izigame.me

The Return of Self-Torture Game! AGAIN!

So, Nightdive did it again. They cured my hate for Quake2 and SS1 with its Remasters (and a Remake)
Still, I had doubts about SS2 because I hate RPG elements still and overall Jankiness of the game - I thought there's no way they'll make the game enjoyable for me
They did it

They absolutely f__king did it

🟡Better controls, stable framerate, better resolution, better resources locations. Although it looks like they just used some of the best community mods, slapped them together, added cheevos, added coop, made some testing and kicked the game onto the release. And its glorious. It still looks dated but at least not as ugly as Original. Models are better, textures are better - but its still looks even older than HL1

Vaccuuming through Von Braum

The gameplay still the same
Each new game - you're forced through very boring Tutorial level
Then you choose class (from 3)
Then you choose starting skills and stats (about 3 times)
And then the actual game starts.
Through the whole game you gonna look for resources, ammo, coins, upgrade points
Find a way to deal with every enemy, every puzzle and every new objective.
The problem is - the start is really hard to compehend. There's a lot to suck into your mind. There is melee, there are guns, there is PSI powers. You can hack stuff, you need to avoid alarms, Various types of enemies that also have armor aganist certain weapons - there's a LOT OKAY?!
There is also research stuff, guns are jamming, ammo is scarce and the worst thing - each time you find something new - the game c_ckblocks you. Like I want hack stuff - NO you cant. My gun is broken, I wanna repair - YOU CANT. I wanna use new gun - YOU CANT. I wanna research new gun - YOU CANT. I wanna use new armor - YOU STILL F__KING CANT. Because you need to learn a lot in this game and you obviously dont know what is bad to learn, what is useless and what is actually essential for beating the game.
There is also Coin check at the middle of the game - so if you spend a lot - its a softlock.
At the end of the game - if you still dont know hacking - its a softlock
🟡So yeah, there are still problems for the first time players.

Still having no idea where to go

🟡Again, like in SS1 - there is a lot of information that literally tells you what to do and where. But, the map is still VERY LOW quality. Levels are dissected into different locations and objectives are scattered everywhere. Worst of all - every time you're getting a vital information - there either a loud Scrillex music coming up - or a very annoying enemy wanting to chat with you. Even worse - where logs are interrupted by other logs or Shodan just wanna talk you for lulz.
For anyone who doesnt know - the plot is about Shodan's Creation - The Many (Overmind from Starcraft) decided to visit Earth and just so happens - a ship flies by and takes it on board as a Taxi. Shodan's fragment survived and is basically using you to get rid of The Many and...transform the Universe into Cyberspace?!.... Obviously spoilers but c'mon its been 26 years already.

Lots of guns, various enemies, logs and labyrints of a space ship

🟢So the best thing about this game - is variety. There are tons of guns and melee weapons. Wrench, Laser Rapier, Pistol, shotty, Assault Rifle, Grenade Launcher, Laser pistol, Ion Gun, Plasma Gun, Alien Stick, Alien Virus and Alien Launcher. I think I forgot something but at any rate - you'll probably use only about 50% of those. Because of the RPG system.
As for enemies: Basically zombies with guns, robots and cyborgs, mutants. Each enemy is unique and needs its own way to deal with (or evade). Oh, they also respawn but not as frequent as in SS1 (Impossible experience)
Oh and Shodan is awesome, as are the logs - most of those were very fun to listen too.
🟡Level design - get ready to get lost - a lot. There is also Radiation Tunnels that can ruin your day if you dont know where the hazmat suits are. Enemies respawn (Again). Map is whack, levels are separated by loading rooms - its really jank and also there are some levels that dont even have the map so good luck.
🔴Finally, there's music - with really great ambience that helps you immerse yourself...until Scrillex decides to invade your game session and ruin your day.

Completion time and Conclusion

🟢It took me about 20 hours to beat the game on Impossible whilst unlocking most of the Cheevos - most of those are about maxxing your starts, using best weapons and Psi Powers, finding all logs and various easter eggs for funsies.
The game also demands to beat it with every class - but I'll do it later.
Overall, I'd say hardest difficulty was frustrating but not Actually Impossible - it was a better experience than in SS1 - mostly because there is No Global Timer This Time - THANK GOD
Also - quick saves are broken so I softlocked myself with them a couple of times (saved right before death)
So, is the game fun and actually worth it now? - YES. No more modern compatibillity problems. No more ugly resolution and patching for wide screen.
Is it still dated in terms of storytelling without guidance and some not really good objectives? (Art Gallery codes) - Yes - but it is what it is you either love it or hate it.
Finally, I was really expecting to suffer through the whole game as I did before when I first played SS2 but...when I booted the Remaster - IT SUCKED HOURS FROM MY LIFE AND NOT EVEN GAVE ME ITS NUMBER - ITS THAT GOOD. I even forgot that I need to eat and sleep between sessions. Holy hell how I dont even know

TL;DR:

Got better, fixed a lot of dated things
Still dated
Extremely fun but can be frustrating
Not exactly hard On Hard
Amazing Replay Value
Praise be the Metal Mommy I only wish I could actually join her but I guess.....


....Nah


6.5/10 - Good but hard to get into. Very Hard.