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INTRO
As a
fan of survival/horror and action/adventure games I’m always looking
for the next challenge. Run Like Hell has been on my radar
for some time, and was really looking forward to it, despite the
delays. I was hoping that the extra time was being spent perfecting
what would be a top-flight title, worthy of mention with recent PS2
releases. Unfortunately, it appears that was not the case.
STORYLINE
You take the role of crusty military man Nick Conner, with a square
jaw line and a chiseled physique, you at least look the part of bad
mofo alien killer. It’s determined early on through cut scenes, that
the bikini-clad babe in your dream is not only your fiancée, but she
is also Dr. Samantha Reilly, researcher on the Forseti space
station. After numerous minor interactions with other inhabitants
(both human and friendly alien), you’ll take part in various tasks
which will allow you to become familiar with the controls, Nicks
movements, and his rifle skills. Upon completion of these early
items, your partner beckons you to assist her in a routine asteroid
exploration mission. Upon your return to the space station, things
are different, and that’s bad. You (or I should say your colleague)
has the first interaction with the alien infestation that has
overcome your station, and its time to Run Like Hell….
CONTROL/GAMEPLAY (5)
The game is setup as your standard third
person, run and gun action game. The left stick controls Conner’s
movements. The camera generally floats behind Conner’s head, though
it does become fixed from time to time. Speaking of the camera, the
L2 and R2 buttons will adjust its position. Standing still the R2
button will spin the camera 360 degrees counter-clockwise, the L2
will do the same, though clockwise. When running, you can use these
buttons to help improve your view around corners or in blind spots
upon entering a room. I found the operation to be awkward, and never
really did get comfortable with it. Often, it was difficult to try
to navigate the camera while also trying to find and shoot unseen
enemies. It also seemed like I frequently hit the wrong button,
spinning the camera the wrong way, I just couldn’t get it second
nature. Fortunately thanks to the auto-aim feature (the R1 button),
you automatically lock onto the nearest enemy, which means you can
deal damage to those off camera. To fire you simply use the “X”
button. For those close encounters, if you push the triangle button
while holding R1, Conner can kick/push enemies away from him, saving
you from receiving damage. The Start button features your game
options menu (save, sound, video, control selector, etc). Three
control sets are available, so check them out if the stock setup
doesn’t work for you. Pushing Select takes you to your items
inventory, journal, and automap. Much like Resident Evil, you can
view, use, modify and combine items.
RLH
really offers nothing fresh from a gameplay standpoint. You are
basically entering areas and having to mow down hordes of Alien
enemies which simply appear out of thin air. After you’re done,
you’ll have to activate switches, solve puzzles, or find codes to
open locked areas. The battle sequences are generally straight
forward and mundane, just auto-aim and button mash. Things get
difficult when you end up in close quarters with multiple enemies,
especially when you can only target one at a time, the others will
be aggressively attacking. There is also a nice assortment of
weapons as you progress through the game. Your initial rifle can be
upgraded, and it has unlimited ammo. Most of the other more power
weapons (Shotgun, Assault Rifle, Pulse Rifle, etc) deal far more
damage, however ammo is in short supply, so save ‘em for those
special encounters!
The puzzles are
quite easy, but can be frustrating from a repetition standpoint. For
example, one requires you to open four different doors (which lead
to small rooms). The doors can only be opened by using various
combinations from four computers in a control both. It basically
comes down to trial and error, and then running back and forth as
each door is opened to get necessary items/info. You will also
encounter locked doors, which require codes to be entered to open
them. The codes will be 4-5 characters long, using the X, O,
triangle, and square buttons. Of course you rarely get an entire
code, you frequently need to check computers (or anything else
marked with a big yellow exclamation point) an you’ll get code
fragments, like this: ..,..,X,..,O. So you have 2 of the five
characters needed, just find and plug in the others and you get to
progress to the next monotonous battle. I was really annoyed by
having to actually write down code fragments, and then check my
notes upon approaching the locked door and decipher my scrawls into
something useful. These things make up the meat of the gameplay,
with only slight variance.
GRAPHICS (5)
The PS2 has recently cranked out some really nice looking games. I
hoped this would be one of them, unfortunately it looks more like a
launch title than anything current. The main characters look decent
in detail, however they have a distinct angular modeling which does
nothing to invoke a realistic setting. I don’t know how cold it is
inside that space station, but natures thermometers are in
plain view throughout! The Aliens aren’t nearly as detailed, same
goes for the other non-primary characters. The halls of the space
station are mostly dimly lit, and the shadow effects are mediocre at
best. Along with the dim lighting, the colors are mostly dull,
tending toward green, gray, and black. The backgrounds are also very
average, though some rooms/areas look better than others. Aliasing
is noticeable throughout the levels, but never really creates a
distraction during gameplay. The game also suffers from slow down in
a few spots, which can be an annoyance, especially in boss fights.
The game definitely could have used more cook time, as it comes
across as unfinished.
SOUND (5)
The sound effects generally follow the same under achieving
precedent set by the visuals, with the exception of the voice-overs.
At first I thought Conner’s deadpan manner of speech sounded like a
cross between Max Payne and Clint Eastwood. It wasn’t till
afterwards I realized it was none other than Lance Henrikson (Pumpkinhead,
Aliens) breathing life into the acting. A few other recognized
actors also take part, like: Kate Mulgrew, Micheal Ironside, and
Clancy Brown. The game does run in Dolby Surround Pro Logic II,
though I don’t think it’ll help much. Aside from the strong
voice-overs, all other sound effects are relatively stock and
repetitive in nature, especially the footsteps and gunfire.
REPLAY (0)
I hardly recommend playing through once, let alone replaying
it.
OVERALL (5)
About as flat, mediocre, and average as a game can be. Underachieves
throughout, only the strong voice-acting is a pleasant surprise, yet
it’s hardly enough to recommend buying this (especially at $50). For
those looking for some mind numbing, shoot ‘em up style action this
might be an adequate rental, for a couple days at least. Hey, at
least the name is cool!
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