<review>

Bear with me, as this is the first review I am writing ^.^;;. I'll probably end up mimicing the Gamefaqs' style of grading, as I've found this to be the most fair. Visit their site at Gamefaqs.com! Now that that bit of advertising is out of the way... time to get on to the reviewing! And if I accidently spoil any of the game for ya... too bad :\ so if you don't like spoilers, have someone else read it for ya first... So, you've been warned. I'll probably end up posting that on the review select page in the future.

You start off as a bounty hunter reliving his past, all things summed up. You'll be introduced to new people throughout the story line, yadda yadda. Playing the first game (very good game) helps a little bit with the completely irrelevant story line, but it's helpful, nonetheless. The ending was a little predictable, as the warning signs were as evident to me as a matador wearing black: Something ain't right :).

Graphics: 8/10

These were actually fairly detailed, as you weren't ALWAYS able to tell the enemy from your team members, and since friendly fire is on... severe consequences result from playing "Doom Style". On the other hand, if you remember the facial features of your team mates, and when an enemy opens a door, if you don't recognize it, pepper that body with some lead >:). The only real gripe I had about graphics was the apparent... clipping problem (?) in some of the cutscenes. You would be looking at their tongues while they are talking... and you are looking at them from the side profile. >.< Otherwise, the environments were fairly lush, detailed, and not at all bad. Hard to grade, as I've only played through once, and it was nearly guns-a-blaze the whole time :).

Audio: 9/10

No real gripes here. Sound was fairly detailed, helecopters buzz over head, cueing your hot-lead riddled body if you don't move under cover immediately. Gun effects were alright, no gripes there. Only gripes I "think" I had was the enemy death effect. Hearing the same scream over and over gets a little annoying after a while. But it didn't terribly bother me as I was too involved in killing ^.^;;.

Difficulty: 5/10

Only real difficulty was just annoying bugs in the AI. Near the end if you walk away from the objective point (you don't know it) you'll die immediately from shrapnel falling on your head -.-. Otherwise, the gun battles weren't too difficult, taking a lot of damage during some only added to the difficulty, in a good way. Only some parts I got stuck and didn't know where to go, only to find that I just had to climb on top of some roof to get to my destination. As for the bugs in the AI, that really only includes their ability to stick their guns through a steel door and proceed to shoot you when you begin to open it. I was stuck for about 20 minutes because an enemy was stuck outside the door and as SOON as I opened it, his shotgun would hit me in the head through the door. Some of the stealth missions were slightly annoying, only because the enemy would hear a footstep through another room and sound an alarm without even investigating -.-.

Storyline: 6/10

GREAT STORYLINE!!! Just not original in any way, shape, or form!!! :D When you get to a certain part of the story, I was just EXPECTING a huge explosion and huge turmoil in the main character's emotional state, yadda-yadda. Then it happened -.-. Overall, the scripted events were predictable, at best. Not saying that they weren't fun, no, not at all. If some originality could've been used in the making of a majority of these events or the storyline, it would've been alright with me. Part of the storyline was a bit original, I must add. Remus was a nice touch to Romulus... you'll see if you play it :). The end WAS a bit unexpected to me. I mean the very end, the identity of the final boss was just so freaking predictable it wasn't even funny. @.@

Gameplay: 8/10

Overall it wasn't a big disappointment for a game, as some say. Granted, the game could've been a bit... fixed, but they must've been getting a little tired of the game, as it's story-line was very... non-original? The secret areas were a major plus in the game, as I would constantly be wading my way into a gun fight, avoiding grenades being thrown. Doing this leaves a serious damper on your armor meter, so finding armor/ammo/health was a major plus for exploring.

As for some peoples' gripe about the enemy seeing you while crawling through grass, I have a semi-answer for that. I don't remember you being equipped with armor that matched the color of the grass and ground, so if they see a spot of grass moving around, of course they are gonna start chucking explosives at ya. It does get a bit annoying when they know just when you are going to lean around a corner, filling you with a sniper bullet in the dome.

Otherwise, all gripes aside, I enjoyed the game. Personally, I wouldn't play through it again, so I'd definitely just rent it from a friend and save my money for something worth my while.

Overall Rating: 8/10

</review>