Following the New York fiasco in Parasite Eve, Aya Brea was recruited by the FBI into a group called MIST which specialized in hunting the remaining Mitochondria creatures which Eve has created. While their numbers continue to dwindle because of their instability, Aya has a sense of dread about what may come to pass and why things have been so quiet.
Taking a radical departure from the original game (which was actually based off of a popular Novel by the same name in Japan), PE 2 sports a new battle system, new spells, new weapons and a whole new enemy. Welcome to Texas (Though I could almost swear the Mojave Desert is in California...), home of sun, sand, tumbleweeds and Neo-Mitochondria Creatures! Freaks abound in the Lone star state, but is it worth loading your weapons for? Read on!
Why it sucks: The changes from the first game become very obvious when you start playing, different enough that it's like playing a completely different game! Because for the most part you... well... ARE. And the whole story behind it, I mean, god! It's like Square can't find enough things to tack "Neo" onto! Neo-mitochondia, Neo-human, Neo-toilet, Neo-Ark, Neo-get-a-life. >_< And the story itself stinks of Resident Evil ripoff!!! As does the gameplay and control scheme! >_< Basically, the whole thing revolves around the usual "Evil Corporation" plot device. And unlike RE, they don't even try to spice it up with you know... plot. Aya's dropped into a small town and right into the hell of a hidden lab/zoo/military base thing. It has the "one damn thing after another feel" that the From Dusk to Dawn movie had but not as amusing. She basically stumbles on some whacked out organization bent on turning the entire planet into freaks. Sounds like something out of a Troma movie :) Or something along the lines Baoh, or the Guyver. Anyway, when you get down to the nitty-gritty you'll find camera angles so bad, it makes resident evil look good and enemies so cheap you think this game was out to get you!!! >_< Besides that the thing plays a lot like a RE game, TOO MUCH like a Resident Evil game. The difference is basically that there is NO spoken dialogue except for the Clinton impression for the president and his Aide, and that every fight is treated like an encounter rather than something you can just run past. >_< The game is just painful any way you look at it, there's some cool extras and the fact that you can simply buy ammo with your bounty points ensure plenty of rounds for incoming freaks. But then you notice when you check the map that there are these "hot zones" which show that the freaks are back to their usual thing and you can (sometimes have to) clear them out. If you run away, you not only don't get any items or bounty for anything you may have killed, you get docked points. Which is crap >_< There are occasional points where you'll probably have no choice BUT to run, or you'll accidently wander out of the area and the stupid computer simply got lost in its lag to tally your points and it will dock you for leaving. Ugh. THe armor customizing is still available... sort of. Basically some armor's have these super cool abilites and extra space to stow your gear and you can add pockets with items you find along the way, unfortunately you cannot remove the extra pouches you put on when you find better armor. And switching armor alters your HP as well as several other factors like the GPS and resistence to silence, dark, and other enemy spells. If you like the first game, you're not going to get the same experience I guarantee you. It's a far cry from a decent sequel and feels like something Square just pulled out of their ass at the last minute.
Why it rules: For a hardcore gamer this presents a pretty cool challenge! Er... sorta. The difficulty curve is kind of weird, but with the alternate modes of play you get after beating the game, Different choice/event related endings and the various rewards you reap like wielding the Gunblade (Squall's weapon from FF8 and Number 9's weapon of choice in PE2) there's some incentive to keep playing. If the game's challenge appeals to you then you'll be playing a lot, besides you have to go through the entire game and get S rank like 3 times in order just to come close to getting the points required to get the gunblade. >_< There's some really cool movie snippets and some just incredibly lush and beautifully made environments in the game and Aya looks great! Though they can't decide what her proportions are in the game >_< She changes from a big boned american woman who's as tall as any guy in the game (for the most part) to some teeny, skinny scrawny Japanese girl. WTF?!? But there's some pretty cool moments, some awesome spells and weapons and some neat armor to be had. A game highly recommended for the more eager action gamer hoping to kill time and kill a LOT of freaks.
Overall: The game is a huge clunker when compared to its more well developed predecessor. Visually the game is fantastic! The sounds and music are iffy unfortunately so not all your sensory organs are in for a treat. From there it kind of goes downhill since the game is a joke in terms of playability, replay value and challenge that the original was. There's also the issue of continuity in that this game simply does not FLOW alongside the original. In fact, this could have been a completely different game at one point that they just all of a sudden stuck Aya into and slapped the Parasite Eve title onto since it's so trite. Their science scares and presentation of theories like evolution being a result of viruses and there's of course a few puzzles (though nothing truly satisfying or challenging) and some pretty cool boss fights. However on the topic of boss fights... the final one is lame on a level that scares me. It's like they could think up creative bosses all throughout the game except up to THAT point. The spell purchase system is an interesting concept provided you've not problems with mindlessly racking up experience points to BUY them with as opposed to gaining levels for them. The cool tricks Aya pulled in the other game are non-existent here, Liberation NEVER shows and the really worthwhile spells never pop up until much later in the game when you've unlocked them. While there's some neat little touches and honestly the game is pretty fun at some points, especially when you either unlock or find the really cool weapons and attachments like the hammer and grenade launcher for the rifle. :D But for the most part I can only recommend this game to those looking to kill a lot of time and a lot of freaks. If you have any doubts or second thoughts then simply stay away from the thing. STAY AWAY!