Games for Lunch: Shellshock 2: Blood Trails
In a nutshell: War is hell ... to play.
5/8/2009 8:06 PM | 0 Comments | Page 1 of 4
Developer: Rebellion Developments
Publisher: Eidos
Release Date: Feb. 24, 2009
Systems: PS3 (reviewed), Xbox 360, PC
ESRB Rating: M
0:00 This kind of Vietnam War shooter usually isn't my cup of tea, but I'm trying real hard to broaden my horizons here, so I figured I'd give it a rental.
0:01 The preview screen on the PlayStation 3 menu is full of ambient war sounds -- gunshots, vague screaming, bombs going off, etc. It's got me on edge already, but not really in a good way.
0:02 The music accompanying the Rebellion logo is so loud I swear it's going to break my speakers. Then a generic title screen with some red blood cells floating around in plasma in the background.
0:03 "Fall of '69, and I'm on a bird into 'Nam, drafted like the rest of these grunts. We've fucked up this war and lost so many kids and now it's my turn. Some dickwad sergeant tells me I'm important; he's given me a special assignment at the border. The border of Hell is still Hell. I ain't even been so scared." And the award for best use of the word "dickwad" in horrible game writing goes to...
0:04 Just like that, I'm thrown roughly into a first-person view of a ratty hospital. A voiceover version of my character reminisces about the war from his position in the future. "Man up, pussy, and listen to Griffin. Maybe today you'll become a man," says a guide in fatigues. Another soldier gives me 20cc of some mystery drug. My future narrator goes on about Whiteknight, which I didn't know a thing about at the time. In the background, explosions and screaming. To my left, someone writhing on a stretcher.
0:07 The one guy who survived seeing Whiteknight (who/whatever he/it is) is tied down to a bed. He's my brother, Cal, screaming, badly bloodied and wearing an eye-patch. "Don'tcha recognize him, f**ko?" says my companion. "Or don't you remember what kin smells like?" Cal breaks one of his bonds and reaches for me. "Get the tranq gun," says my companion as he runs off. Some hazy red visions, then everything goes black. Boy, they're really throwing a lot of stuff out there really quickly.
0:08 I wake up and I'm in control. My first mission is to escape the bar, which is now empty and under a grenade assault. I sprint up stairs just in time to see a soldier get knifed in the back by what I assume is a Cambodian. He leaps on me and I have to "press the buttons in the order they appear on the screen" to snap his neck. Really? Quick Time Events? This isn't 1999, y'know.
0:09 Outside, Griffin and I pursue Cal down a narrow alley. Griffin shoots at him as he climbs a fence. "You tried to kill him!" I say, shocked. "I tried to stop him ... you wanna have a f***ing cry, do it on your own agenda. Right now, time to f***ing book." Wow ... that's powerful writing. Powerfully BAD (BURN!).
0:11 Griffin drags me into a room as a voice on a bullhorn yells about a quarantine. He tells me not to move as a dying soldier in the corner cries out for his mother. The dying guy won't shut up, so Griffin walks over and SLITS HIS THROAT to keep him quiet. Holy mother of crap! It doesn't work ... a Cambodian hears, runs in the room, and gets a really fake-looking headshot at point-blank range. Everything kind of looks oddly artificial, from the waxen faces to the stilted character animation to the environment.
