Privateer 2: The Darkening

The Good
The first good things to point out about Priv2 are really quite obvious: Production values. Hot off the trail from Wing Commander 4's mega-blockbuster like development, Origin threw all it's wanna-be film making expertise to this product and the results are nothing short of awesome, the filmed cutscenes boast incredible sets, impressive camera work, fantastic music and sfx, and a great amount of both visual and digital effects that for the most part manage to stay on film-quality levels (there's a particular sequence were Lev blows a door open with a laser blast in slow-mo which is absolutely amazing). Furthermore you get REAL acting power, with the likes of Clive Owen, John Hurt, Jurgen Prochnow, Christopher Walken, Amanda Pays, Mathilda May, etc,etc. It's the kind of lineup that isn't composed of flat-out stars, yet is filled with competent and recognized people that manage to deliver believable performances.

The storyline itself is substantially better than the original's and instead of taking place in the familiar WC universe, takes place in a brand-new "Tri-System" which is much less Star-Trekkie and much more Blade-Runnerish, courtesy of a screenplay by famed Diana Duane (for those that don't know, Diane is one of the better "stock" writers, which usually tackle licensed work, or novelisations). The story takes you in a quest for your identity around dark and moody industrialized citiscapes, wastelands, military bases, anemic hospitals, etc. etc. All brought to life with real sets and wonderful cinematography. Really, sometimes it is just a sheer beauty to behold the imagery of the fmv sequences, and coupled with that camera-work... ayayayayay... This is it boys and girls, and heck, as long as I'm on the subject let me point out that this game has one, if not the, best introduction for a video game EVER. It's something of a pain to have to stick by the credits that are placed mid-way through it, but other than that IT ROCKS! Seriously, if you think FF8 was cool just look at this fanboy, you have No idea whatsoever :))

Now, speaking about the game itself I should point out that the production values are certainly visible in here as well, you get one of the coolest interfaces ever made, and a space-shooter that delivers some truly interesting missions in a really big universe that include massive shoot-outs as well as more intrincate ones (my favorite being a "Simon-says" kidnapping one). All that using a bitching graphics engine, and lots of weapons, ships and loadout configurations.

The Bad
Well, if you read the above lines you might have wondered if I was talking about a movie or a game, right? And that is probably the game's biggest problem. Mind you, it's not that it has NO gameplay and all fmvs, it's just that the gameplay in here is seriously flawed. This is an action game, yet Priv2 feels at times like a space-simulator, and I mean a real one. Gamers used to the lightning-fast dogfights of other space shooters will be seriously let down by this game, since the ships move at very slow speeds, and give no real sense of speed or momentum. Furthermore this game has one of the most maddening design decisions for a game of this kind: near-zero damage feedback. What am I talking about? Most shooters sport screen jitter and flashes when hit, heck pretty much every action game has such features. Priv2 just has a small shield/armor indicator that goes down as you get hit. That's it. You have no idea the amount of times I was blown to pieces simply because I couldn't tell I was being shot! Seriously, if you have a boggie in your tail, there's no telling what's going on unless you take your eyes of the main view and focus on the shield displays and trust me, that's BAD.

All of this is stuff that could really fall under the "just needs time to get used to" category, but the fact is that it really is bad. At the very least worse than any other space-sim out there. There's simply no real action to speak of. That doesn't make the game a piece of crap mind you, but it IS a really big flaw.

Other than that, there's the fact that all ships look the same from the inside (which really sucks since it's you who is paying for your ships, Priv1 veterans will know what I'm talking about here) and the decision to shift cargo-transport specifically to cargo ships (which you must hire). That is a really a love & hate issue, some like it. Me? I hate it with all my heart. It turns every cargo run into an escort mission, and I HATE escort missions.

The Bottom Line
There's no denying this game has problems, there's no denying that this game isn't really a match for the original Privateer, but there's also no denying that this game really has a lot of good things in it. When it comes down to it, there's a lot more to love in it than there is to hate. Priv 2 only lacks the gameplay perfection of the original, on this days were every crappy "me-too!" game just aims to be simply average and cut enough profits to make a sequel, a game that is "less than perfect" (ok, ok, "Really" far from perfect) tis still damn good. Plus the British really know how to make great science fiction.