Mature (17+)

Game Description: Fear Effect 2: Retro Helix is the prequel to the critically acclaimed hit Fear Effect on the PlayStation game console. In this chapter, we delve into the colorful histories of the original cast of three mercenaries as well as the extraordinary circumstances that brought them together. Their adventure will take us to the chaotic alternate reality of Hong Kong, Hells Kitchen in New York City, the formidable Walled City of Xi—an, the lost tomb of the First Emperor of China and finally into the legendary mountain-island of the immortals—Penglai Shan. A variety of melee and range weapons, such as brass knuckles, pistols, and heavy assault weapons, will help you take out increasingly combative henchmen. The game allows you to play as any one member of the team: cover-girl assassins Hana Tsu-Vachel or Rain Qin, master operative Royce Glas, or greedy killer Jakob "Deke" Decourt. The game's variable ending changes with the disposition of certain in-game events, and other hidden features promise added replayability.

In an industry that can't seem to distinguish the fine line between mature and immature, the sexist T & A ad campaign for Fear Effect 2: Retro Helix was very troublesome to me. By alienating women and targeting the more sexually depraved and adolescent minded part of the male population, Fear Effect 2 signals a dangerous trend that may eventually condemn videogames to the same narrow ghetto culture that plagues comic books.

According to the ESRB, this game contains: Animated Blood & Gore, Animated Violence, Suggestive Themes

While I wouldn't go so far as to say that Fear Effect 2 is the digital entertainment equivalent of a cutting-edge novel or soul-searching film, it certainly pushes the envelope of games by going boldly where almost no console titles have gone before in terms of what qualities they are expected to contain, and it manages to do it with panache.

According to ESRB, this game contains: Animated Blood, Animated Violence

Game Description:  This Resident Evil-like action-adventure game takes place in the distant future—A.D. 12,090, to be exact—some 10,000 years after vampires have won control of the planet from humans. Vampire Hunter D is based on the original Hideyuki Kikuchi novel and the cult-classic anime that followed. Your character is the aptly named Vampire Hunter D, a half-human, half-vampire who is hired to rescue a kidnapped child. The linear plot has three endings, each of which is triggered by meeting certain criteria.

When playing Vampire Hunter D, there are two things that drew positive reactions. One, is D's unbelievably quirky "partner," Left Hand. Any game that tries to pass off a talking hand character so dryly named Left Hand deserves credit for having the balls to do so if nothing else.

At its surface, Vampire Hunter D is many things. First and foremost, it is a gothic drama about a vampire hunter named "D" (in case you couldn't tell from the title). It is a vampire game done up in grand, operatic fashion. It is a game based on a popular animated film from Japan. It is yet another slow-moving, heavily stylized horror game in the stale Resident Evil tradition (what hath Capcom wrought?). It's a game filled with many monsters, bats and other assorted winged and four-legged beasties. It's a game played from too many off-kilter camera angles. It's a game strewn with mind-numbing puzzles, ordinary and familiar gameplay and poor controls. At is surface, Vampire Hunter D is many things. Below its surface, Vampire Hunter D isn't much.

I was a little surprised to see the turn Parasite Eve II takes in regard to the original, which was more of a traditional role-playing game. This sequel is just what Brad says it is—a Resident Evil clone that tries to keep its feet in both genres.

The difference between Parasite Eve II and any of the games in the Resident Evil series can be summed up like an unhip microbiology major's bad joke: "What's the difference between a neo-mitochondrial mutagenic airborne virus and a fluid-transmitted virus which reanimates and increases aggressive tendencies in mutated expired organisms?"