Fear Effect 2: Retro Helix | |
---|---|
Developer(s) | Kronos Digital Entertainment |
Publisher(s) | Eidos Interactive |
Director(s) | Stan Liu |
Producer(s) | Sandy Abe |
Designer(s) | Scott Compton Tim Coolidge |
Programmer(s) | Michael Fernie Steve Shimizu Hiep Dam Feng Hu |
Artist(s) | Stan Liu Alvin Chung Joan Igawa Atsuko Kubota Joseph Lampone Jr. Takashi Morishima Jusuf Santoso Terry Shigemitsu |
Writer(s) | Stan Liu |
Composer(s) | David Rovin |
Platform(s) | PlayStation |
Release | |
Genre(s) | Action-adventure |
Mode(s) | Single-player |
Aggregate score | |
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Aggregator | Score |
Metacritic | 84/100 |
Review scores | |
Publication | Score |
Eurogamer | 5/10 |
Game Revolution | B |
GameSpot | 8.9/10 |
IGN | 6.9/10 |
Fear Effect 2: Retro Helix is an action-adventure game developed by Kronos Digital Entertainment and published by Eidos Interactive for the PlayStation. It is the prequel to Fear Effect.
Fear Effect 2: Retro Helix begins in Hong Kong in the year 2048. The player delves into the colorful histories of the original cast of three mercenaries - and newcomer Rain Qin - as well as the extraordinary circumstances that brought them together. In the wake of a degenerative global pandemic called EINDS (Environmentally Induced Nucleotides Degeneration Syndrome – pronounced "ends"), theft, murder, and terrorism have become big business.
Hana Tsu-Vachel and Rain Qin are freelance operatives, Royce Glas is a washed-up former soldier, and Jacob "Deke" Decourt is a cutthroat assassin. Much of the game's intrigue lies in how these unlikely allies even manage to come together for one cause. From the start, each of them have their own motives, but they soon all become entangled in a sinister plot extending far beyond politics, espionage, or personal survival. The adventure takes players through a futuristic Hong Kong, the formidable walled city of Xi'an, the lost tomb of the first emperor of China, and, finally, into the mountain island of the immortals, Penglai Shan.
Like the original Fear Effect, the sequel features cel-shaded character models on top of pseudo-3D environments that use looping full-motion video to give the appearance of constantly animated background elements. Players take control of each of the four main characters (Hana, Rain, Deke and Glas) at different times throughout the game, which enables multilateral perspective on the storyline.
Retro Helix mostly relies on a third-person perspective. The controls are mapped without regard to the character's current position or direction faced. Unlike the original Fear Effect, however, Retro Helix offers players the option of a more traditional control scheme. At the player's disposal is a small arsenal of weapons, including a variety of firearms – including pistols, shotguns, and assault rifles, specialty equipment such as a hand-held EMPs and a taser, and one unique melee weapon for each character.