State of Emergency 2 Preview

Gun-slinging bandits. Violence consumes the streets. Prison walls are being torn down. The man is no longer the man – he's been overthrown by animalistic humans who want a better future. And what better a way to obtain those ideals than with death and destruction? Hasn't this been the plot of every Bond flick? They didn't turn out too well.

State of Emergency 2 puts gamers in a third-person world where chaos is more than obnoxious, irate drivers: it's a way of life. Traffic is the last thing you'll think about when armored, gun-toting men start patrolling the streets. Life ain't the pretty picture it used to be, with all those surprises that give people hope. Hence the state of emergency.

 
Destruction.

Beginning with a prison break and a whole lot of dead inmates, State of Emergency 2 is fast-paced action-packed carnage. Run out of ammo? No worries. In this game the ammunition might as well be infinite. More than half of the bad guys you kill will drop something - shotguns, handguns and other weapons, as well as the all-important health pickup. Every weapon pickup functions as a new stock of ammo for that weapon if you already have it, and since there aren't too many (if any) limitations on how much ammo you can hold, there's plenty of room to stock up.

With a game like this where enemies are everywhere, good health care is a must. The snipers weren't very clever and I kind of doubt that will change by the time the game is released. However, there can be a large number of them and they are often standing in an open area where you'd least expect. You could kill them if you knew were they were, but there are times when you'll be dead before you'll have had the chance to look for them.

Battles get even trickier as enemies are replenished. These aren't the stupid, sit-around-and-wait-for-you-to-move-type enemies. They act on their own and will attack whenever they please. They attack in great numbers and rarely seem to have an ammo-loading problem. There are tricks to getting around them, like creeping up a steep area and opening fire before they have a chance to spot you (sort of the opposite of what they'll do to you).

 
Destruction!

But for the most part this is not a game of stealth or clever actions. It's one of all-out destruction. Only the strongest will survive, and I'm not just saying that because it sounds good. State of Emergency 2 is not the hardest or cheapest game I've ever played, but it definitely belongs on my list of top games that keep me on my toes. Dodge these bullets with ease and you must be a third-person shooting master.

Arcade challenges give players something else to do when they're not going on a killing spree to save the world. Gold, silver and bronze medals are awarded to the three highest scorers in challenges that include tanks, helicopters, mounted guns, and other fun, destruction-filled scenarios. Shoot an innocent civilian and lose points – run over one with a tank and you lose nothing. Strange, but I guess it would be a bit difficult to pick and choose who you're going to run over while cruising the city in such an enormous, hard-to-maneuver vehicle.

Want to share the violence? Hook up with three friends for multiplayer brutality. Last Man Standing is among the five multiplayer modes, which also includes deathmatch and flag attack. Let the pain and suffering commence!

 
MORE destruction!

Some might think that State of Emergency 2 isn't that harsh, so let me clue you in: this is a game where, whether you think you're playing as a good guy or a bad guy, you can shoot and kill anything that moves. Criminals, dictator guards [law enforcement?] – anyone at any time. Blood splatters all too frequently. It's a fairly cheesy effect considering how advanced and realistic-looking games have become. This was perhaps an effort to counter the violence with some amusement. Or maybe it's the developers' way of laughing at the ESRB's listing of "realistic blood and gore" any time a game is violent. The joke is that the blood and gore in this game is anything but realistic.

Granted, the goal in State of Emergency 2 is to free the world of some evil organization that wants to dictate the way the world lives. The organization is violent, thus you have to be violent. Run through corridors, breach locked doors, take out snipers, or grab an automatic weapon and open fire on every target that comes within a deadly distance. If gratuitous violence is what you want, you'll get your money's worth. Look for it in February.