Many people call this game a Resident Evil clone when in fact the two are different enough to be categorized in different genres. Resident Evil is a survival horror game with emphasis placed on ammo conservation and avoiding enemies rather than shooting them. Parasite II is a much more fast paced action game (and is better than every Resident Evil except RE4 which could actually be called a ripoff of this game). The main character has super natural powers and a plethora of weapons to choose from. The game still has some RPG elements left over from the original (BTW I never played the original because I hate random battles). In order to enhance your magic abilities you must collect experience points, which are gained from defeating enemies. Along with the experience points the player will also gain bounty points, which can be used as currency at certain "shops" to buy weapons or items such as various body armor and healing medicine. Some of the weapons are customizable to a degree, for instance some can have extra magazines fitted to allow for greater ammo capacity. From the above information one can assume that killing every enemy possible is encouraged. Aya the main character is not trying to "survive" rather she is "exterminating" dangerous lifeforms. There is plenty of ammo to buy and find making running dry a rare incident, especially with infinite ammo boxes set up at key locations, and the player can always fall back on their magic or run away. As far as graphics go this game has the best I've seen on Playstation. It could be mistaken for an early Dreamcast or PS2 game. A few instances come to mind, in the first area the character's reflection is visible in the polished marble floor, and the water graphics are pretty good for their time especially for the Playstation. The backgrounds are great and highly detailed and the full motion cutscenes are works of art with great attention to detail. The characters have high polygon counts and look great. The monsters are very intriguing and not your everyday sort. Most of them look like something from John Capenter's the Thing. The enemies at the end are more normal looking but are actually more intimidating. As for the sound the game is alright. It could use a few more background tunes and there is no voice acting in the cutscenes, which could be a godsend since most voice acting in video games is terrible. The controls can be annoying at times but after about a half-hour I found them easy to get used to. I give the game an 8.5 out of 10. I recommend this game to fans of action games that feature exploration and puzzles and especially to those who liked Resident Evil 4. This game also features actual licensed Coca-Cola items, such as a key chain and soda to replenish health.
Review of Parasite Eve II
