D-2

The Good
D-2 is a hybrid game trying to represent at least three genres: survival horror, shooter, and RPG. For good and for bad, it can't be denied that the idea itself is original and the ambition commendable.

Some of the minor gameplay features here are entertaining. In fact, the activity I by far enjoyed most in the game was hunting. Meat acts as a healing item, so you can hunt wild animals with your sniper rifle. Catching an evasive hare off guard and adding it to your menu is perhaps the most fulfilling and exciting gameplay element here. The short snowmobile-driving sequences are also moderately fun. For a while, first-person fighting is satisfying, with the monsters attacking from different sides and leaping straight at your face.

The game's setting is quite remarkable: most survival horror games lead the player into dark, narrow areas, underground, or into deserted mansions: D-2 throws us into Canadian snowy mountains - an absolutely open area. The sheer indifference of nature, the huge, majestic landscapes that make human beings look so little, the cold earth devoid of plants and any other colors but white and grey - all this makes the setting of D-2 an unusual and terrifying place.

D-2 excels on the graphical front. Character graphics here are even better than in Shenmue; wind, snow, fog, sunset, and other weather effects make the environment beautiful and realistic. It is enough to look at those grey trees, deeply sunk in snow, shaking under the wind, to feel the terrible loneliness of the place. And when you also must face monsters while desperately looking up at the pale sky, walking a narrow path between two mountains, the feeling of horror takes over you...

D-2 has a lot of cutscenes, and some of them are very long. Fans of trashy horror movies will be satisfied by gazing at greenish tentacled mutants trying to attack attractive women with suspiciously sexual undertones. It's clear that much of the budget went into directing those cutscenes, and some of them can give you a bit of a genuine scare.

The Bad
Well, for starters, the story of D-2 is either nonsensical, overbloated in a very Japanese fashion, or both. Some of the situations and much of the writing here would be rejected even by self-respecting B-movie directors. What could have been an interesting horror story turns into a supernatural mess with bad pacing and next to no credibility. The heroine of the game behaves like an idiot most of the time, there is little internal logic in the events, and what you get is basically a string of cheap horror scenes thrown at you time after time.

That alone would have been less than half the trouble: after all, I sat through the ridiculous cutscenes of Metal Gear Solid games simply because they were fun to play. Alas, the same cannot be said about D-2. All of its major gameplay elements are poorly executed and badly tied together. Just like in Koudelka, incessant random battles completely disrupt the otherwise convincing atmosphere, killing all suspense during exploration. Infinite monsters lead to another "great" idea - a gun with infinite ammo. Put two and two together and see how the supposed survival aspect of the gameplay is completely annihilated.

The battles take you to stationary screens where you are forced to shoot monsters without being able to move. I don't know why Japanese designers keep stubbornly rejecting the achievements of Western 3D shooters. The Japanese dominated the 2D shooter scene on their consoles, but the West beat them fair and square in the third dimension. I can't understand how you can enjoy standing in one place and unleashing clip after clip into monsters six years after Doom. The crippling, static combat is married to a simplistic, forgettable RPG-like experience accumulation. There is no other role-playing here, so if you keep dying in battles, just fight the same monster many more times and you'll be fine.

The sad thing is that D-2 doesn't even work as an atmospheric exploration piece. Don't be deceived by the seemingly open landscapes on the screenshots - the actual areas available for gameplay are narrow and straightforward. You'll be running around a lot, but there is very little to find, and all the paths are pre-determined. There is also a whole lot of backtracking in the game, with many of the missions boiling down to going from point A to point B to point C and back. To add insult to injury, there are no dungeon-like areas to explore at all. Once you enter an indoor location you'll have to submit to an inexplicably Myst-like interface, with the navigation confined to "jumping" from screen to screen.

The Bottom Line
D-2 tries too much and ends up throwing together several weakly executed genre concepts, none of which is satisfactory. The impressive graphics and the interesting setting hold your interest for a while - until you realize how little the actual gameplay delivers.

The Good
D-2, the sequel to the Saturn/PS horror game D, had a twisted, development schedule. Originally planned for a console, that never came to market. The game then found it’s way to the Dreamcast courtesy of Warp.

In D-2, you assume the role of Laura Parton, the silent heroine from D, as well as the Saturn horror game and “Alien” rip-off Enemy Zero. In D-2, we find Laura on a flight to Canada. The plane is taken over by terrorists, as a shaman incants a strange spell. If you think this is weird, just wait things are just beginning. The 747 goes down in the icy wastes of northern Canada.

Laura, now unable to remember much of anything, meets fellow survivor, Kimberly, and sets out to find more survivors. But now hideous monsters not unlike those seen in John Carpenter’s The Thing, roam the wilderness.

The plot thickens as more people are found, and the survivors work their way to safety. The game spans 4 GD-ROMS, but is only about a 12-15 hour game.

In D-2, you roam the wilderness, finding items, for healing and use in puzzles and the like. You explore cabins, mines, and the wreak of the 747. When you are traveling out in the open, you are randomly attacked by monsters, as in an RPG.

In battle you use guns and grenades to kill the monsters before they get you. You can also heal wounds in battles. It gets tricky when facing multiple opponents. As you will either have to hit “X” or “B” to face them. And switching between the targets can get more than a little hectic. Bosses add a whole new level of challenge. Victory earns EXP points, that allow Level Up’s. These increase Laura’s HP as well as other attributes. There are many weapons in D2, a pistol, grenades, shotgun, and machine guns. However you will find that the machine guns are the best, as they have unlimited ammo, and fire at the fastest rate.

Aside from finding First-Aid Sprays, you can hunt for game, with a hunting rifle, it cannot be used in battle. You hunt rabbits, geese, and the occasional elk, you then cook the meat on a portable grill. Keeping well stocked on game, will greatly help your chances of survival, as it helps you save the rare first aid, for when you really need it. You can also heal by resting and leveling up. Taking time to do some hunting is often a nice diversion, from killing aliens.

The different areas you travel are huge. Thankfully, by the second disc, you get to make use of a snowmobile. The controls take a little getting used to, but it is better than having to walk great distances. Your snowmobile can get stuck, which is a pain in the ass, however if this happens, you can just load a game. You can also save your game anywhere.

The plot is well paced, if a little weird, it is also very Japanese. However it is not without Western influence, as it is clearly inspired by American horror films.

The sound department excels in D-2. No small task considering that more often than not Japanese horror games have terrible voice acting, and bad writing. D-2 is an exception. Sega did an excellent job translating the game, and hiring voice actors that give an excellent performance. The lip synching is also done well.

The music is good too. It is creepy and eerie. And fit’s the game very nicely. The sound effects are up to par as well, from the gunfire to the cries of the monsters.

The Graphics in D-2, as we would expect from a Dreamcast game are great. Even today they still hold up. Monsters and humans alike look great. The environments are repetitive by nature, I mean you are in the snowy wilderness. But the building interiors look nice.

The Bad
D-2 suffers from the problems that many horror game suffer from. Such as constant back tracking, and the occasional obtuse puzzle.

Your snowmobile can get stuck permanently, which is very annoying. And being on it does not stop random attacks, it just slows them.

The game is also very Japanese, more so than most horror games, this may deter some, but they would be missing out.

The Bottom Line
Overall D-2, is one of the best horror games for the Dreamcast. As well as one of the best of the Asian horror games.