Reader Reviews

Bad Boys 2 (Xbox)

by Robo_1

With its Michael Bay patented, “blow shit up” ethos, Bad Boys 2 was always a prime candidate for video game conversion. Following on from the lukewarm Taz: Wanted, conversion duties have passed onto the Oliver Twins’ Blitz Games, who for many will be most fondly remembered for sticking a pair of boxing gloves on an egg, calling him Dizzy, and setting him off on numerous adventures. From the get-go, Blitz have clearly said Bad Boys 2 isn’t going to revolutionise the gaming world, and given the short time Epic gave them to produce it, I find that a far healthier attitude to have as opposed to attempting a jack of all trades, master of none affair (Enter The Matrix take note).

WOOOSAH:

Let’s cut straight to the chase, Bad Boys 2 ain’t brilliant, but despite the overwhelming preconceptions flying around, it’s far from terrible. Having clearly studied at the Kill.switch and Everything or Nothing school of gameplay, Bad Boys 2 is yet another fresh take on the peek and shoot gaming style, which seems to be living it up as the current gaming fad.

Featuring neither Will Smith nor Martin Lawrence, the game shares a very loose connection to the actual film. Even the plot - “Drug dealers are evil shock” - which supposedly follows on from the end of the film, feels as though it could have been stuck onto any random action game. Maybe one of the games selling points; the “buddy speak” system, could have added some authenticity to the experience, if the jokes shared more of the wordage used by Mike and Marcus, instead of just twisting certain facts about the films into fairly predictable and droll quips, which upon their 100th airing, (highlights include such thespian wit as, “you gonna phone your mom again”, and “if I get shot one more time, I’m gonna be real mad”) will have you reaching for the mute button sharpish.

The gameplay itself plays just like Time Crisis in the third person. Each play area is peppered with a number of highlighted cover points, which allow you to take cover before quickly ducking out into first person mode, where you can take a few pot shots, or go for the now infamous headshot. When walking, you use a fairly strict aiming system, which features a Max Payne like, centrally positioned cross hair. There is also a very basic lock on function, which upon a press of the L1 trigger, targets an enemies chest, provided your cross hair is already over the desired enemy. Sadly it sounds as sluggish a system as it is, but as it’s not really the core element of gameplay, it shouldn’t cause you that much trouble.

“Don’t hate the player...”

What Blitz games set out to do with Bad Boys 2, it achieves with relative success. For the most part it’s fun, most of the scenery is pleasantly destructible, and the enemies and difficulty curve are all well balanced. Indeed, judged on its own merits, Bad Boys 2 is an enjoyable if limited game, whose cover point gameplay model is used to great effect throughout. Whilst the armour placements are generous, and the weapons such as the uzi and shotgun pack quite a punch, the volume of enemies who come for you at certain points force you to rely on a solid aim, but central to the games success, the intelligent use of cover points. However, despite the fun I’ve had with the game, a number of things regrettably help scupper its appeal. Key to the games problems, is its repetitive gameplay. Of each of the games five relatively short acts, you are doing exactly the same thing, with only a small selection of sniper and boss levels to distract you from the basic peek and shoot gameplay. Of bitter compensation to this problem, is the games length. Even if you take it at a steady pace, you’ll be doing well if you can squeeze five hours of play from it, and whilst levels are often split between playing Mike or Marcus, neither character has any alternate route or differing skills to affect gameplay, which is surely one of the games most sorely missed opportunities.

There isn’t much incentive for replay either. For starters there is no selectable difficulty scale. The only real incentive for replay, is collecting all the evidence scattered throughout the levels, which in turn, unlock a selection of rather boring character models and artwork. To be fair, the game also offers a fairly respectable end of act - known to PR folk as the “Bad Boy” - rating system, which gives you a nice breakdown of the time a level took, shots fired, damage done, enemies shot, head, chest, limb shots scored etc. Of particular note, (probably an attempt to push taste closer to the bone than the already PC brigade lambasted film) is the extra points scored by shooting the weapon out of an enemies hand, (fair enough) but then by summarily executing them whilst they surrender. Whilst a lot of the films more distasteful moments could be justified as having their tongue firmly in cheek, this is genuinely quite nasty, and wholly unnecessary. The only other item of note is the games shooting range. Starting out as a basic training level, and unfolding depending on your “Bad Boy” rating, this mode is about as basic a concept as it gets. Unlocking all fourteen ranges seems like an appealing prospect to begin with, but you soon realise that aside from the weapon you’re using, there is no difference what so ever in the range itself or the challenges set, and so I felt continuing it was fairly pointless.

... and a packet of Bubbleicious:

Whilst seemingly basic, the actual graphical polish of Bad Boys 2 isn’t bad at all, and whilst you can forget bump mapping et al, Miami’s environments are all furnished with a nice level of detail, and some respectable texturing. It actually looks very similar in style to Die Hard Vendetta and suits the games arcade feel. The destructible environments are all carried off with satisfactory results. Electrical appliances explode with a pleasing blue flash, and shafts of light shoot through bullet holes left in some of the games weaker interior sections. The animation is also impressive, as enemies can regularly be seen kicking over tables for cover, followed up by a few commando rolls to get into position. Enemy A.I is basic, but it gets the job done. They hide and blind fire, run to alternative cover, and come straight at you in equal measure. Nothing ground breaking, but it’s enough to keep you challenged.

The in-game cut scenes are a low point though. Mouths frequently remain static when a character speaks, and the character models are all fairly poor. In an attempt to cover up this lack of polish, a grainy filter is slapped across them, which to be fair, is used to good effect as a fade in/out of each level. In game, Mike and Marcus’s digital counterparts are probably as accurate as both Will and Martin’s lawyers would allow, and the voice acting, (which includes a nice take on Captain Howard) whilst very generic, carry the quips off as well as could be hoped.

Unfortunately though, the overall sound quality is distinctly average. The guns all sound like guns, but lack a real bite to them, whilst ambient noise is all catalogue stuff. The music is kept very low key, with some B-side quality rap affair leading proceedings. In-game you’re treated to a fairly flat, but far from awful selection of R&B flavoured electronic tunes, but again, it’s nothing special.

Weapon selection is simple but intuitive, involving a simple tap of the d -pad to select your desired weapon (thirteen of which are available). Indeed the general controls, whilst unchangeable (aside from inverted aim and look sensitivity), are well tailored to the in game action.

Regrettably, the camera is more of a sticking point. It seems that your characters are just too close to the camera to be kept in constant sight. Many times I’ve lost my character in some of the games more confined levels, and without any sort of re-centre camera button to fall back on, you’re left vulnerable to attack all too often.

The game runs at a slow frame rate, and considering just how slow the game does actually move, it is somewhat unforgivable when the game does begin to judder. Sadly, this enforces the “get it out in time” attitude which I’m sure Blitz were no happier with than us.