Heavy Metal F.A.K.K.2 - PC

Heavy Metal: FAKK 2 is a fantastic half of a game. I can only imagine what the experience might have been like had the developers taken it upon themselves to finish the rest of it. After all, you could make your way through FAKK 2 in a single sitting if you were patient enough. Add to this a slow beginning which has you running from place to place, chatting with boring NPCs, and fighting nothing but buzzing flies, and you might expect that the game isn't worth your time. However, you would be incorrect about that, because, after all, FAKK 2 won't take very much of your time, and that which it does consume will have you gleefully slaying all kinds of bizarre monsters in the name of justice... or whatever. (When you're playing a female warrior with a leather thong and slew of blood-letting weapons, you can guess that the story is a bit on the expendable side.) Combat is ferocious, gory, and addictive. In 2000, it was novel for a character to use two weapons at once (a sword in one hand and an uzi in the other, for example), and though many games have borrowed this concept since Heavy Metal's release, few do it so well. Once the action begins, it won't let loose of you until the end - which, again, comes far too soon. If FAKK 2 still wore a [...] pricetag, its brevity would make it hard to recommend. Now, at a budget price, however, it cries out to be played. The graphics may be aging, but they're still pretty, and the gameplay rocks. If you missed this one, do yourself a solid and grab a copy. It won't keep you busy for too long, but you'll have an enjoyable ride while it lasts.

I had this game many years ago, and for what i remember of it it was a good game, what i learned when i played it today is that it isn't a good game; it's a GREAT game! Admittedly, its story is better than the gameplay, but the gameplay is very good. This game, I have to say, is top of the line for that period. I give it a 10/10 rating for just the story itself, and the gameplay following not too far behind.

Nice graphics if you can get past all the bugs. The first time I sat down to play, everything went well. The second, third, etc., I had multiple problems. It would freeze up and nothing but a ctrl-alt-del would free me up. My PC by far surpasses the system requirements so I knew that wasn't the problem. Once down in the sewers, the characters turned completely black. Nothing but outlines. All the other graphics were fine. Tech support? Forget about it. My 8 year old daughter could have been more helpful. All they could tell me to do was just basic stuff anyone with some computer experience would have already tried. Sorry. Can't recommend it. I'd return it if I could. I love gaming, but this one I've thrown in the drawer. Pass on this puppy.

This game was alright for it's time. But the main issue I have with it, was that it was a cliff-galore game. When I see areas where there are cliffs or ledges that show nothing more than a 1000' drop, that's when I develop a mental complex. That's not a high anxiety sickness, that's just a piss poor programming skill. I don't mind one or two every now and then, but every level? All that shows, is lack of effort in their product.At the start of this game, it actually shows you standing at the edge of a cliff in the backyard of your house. (Hint #1 there). I can just imagine her sister coming over to visit her one day, and she tells her niece to go play in the backyard somewhere. Yeah, Julie's pad is a real daycare center there.The game has a training exercise, (thankfully optional) but what they'll have you do, is go through a series of ledges to hang, crawl, and jump off of. What the developers are literally telling you is, "Hey, you better get use to this BS, cause that's all of what this game is."I'd say about 95% of the time, the developers of this game are gonna have you die from a falling off an edge. The game is just littered with death-pits from start to finish. It's just such a cheap way to make a game. What the sub-title of this game should have been, "FAKK 2. Pitfall edition." That way you KNOW what kind of BS you're dealing with.Now don't get me wrong here, the developers we're gracious enough to allow to you save the game any time during game play. But again, they wouldn't have to do all that, if the game wasn't filled to the brim of death-pits. I just get so tired of seeing this type of cliche in games. There's little combat skill involved to kill your enemies, sense your biggest and broadest enemy is nothing more than more cliffs. I mean, what's the point to get a power-up of full health, only to fall off and die?And speaking of that. Most power-ups in the game are not worth going for sense they're at an edge of a cliff, and if you miss the timing at a critical jump by one step more or less, you can bet that all your progress will be in vain. (That is if you choose not to quick save).Powerful weapons are offered to you when the game is coming to a close. So what's the point at having them at all? Like at the end of the game, you get this sword of light that can only kill Tyler. It wasn't needed, nor necessary to have at all. Now you might say, "Well they were sticking to the story." It's still wasn't needed in the game. All it was, was a symbol to kill a boss with.And speaking of inventories. As Julie continues her travels, her arsenal broadens. The problem with this is, each item she picks up, like a larger shield, it makes the older one obsolete, but keeps it anyway. This make it excessive and tedious for the player to scroll for the right item to use, especially when a monster is chasing you. And this goes for her entire arsenal as well. There are two handed melee weapons in the game that you'll never use (like Tyler's sword) because there's a good chance you'll take damage. Why would anyone need to use them, if the shield and sword can do just as much damage as an ax, an ax that you can't even use to parry an attack, or grab onto a ledge while holding it? It's just useless.What they should have done was have her replace the item, by dropping the last one. This would save a lot of inventory space. With all the stuff that she carries in her inventory, and running around in a skimpy thong, it begs the question, where the hell does a 5' 9" 110 lb. woman keep all that on her? Hell just look at the cover of this game! Look at all that crap that's on her back! And that's just some of it! Somebody get this bitch a grocery cart to push all that crap around! I swear its like the programmers made this game into a mockery of cartoons. The kind when they go to reach for something around their waist, and pullout a enormous object that's larger than them? I was half expecting Julie to pullout an over-sized mallet.It just goes to show that if developers are rushed to finish a game, do to a movie, quantity infects quality every time. And to be honest, I'd prefer quality over quantity any day. I was surprised to see that they didn't sponsor their movie in the game too. Like at the end of it, they'd show a pic of the movie and a text saying, "Hey you liked playing the game? Then own or rent the movie on DVD today."I mean hell, why not? They've already showed cameos of Simon Bisley's work in the first few stages of the game by pawning it off as paintings.The story didn't really work well either. It's left open-ended after once Julie receives the hart and wins the game. She finds out that her sister is taken hostage, and as long as Gith has her, Eden isn't safe. Well it's been 15 years since this happened. So I guess Eden's been in danger for that long. And I'm almost certain that her sister had that kid by now. Either that, or that Eden water is keeping that kid as a 15 y/o fetus. Hell, if all he need was to take her sister, then why didn't he just do that in the first place? As far as I can tell, that hart wasn't worth going through all this BS. Isn't the hart suppose to distort all of reality? Pff...But it's not all bad. The monsters were unique, and so were some of the weapons. I just wish that Julie could use that vacuum to suck large monsters in with it and absorb their powers, like something off of maga-man, instead of just dehydrating them to death. I mean, why not? There are carnivorous plants in the game that can eat both you and the monsters. I guess to show you that the game isn't completely biased.And those thongs I mentioned earlier. There are spots in the game where you can get a good long hard look at some of that deep dish pan pizza of hers. This is probably the only game ever made in the history of VG that allows you to look as long as you want, at just about any angle you want. I have yet to see a deeper dish than hers. ;)Overall, I just couldn't stay mad at the game. It did have it's adventurous moments, the weapons were wicked, the outfits were a nice touch :), and the graphics were at it's max in it's time. And they did try to make something to have a good time with.The game also showed potential for a sequel, but I guess Ritual Entertainment fell under or something. It's a damn shame too.