Some of the more remarkable graphical touches found within Parasite Eve II are the Full Motion Video sequences that run in a few of the backgrounds. An example of this would be the fountain in the first level of the game. The fountain sprays water realistically and periodically stops. Unfortunately though, there just aren't that many things in Parasite Eve II that you haven't seen before. Enemies animate quite fluidly, though the character animation is a bit lacking sometimes. Conversations quickly become exercises in watching two people wave their hands up and down as the often-bland dialog takes place, though I will admit that the ending was pretty well done. Gentle hints of sound and ambient music pervade nearly every area of Parasite Eve II, with a few exceptionally well-done tunes and tracks that make the given moment they're set to that much more tension-filled. There aren't that many truly memorable tracks, but the final boss music, "The Cruelty of Eve's Fate", was especially fitting and fills the last boss encounter with an astounding amount of adrenaline, passion and edginess. Ultimately though, Parasite Eve II is something played for mood, not for music.

  I don't like Shinji Mikami's Resident Evil; there, I said it. So when I heard that the original Parasite Eve's control scheme was scraped in favor of the control scheme of Capcom's Resident Evil, I wasn't exactly thrilled. For those who have not had the displeasure of playing Resident Evil, I'll explain what I mean. Like most survival horror titles, Parasite Eve II uses a "consistent" control method; pressing up always makes Aya walk forward, pressing down always makes Aya walk backward, pressing left makes Aya rotate to her left, pressing right makes Aya rotate to her right. This isn't a bad control scheme, per se, but the presentation doesn't exactly complement it. For example, while moving through the environment, you might spot an enemy that is set to charge you, though in order to avoid it, you must spin Aya around in place and then press up to run away; this is very awkward and confusing, to say the least. Oddly enough, this control scheme wouldn't be awkward at all if the whole game didn't take place on prerendered backdrops with constantly changing camera angles.

  To this day, I'm still thouroughly convinced that the Resident Evil control scheme and prerendered backgrounds just don't mix well. Battles take place much like they did in the original Parasite Eve, with some obvious changes. Battles are now initiated by either running near an enemy or by cautiously taking aim when you enter a room. This maneuver works better than expected; as you enter a room or new area, you can raise your gun to see if there are any enemies present. If there are, the screen changes to an inverted black-and-white still for a split second followed by a heartbeat, signaling the beginning of a battle. Now, enemies can be fought in two very different ways: through the use of guns and ammunition, or through use of Aya's Parasite Energy. Of course, you have both a limited supply of ammunition and Mitochondria Points, or MP, with which to attack your enemies. Guns can be fired using the R1 and R2 buttons, though if you are using a gun that doesn't have a secondary firing mode, pressing R2 once will produce a single gunshot rather than that difficult-to-control spray.

  Parasite Energy is another interesting feature, as Aya must "revive" her powers from the original game using her experiences (Experience Points) as payment. For instance, to revive her Healing Lv.1 ability, you'll need 750 EXP. Once revived, Parasite abilities can be used freely, as long as Aya has sufficient MP. Pressing Triangle during exploration or battle produces the ring-shaped Parasite Energy menu in the lower-right corner of the screen. Something that I found quite interesting is that the game is much easier if you occasionally use Parasite abilities in tandem with your traditional guns and ammo. Of course, before firing weapons or using offensive Parasite abilities, you must aim at an enemy. This is accomplished by pressing Square during a battle, which causes an aiming cursor to appear over one of your enemies. Subsequent presses of Square makes the aiming cursor move to other enemies in range, if there are any. Unfortunately, when you have as much as eight enemies on-screen, all advancing toward Aya, aiming between them can get a little tedious and even confusing at times. Not only that, but those prerendered backgrounds make this an even more taxing experience, by frequently changing to a view of Aya walking toward the screen.

  It's times like these that I began to wonder whether the development team chose those particular angles on the action for their cinematic quality alone. Interestingly enough, Parasite Eve II's strongest aspect is its emphasis on battles and lots of them. You see, the game rewards players who seek and destroy every enemy in every area with Bounty Points. Those who find traditional survival horror games a little lacking might just take a real shine to Parasite Eve II; an entire arsenal of unique weapons await those resilient enough to eradicate every monster in every area. While you're not required to do so, the more you defeat, the more weapons you can buy with your accumulated Bounty Points. The only drawback is that, once they're spent, your Bounty Points cannot be reclaimed, as selling your unwanted equipment and ammo is impossible. Not only that, your unwanted armor and items have to either take up valuable space in the storage boxes scattered throughout the game, or simply be discarded...

  Adding to this inventory problem is the fact that the storage boxes aren't at all "connected", so if you stash your P229 in the Motel Room box, you'll have to run all the way back to that particular box to get it. I'm all for realism, but that's just plain annoying. On a side note, the weapons in the game are great and blow your enemies up really good. I'm all for rocket launchers and such, but how's a rapid-fire 40mm grenade launcher sound for a change? Of course, many of you are probably wondering about extras. Well, I won't comment much on this, except to say that there are three hidden play modes and quite a few reasons to replay the game, especially if you want some of the more elusive weapons and items. Also, the game's branching storyline assures at least three different ending variations, for those of you keeping count. In the end, for a two-disc game, Parasite Eve II is surprisingly short, clocking in at around twelve hours. It also isn't the best survival horror game you've ever played, nor is it really even that frightening, but it does bring some very interesting innovations to the genre and, while it's not the best of its genre, it's definitely a far cry from being the worst.
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