Customer Reviews

State of Emergency 2

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

In State of Emergeny 1, you basically run around a large environment in the middle of a riot. You beat people up. You grab weapons of all sorts including hatchets, machineguns, trash cans. You smash stuff, beat up bad guys, and try not to get killed. It was not an especially complex game, but it was fun. And different.

SoE2, on the other hand, tries to be something else. It has more thinking, more maneuvering, more dying. It's not a terrible game, but it's not what I want when I play a sequel to the original.

The gameplay is okay, nothing exceptional. The levels are more traditional video game with a slight riot theme. But SoE2 takes a unique game and turns it into just another game. Nothing terribly wrong with it, just not much of the violent, mindless charm of the first. It's also a little frustrating. I found myself dying quite a bit. Not that I wasn't getting better at it, but the second I have to start taking my time, thinking about what I'm doing, and planning ahead is the second it doesn't feel like SoE.

Okay game, but I really, really wish it had been more like the original.

The original State of Emergency (Xbox/PS2) was nothing more than a mindlessly bloody game, but it was a damn fun game to play. This Playstation 2-exclusive sequel sadly ditches the original addicting formula in favor of a more cinematic experience, that sadly falls flat. This game had a troubled development history. It was stuck in development hell for years. It was passed from developer VIS to developer DC Studios; a studio with a bad track record (See Larry Boy and the Bad Apple), and the game was passed from Rockstar to Southpeak Interactive. The game showed a lot of potential. Better gun controls, the ability to drive tanks and fly helicopters, more gore, slightly better visuals, and tons of voice-acting to go with the new storyline.
WHAT THE GAME IS: A sequel to the smash-hit Rockstar title. The story revolves around the original characters from the first game. The characters are trying to take down the corporation from the first game again and rescue Mack and Bull from prison. After a shootout and epic escape from the prison. The gang reunites to rescue Libra from the clutches of the corporation, by means of shooting the crap out of corporation soldiers on the streets of the city, buildings, and more.
GRAPHICS: Better than the original, but not very remarkable. The environmental designs aren't that great and like so many other PS2 games, this one suffers from texture and lighting problems. The gore factor has been cranked up a bit and is better than the first game. Could have been better, but decent nonetheless.
MUSIC: The score is much better than the first game, but it's not very remarkable. I preferred to listen to my own music as I played the game.
SOUND: The sound effects have been improved and the gun sounds actually seem to match their weapons. Some sound effects are too quiet though. The voice-acting is not that bad, but unfortunately it's marred by the laughable dialogue; which sometimes seems to try and imitate gangster vibe of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (PS2, Xbox), or just stupid tough guy attitude dialogue.
GAMEPLAY: This area is a mixed bag unfortunately. The gun controls are improved, but are not perfect. One example of it not being perfect is the sniper rifle controls which requires you to push R2, then to zoom in requires L1 to zoom in or L2 to zoom out, then R1 to fire. This may not sound too complicated, but the game does complicate it and it will take time to learn the controls. The targeting system sometimes seems off as well. The parts of the game that require the use of the helicopter are a nightmare. To control the helicopter requires use of the analog sticks exclusively, and it controls horribly resulting in a number of unfair deaths and or damage. It will take you a long time to finish such missions. The tank missions aren't bad, but are sadly too short. The game's AI is very bipolar. At the beginning of the game when Mack is about to be executed in a gas chamber, you have to sit in the chair in the gas chamber and shoot away at oncoming guards. The guards did not hit me once, and I was sitting in a chair which should have made me a sitting duck for target practice. I just casually turned the chair in different directions and fired away. Then in later parts of the game, it seems as if the enemies have the best aim in the world and you will constantly get hit and constantly die, and then will go back to being stupid. This game has no save system for checkpoints, so therefore if you quit without finishing the chapter, you get to redo it all over again. Some of the missions are extremely frustrating. One example is where you must rescue Bull from being executed by two guards by shooting the guards. You need to gain really fast reflexes on this one, because if you don't, the moment you kill one guard with the sniper rife, the other guard will kill Bull almost immediately afterwards. Then you have to defend Bull as he runs around the prison from guards and you have to kill them all before they kill him, and if you fail you get to redo most of the objectives you just finished...AGAIN. Then there are missions that are ridiculously easy such as the mission where you go around the streets of the city killing drug dealers marked with a green arrow over their heads. Then there are some missions that just don't belong in a game like this. One mission requires you to use stealth (This State of Emergency, not Metal Gear Solid or Splinter Cell!). What did I do on this mission? Killed the guards, took their guns, and blew the crap out of more guards. This game also seems to borrow from The Punisher (Xbox, PS2) because of a few scenes of interrogation, except it's not awesome like The Punisher. Mostly you punch them hard to get them to talk. If you punch too softly, they won't talk, not matter how many times you punch. Punch too hard and you'll kill the person you're interrogating and fail the mission. The plot twists that follow from such scenes are highly unremarkable and are more of a joke. You're probably wondering, "Does it have the destructive mayhem and modes of the original?" Mostly no. I really don't know why, but many of the awesome weapons of the original are either gone or are very difficult to find while you play the game. In order to unlock the different modes you must get a high enough score during whatever event you're playing and a new mode will be unlocked. Sadly, most of these extra modes are not much fun to play. The core game is disappointing, and the extra modes are disappointing. What a shame.
OVERALL: In the end State of Emergency 2 has its moments of greatness that hearkens back to the wonderful splatterfest that was the original, but it's quality is damaged badly by frustrating missions, lack of modes, lack of weapons, and sloppy controls making it a hugely disappointing sequel to the original. It's a mediocre game with a great lack of polish that's worth a rental, but not a buy like the original.
THE GOOD: The new shooting controls, the better graphics, the better gore, and the fact it aims to be a more cinematic experience.
THE BAD: Horrible flight controls on the helicopter, hugely frustrating missions, unremarkable music, bad dialogue, and an overall disappointment.

this game is merely based on the 'intelectual property' of the first State of Emergency created by Rockstar Games... ie it's based on some of the characters of that game and nothing more... the targeting of the weapons and the game saves are a real disappointment... I'm glad I rented this game instead of buying it... I predict it will sell for 9.99 in a month or two.

This game is simply not fun. there is not enough weapons to choose from. no auto-aiming. stupid music and awful voice overs. only 3 areas to choose from in multiplayer. missions are far too difficult. bottom line: if you were a fan of the first state of emergency, rent this. i urge you to not buy it!

State Of Emergency 2 was a very well thought out game, It caught my attention from the gate. I took a chance on this one because part one wasn't so much fun to play. Part 1 was like a 3 star game. With part 2 there's alot more options, and I love the arcade portion. I found myself up til 4 in the morning playing it. Can't wait til part 3!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is the first part of a two part review. First part, rating the demo, second part, rating the game. Okay, when I heard about the game, I thought it might be kinda cool, but when I played the demo, I kept dying and dying. No fun, but it is just a demo, right? PLay the demo first before anything.
[part two coming soon.]

the camera in the game sucks. they are no cheets available.
this supose to be a fun game to play, not a maze. dont buy it

ok this game isnt that good. all this is is a 50 cent bulletproof but u have less health u controls are harder and the graphics suck