great but nice, You are led through a room and there is some what typical military jib laden with profanity for that authentic "nam" feel as your superior gives you the sitrep.. You are given a mystery shot from a syringe and told about something referred to as "Whiteknight".... You are led to a room in the back and told the reason for pulling you in is to talk to your brother whom is somehow connected to Whiteknight and get him to talk.
http://www.dignews.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/shellshock-2-18.jpg
Not to go into too many details your brother escapes and from there the game revolves around catching him... You run through any alley after him with a some what typical easy opening level that serves as a tutorial. The first level opens set in a urban Vietnam town looking abit like a set from Full metal jacket.. Shoot, Reload and repeat...
http://o.aolcdn.com/gd-media/games/shellshock-2-blood-trails/pc/tn_565_2.jpg
There are also some quicktime events called beat downs where an enemy will pop up and grab you at which point you are prompted to hit a series of button and if you fail to do so you die, if you complete them you will perform a kill depending on the weapon you are holding, sometimes you will get an option at the end to do a melee kill or a head shot.... The first head shot you preform is pretty jarring and spectacular. There are 2 forms of head shots in the game, the first is a run of the mill head shot knocking enemy dead on impact.... The other is known as a decapitating head shot... Think woolly's gone apeshit in dawn of the dead 78 head shot.
The first couple of levels are pretty much play out like by the numbers war fps but then something pretty crazy happens it turns into a zombie slash war fps and by the mansion level it turns into a survival horror fps!
http://o.aolcdn.com/gd-media/games/shellshock-2-blood-trails/pc/tn_565_20.jpg
I started to get a old school resident evil feeling during the mansion you only have so much ammo until you get to certain points in this decrepit rotten old house and there are plenty of zeds awaiting every other corner... The music is minimal and almost 80's Harrison/Carpenter-esque and there are various zombie moans and screams in the background witch is played very good effect(5.1 really ups it)
http://o.aolcdn.com/gd-media/games/shellshock-2-blood-trails/pc/tn_565_22.jpg
I wont ruin the whole game but there are even a few "Boss battles" with out going to over the top and all in all the gameplay like the graphics are "good" and there is enough variety in level design to keep you distracted from the fact that there is really only to enemies in the game: Soldiers/Zombies. If you play this game on it's most difficult setting you might get about 5-7 hours out of its 10 levels and it will surely stretch the gameplay... Im personally going for the achievement that requires no death at the hands of infected... This adds a new layer of appreciation to the game...The infected are early on in the game push overs but trying to play the game with out being killed by even one adds massively to the tension I would highly suggest you play this way and the 9th level will be quiet the experience.
To some things up this game is pretty much not at all what I expected from the early trailers I saw this game is not "Jacobs ladder" meets "Full metal jacket"... Its Zach Snyders "Dawn of the dead" meets "Full metal jacket". The Zeds run abit in the games but for the most part they walk. But its pretty much what would happen if Romero directed a Nam flick.
http://o.aolcdn.com/gd-media/games/shellshock-2-blood-trails/pc/tn_565_19.jpg
Is the game a classic? Maybe not... But its the closest thing to a Romero fps we have on this generation of games so go get some!