Fighting Force 2
- November 24, 2000 14:47 PM PST
- Email this!
Eidos fans will remember Fighting Force, a "go-right, beat-'em-up" in the loving tradition of Double Dragon and Final Fight. Those same fans might not recognize the series now, however, because Core and Eidos have taken the action of Fighting Force and squeezed it into Lara Croft's shorts.
- GamePro Score
- User Score
- Write your review!
Boom Raider
You're stereotypical manly-man Hawk Mason, and you're charged with taking out the dangerous and evil Nakamichi Corporation. In this Fighting Force world, where a man can swallow a bazooka round and keep on comin', your only course of action is to go around blasting people, places and things into the great gaming graveyard. You have fifteen different weapons and a slew of hand-to-hand moves to bring to bear against the bad guys, and you'll need every one - these guys are tough. Luckily, so are you.
For some unknown reason, Core decided to make this Fighting Force sequel into a 3D action title a la Tomb Raider. Fighting Force 2 is like Tomb Raider in some ways - uneven controls, blocky graphics, over-the-shoulder camera view - and unlike Lara's game in others. Unlike Tomb Raider, Fighting Force emphasizes the action and shooting over the more cerebral puzzles and exploration. Somewhere in between, all the fun gets sucked out.
School Of Hard Blocks
Fighting Force 2's graphics are made mostly of large blocks, with decent fire and lighting effects interspersed throughout. Your character looks fine, though he's not as lovely as Ms. Croft, and he moves well enough that it's forgivable. You likely won't take this game back because the graphics are bad, because they're about par for the course.
Hawk Mason grunts, sighs and oofs as he blazes through bad guys like a warm knife through butter. Some weapons, like the Uzi, sound good enough to actually bring excitement to the game, but most do not. The ambient sounds of the levels immerse you in the game, but the other sounds are typical PlayStation fare.
What you're really fighting in Fighting Force 2 are the controls. You'll do fine with most situations, like running down the hall and simple fisticuffs, but maneuvering in combat is tough, thanks to the vertigo-inducing camera. Fighting more than one enemy hand-to-hand is frustrating at best. To top it all off, someone decided that it'd be a good idea to have the Fire button (the X button) also climb ladders and ledges. You'll often accidentally blow rounds of ammo just trying to get down a ladder.
Maxi Bad Da Force
Fighting Force 2 is many things but it is not a good sequel to Fighting Force. Those of you looking for one more action/adventure title might want to give this one a look, but only until Syphon Filter 2. Come to think of it, just go play Syphon Filter again. You deserve better than this.
