State of Emergency 2: Riot Rehearsals Company: Southpeak Interactive Nearly everyone has an idea for a game. While most of these tend to boil down to, "It's just like Popular Game X but…" some seem like interesting concepts. State of Emergency was one such title. Riding high on the wave that was GTA 3, State of Emergency was hyped to be the "next big thing" in regards to free-roaming mayhem by channeling all the fun of riots into a game. Fans and critics expected big things from the game; perhaps too much since once the game did release, it was met with harsh criticism. Although the concept had potential, in reality it was a repetitive and ultimately boring game. Given the reception of the original, State of Emergency 2 is an unlikely sequel. And, if you look at the game's history, which involves more than a few publisher and developer jumps, it is surprising that the game is being released at all. But, it is coming and is a much different experience than before. State of Emergency 2 takes place a few years after the original and begins with the live television execution of Mack, one of the leaders of the heroes from the first game. Things don't go as planned since someone has managed to slip a gas mask and machine gun in the execution chamber, allowing Mack to escape. From the very beginning, State of Emergency 2 feels different from the first and in some ways is the game that the original should have been. This isn't to say that the game is a vastly different experience, but there is some positive gain. The first, and perhaps biggest, difference is that instead of presenting a massive free-roaming game, levels are linear and borrow more from typical action games. The first level has you, as Mack, escaping from the execution chamber. After mowing down a sizeable army of guards, Mack then proceeds to the cell block to open the cells, creating a chaotic situation for the guards and giving him a better opportunity to escape. It is in this area that you get your first taste of the game's "riot" concept. Opening the cells allows all of the inmates to escape and begin rioting in the prison. At this early stage in the game, the multiple enemies on screen is really more for visual flare than anything else; even with the sea of humanity swirling around them, the guards will still gun for Mack. However, you will be able to make better use of the mechanic later in the game. Keeping with the more action-game like approach, the riotous prison block leads to a quasi-stealth section. One part of the stealth section simply has Mack avoiding camera-mounted machine guns and employing a useful "lean" mechanic. A later section has Mack using a sniper rifle to take out guards as he works his way towards another execution chamber in order to rescue fellow trouble-maker, Bull. Although the key to this section is efficient use of the sniper rifle, a full-frontal assault on guards is still an option. This route, however, does come with the added danger out having to face down numerous waves of guards. The targeting system is more like the standard over-the-shoulder method seen in other games of this sort. There’s no auto-target function, instead forcing you to manually target enemies – a task that is a little harder than you might think. While the system is workable it is a little slippery, making precise targeting a bit of a pain. There is an option to adjust the aim sensitivity though, which does help to ease some problems. Hopefully this will be fixed in the final version as it could cause potential problems later on. Once you've rescued Bull, another of State of Emergency 2’s new features emerges – on the fly character swapping. As was the case with riots, character swapping doesn't play that big a role in earlier levels, but should become a vital part of later ones. The single-player story mode, which spans about 12 levels, is complemented by a collection of arcade challenges. These include speedboat races, missile challenges and other assorted mayhem. Though these sorts of challenges are usually mindless filler, they're actually pretty fun and, if you're like me, you might find yourself playing these more than the main game. Based on early impressions, State of Emergency 2 is looking to be a better game than the original was. Whether or not this will translate into a good game still remains to be seen, but the outlook is looking up. -Starscream, GameVortex Communications AKA Ricky Tucker Related Links: Southpeak Interactive