Fear Effect 2: Retro Helix

by Sony

Product Features

• 1 Player
• 4 Disc Set
• Analog Control and Vibration Function Compatible
• 8 New Enviroments and more Mindbending Puzzles
• New Motion FX 3D Technology

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B000059Z7Q
• Media: Video Game
• Release Date: February 21, 2001
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,116 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

Fear Effect 2: Retro Helix is the prequel to the survival-horror game Fear Effect. Here you play one of four mercenaries in a team that has signed on to bring back the kidnapped daughter of a powerful Chinese executive. The adventure takes players through the chaotic alternate reality of Hong Kong, Hell's Kitchen in New York City, the formidable walled city of Xi'an, the lost tomb of the first emperor of China, and, finally, into the legendary mountain island of the immortals, Penglai Shan. A variety of melee and range weapons, such as brass knuckles, pistols, and heavy assault weapons, will help you take out increasingly combative henchmen.

The game allows you to play as any one member of the team: cover-girl assassins Hana Tsu-Vachel or Rain Qin, master operative Royce Glas, or greedy killer Jakob "Deke" Decourt. The game's variable ending changes with the disposition of certain in-game events, and other hidden features promise added replayability.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally, a great "mature" RPG/Action Game, May 30, 2001

By 

Mark Frost "Economist & Philosopher" (Dallas, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fear Effect 2: Retro Helix (Video Game)

BACKGROUND (of my review). First of all, I'm one of those hard-core Resident Evil (RE) fans so the games I like tend to be "story-driven" RPG/action/adventure games; that is, a **character driven** plotline that develops a global objective(s), one becomes the character and searches for "stuff", with battles, puzzles, and other obstacles along the way. Hence, hearing the Fear Effect (FE) series fit this, and having read some positive reviews on Amazon, I bought FE1&2 at the same time. Discovering that FE2 was a prequel to FE1, I decided to play them in the chronological order they were staged, i.e. FE2 first. BTW, I'm glad I did, having just finished FE1 I was literally surprised and even saddened at the fate of some of the characters. Hence, if you're new to the FE franchise, I highly recommend you start with FE2.

GRAPHICS FE2 is stunning visually with backgrounds, characters, and other textures being very well rendered. The characters are rendered smoothly, and are done so very well with amazing levels of "emotion" portrayed. Indeed, the all around graphical experience is about as good as I can imagine possible, given the restraints of the aging Playstation's polygon processing capabilities.

CONTROLS & GAME ENGINE The game engine is adequate for the RPG aspect of the game, although at times during fighting sequences require "rolling" -- a button-pushing challenge -- that takes a bit of getting used to. Again, I don't want to mislead anyone, the controls are adequate, just not great. One aspect of the game engine I especially enjoyed is that the object isn't just to kill everything in sight, but rather using "stealth" to sneak up behind an enemy with a "one-shot" kill. This made the game intelligent and well as fun. Likewise, the puzzles were challenging but not impossible and actually made sense to the plot (a rarity in gaming these days).

VOICE ACTING FE2 possesses perhaps the absolute best voice acting that I have ever experienced in a game (one of my major criticisms of the RE series is its horrible to average voice acting). The script made sense and the performance of the voice actors who spoke it was in synch with the moment. This added to the realism and mature sensibility of the game dramatically. The voices perfectly matched the characters, and actors provided the proper vocal "inflection" the scenes required.

MISCELLANEOUS This is a "mature" rated game. Its "stars" are Hanna and Rain, two rather beautiful mercenaries possessing.... well lets just say modern preferences and a "past". Additionally, the middle-third of the game features them negotiating through a rather humerous but perilous cocktail party meaning they are wearing "light-weight" evening dresses. Again, the game's graphics were very well done :-)

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good game for the more experienced gamer, April 7, 2001

By 

SuperDan (Deer Park, IL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fear Effect 2: Retro Helix (Video Game)

Being a little bit more experienced as a gamer, I feel that Fear Effect 2: Retro Helix is a great game. Not having owned or even played the first FE, I didn't know exactly what I was in for when buying this game. The main reason I got FE 2 without playing it first(sometimes a bad idea!) was because I've been hearing nothing but good things about the first and lately the second.

The thing that makes this game so great are basically the graphics, sound quality, and most of all, overall game play. The graphics in FE 2 are a little different from most others. That's because it's anime style. I think it looks awesome, for a PS one game. This game has the potential to become an instant classic action/shooter game. It is just is so good! In the whole game there are a total of four different characters you control.

This game doesn't just have good things, though. There are also some flaws. The controls are, at first, kind of screwed up and it takes a while to get used to them. It's not too bad. Also, there are many diferent camera views, which is most of the time pretty cool, but some of them just don't get you a good enough view of your surroundings. You also die a lot before you get it right. Those were the only things keeping this game from getting 5 stars.

Oh yeah, FE 2 has 4 discs, which probably seems like a lot to most people. It's not too much, actually. FE 2 is also definitely not a game for younger kids. Because both of the difficculty of the game and the content present in the game. Two of the characters are lesbian assassins- I think you get it.

Overall, the pros definitely outshadow the cons in this case. Fear Effect 2: Retro Helix is just a really cool game.

15 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally, a game geared towards mature gamers!, February 3, 2001

By 

Matt (Illinois) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fear Effect 2: Retro Helix (Video Game)

After Eidos created a phenomenal anime-based action/adventure game that was both inovative and fun, they've decided to back it up with a sequel that will hopefully top its predecessor. Although that in itself is going to be very difficult, Eidos has practically gotten rid of the load times, included more than 2 hours of computer generated sequences, and stuffed in 800 different camera angles!!! Fear Effect: Retro Helix will have the same type of adventure gameplay as the last game, including all of the oriental themes. The main difference with this title is that it is definately geared towards the older audience. Lets just say you will see plenty of women wearing next to nothing outfits, and you will watch them change into another next to nothing outfit! This is no joke, Eidos wasnt even allowed to put their magazine ad in any publications because it was labeled too "risque".

I feel anyone who enjoyed the first Fear Effect or is a fan of the adventure genre should definately check this game out when it is released on February 20, 2001. I know i can't wait to get my hands on it!