Geekatana game Review: Crimson Sea 2

The reason I picked up Crimson Sea 2 cause I was blown away by the graphics and the good review Crimson Sea got on the XBox. Since I'm no alien to jumping on game sequels even without even playing the first game like when I played Zone of the Enders 2 without even playing the first Zone of the Enders game. Besides I doubt Ill get my hands on an XBox anytime soon so might as well go with what is available.

I'm a big fan of hack and slash game and KOEI is one of my favorite company when it comes to hack and slash genre since its the one responsible for the Dynasty Warriors, Samurai Warriors and Orochi series respectively.

Crimson Sea 2 is a PS2 exclusive game which is a sequel to Crimson Sea which is an XBox exclusive. Why did they make both game exclusive and on separate console is beyond me but it sure didn't do well to fans of the series of course since they need to own both game console or rent or borrow one in order to play both games.

Mix some a sci fi hack and slash with a dash of Chinese style theme. Some psionic mumbo jumbo. A sprinkle of Starwars inspiration. Add in some mutated creatures and a some subtle fan service for flavor. Pour in a bunch of explosion particle effects and enough creatures to fill your game monitor and you got pretty much the core of Crimson Sea 2.

You can go in guns blazing while holding down the fire button or cut through the horde of mutated monster like knife on butter. The game never slows down and laggs despite the number of enemies that are on screen specially when you compare this game with other KOEI hack and slash titles.

You control Sho who is the main protagonist of the first Crimson Sea game. Then later you can also use Feenay a female who plays pretty much like Sho only with a skimpy outfit. I guess they were going for a female lead to appeal to female gamers and to give Sho a female partner since LiveD isn't much of a fighter and is more of just fan service.

There's quite a variety of enemies to fight in this game. From teleporting ones to ones that look like a giant reptile to giant mutated termites. This game is part RPG however so you need a bit of grinding to level up your powers and weapon. Players will be forced to repeat levels to fight enemies again thus making the game somewhat repetitive. There's also character exclusive missions where you can use only either Sho or Feenay.

The control system is easy enough to learn for any beginner and later on as you unlock more moves you can do more combos like launching an enemy into the air for combos to pummel them more with bullets and the special abilities and character design is pretty much anime inspired.

Just check out the short gameplay footage below.

There's a two player mode that can be played either via coop, versus or score where the screen splits horizontally in half. A nice addition if you're playing with a friend. If you played Crimson Sea 2 you will notice that most of the tracks are just sounds taken from the first Crimson Sea game.

Overall despite Crimson Sea 2 somewhat cliche elements, bland voice acting and complicated plot its quite an enjoyable game. This is one diamond of an underrated gem for the PS2. This game definitely deserve another sequel or maybe an Online mode. If you're a fan of the hack and slash genre than Crimson Sea 2 is something you should at least give a try.