Crimson Sea 2 Review

Developer	Koei
Publisher	Koei
Genre	Action

Konami is a name in the gaming world that signifies excellence; since nearly the beginning of console gaming, the “Konami” label has graced box art covers of titles such as Contra, Blades of Steel, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. In recent years, though, their premium titles have slowed, especially on the PS2, with only a few notable games such as Winning Eleven or Dynasty Warriors. Thankfully, their looking for change; a chance to reclaim what they once had, and that’s where Crimson Sea 2 comes in.

Unfortunately, Crimson Sea 2 isn’t going to put Konami in an elite status in this genre. It has its ups and downs, but it seems as if the negatives out-weigh the positives, which proves to be a real problem. It’s a matter of taste, really, and while it provides a lot of fun, it won’t be remembered in years to come.

Gameplay - The entire concept of Crimson Sea 2 can’t exactly be described in a sentence or two; the game is set in space on the planet Theophilus a couple of years after the events of the original title. The hero of the first game, Sho, makes a return in the sequel. The habitants of Theophilus know of Sho as a Vipa who once saved their planet, and just the person they’re looking for when another evil alien race comes to end their existence.

The evil alien race in Crimson Sea 2? An odd looking giant bug of some sort, these intruders have an interesting way of replicating – they attach to the host (human, in this case) and then wait for the new-born to gestate inside the body, where it then implodes, creating yet another alien. Like I said, the story and whole general concept seem pretty novel.

If only the same could be said about actual gameplay. This has always been an issue in Konami titles, as they seem to have an overly advanced control scheme that appears too complex for casual gamers. The quirky camera doesn’t help matters, either. Luckily, the combat system – something of a cross between Dynasty Warriors with a Sci-Fi movie – delivers an expansive game that will leave you playing for 50+ hours.

Sho and Feanay (a woman character who you’ll come across later, she becomes a playable character) have the ability to use Neo-Psionics (NP), which basically means power-ups in simplified gaming jargon. When the NP gauge is filled, players can execute deadly attacks on hordes of enemies at one time There are several different types of attacks possible with just the Neo-Psionics, so it’s a good idea to learn them and execute them flawlessly. A really cool feature is the “Time Extend”, which slows down the rest of the world and leaves the enemies in a slower reality while you move at a rapid pace.

The hack ‘n slash gameplay does become monotonous, though, as sometimes it seems as if you’re just fighting an endless supply of enemies. The lack of enemy variation doesn’t help out much, either. If you’re easily entertained, Crimson Sea 2 will suck you in for hours upon hours. If you want to see many unique enemies with all sorts of illustrious attacks, you might want to look elsewhere.

Although there is a pretty ingenious storyline, Crimson Sea 2 isn’t exactly story-driven. It’s one of those few games that are very non-linear and extremely open ended, providing the player with whatever he/she wants to do. With character-based missions, anybody can easily go through with Sho and Feanay and get lost in what to some is an excellent game.

When battling opponents, they always hunt in large swarms. It’s essential to be active with consistent motion, as well as constantly attacking with a sword or gun. One of my favorite tactics to use is to be able to “back slash”, where once you get done attacking something, if there happens to be an alien behind you (which trust me, there will be), you can jump backwards and slash the alien all in a seamless attack.

The major problem with Crimson Sea 2, though, is the aforementioned camera. However, it’s an understandable fault, with the game being third-person and all. It’s hard to have a camera system that can keep up with the action, especially since you’re always moving, but I found myself constantly readjusting the camera in the middle of combat trying to find enemies abroad. Loads of Third-person perspective action games have camera bugs, but there are a few games that do it well, making it almost in excusable these days. If you can deal with the camera, you might find this game to be more than worthy in your game collection.

Other than the primary story-mode, there are a few multiplayer options. In one of these, you can let a friend hook up a controller and the two of you can tag-team an entire stage of enemies. In another you’re against your opponent in a death match-like environment. And then you can simply compete against the fellow human controlled player in the “Competition Mode”. Truthfully, you won’t find too much in these and will probably completely disregard all multiplayer aspects.

Graphics - Crimson Sea 2 stands out among other PS2 games visually, which is a huge score for Konami. You can certainly tell the anime-influence on the general character design and artistic flair, and the Sci-Fi setup really personifies the overall graphics engine. With a lack of enemies, though, there aren’t too many insanely awesome-looking creatures. Incredibly, though, Konami has stabilized the framerate to be consistent the whole game through, even with what seems like hundreds of aliens on screen at a time.

The bullets flying, along with the Neo Psionic attacks, and even the swords slashing through the air all create a vibe of a great looking game. If I had to choose a downfall, though, it’d have to be the lack of destructible items throughout the levels. Aside from a few objects here and there, the environments are hardly interactive, and if Konami does indeed decide to go out for another title like CS2, an environment destruction-engine almost has to be implemented. Kudos to the development team, though, on what is a fantastic game to look at.

Sound - The aural aspects of Crimson Sea 2 all work together well. While the voice-acting and dialogue is less than impressive, it gets the job done. In the mix of all of the action, it’s easy to forget that there’s a great musical score in the game. There are plenty of tracks, too, so that’s one thing that never gets repetitive. Of course, there are naturally the sound effects of the guns blazing, swords swinging in the air, and the aliens groaning, and they’re all wonderfully produced.

Bottom Line - In the end, Crimson Sea 2 is a good game that could be great with slight improvements. The nagging camera problems really create an issue, and the tediousness of the never-ending supply of enemies will drive some people insane. But, like I said before, if you can look past these issues then you won’t put down Crimson Sea 2 for a long, long time. It has its issues, but if you’re a fan of the genre, you can’t go wrong with picking up Crimson Sea 2.

Review by Brian Williams