When someone mentions fighting games, a few images come to mind: Muscular guys and agile women punching and kicking each other until someone is declared the winner. Powerful attack combos and special moves that look really cool and drain your opponent’s health at the same time. Dangerous weapons that inflict plenty of damage on your enemies, such as guitars, anchors, and yoyos. That’s right, I said yoyos. Welcome to the world of the 2D anime-influenced brawler, where fantasy, imagination and a touch of eroticism combine with the solid control mechanics of a platformer to create a new subsection of the fighting genre. While the number of these cartoon inspired titles is dwindling, in the upcoming month, Sammy and Arc System Works will release Guilty Gear X2, the latest in a series that has emerged as one of the better multiplatform titles to embrace this format. X2 builds upon the previous titles in numerous ways, primarily in the range of its storyline. For those of you not familiar with this series, here’s a quick recap: In the future, Earth is severely lacking in power sources. This drought almost leads to the end of society, until a new supply of energy is discovered that’s more powerful than anything ever seen on the planet. Managing to harness this energy, the humans replenished their cities as well as created a new sentient life form that they termed Gears. Initially Gears were designed to perform many of the menial tasks that people do, but they soon discovered how to harness some of the power that permeated their bodies and staged open revolts. Inevitably, wars broke out, causing the destruction of countless Gears and humans alike. During the First War, the humans won because of the naivety of the Gears. However, by the Second War, the Gears had fully unlocked the secrets of their powers, managing to defeat their creators. X2 takes place during a time of crisis in the Post-Second War world, when it looks like a final battle between humans and Gears will take place for survival. Players explore this pre-apocalyptic world through the game’s numerous modes. Performing successfully in each mode unlocks different secrets like photo galleries, concept drawings and other bonuses. Like most fighters, there’s the standard training mode to get you up to speed on a character’s moves against a dummy, versus CPU and 2 player modes that puts you in a round against a computer controlled or human opponents, and an arcade mode that sends characters around the world on a randomly assigned course of mayhem. The typical Survival mode has actually been cloned in some ways, with its doppelganger being called M.O.M. mode. Just like other games, you fight against a never-ending stream of enemies, trying to see how long you can last. However, Survival mode provides random levels of difficulty and challenges while barely replenishing your health after each round. In M.O.M., powerful attacks or combos will release items that increase your score and health, along with specific tasks, such as taking on three foes at once. Finally, there’s Story mode, which attempts to wrap up some of the loose ends from the previous titles in the series. In the process of tying up some of the lost plotlines, X2 has brought back some characters from the first title while still introducing four new personas to the game. Guilty Gear has always had very creative designs for its fighters, and X2 is no exception. Drawing upon its anime roots, the designers have packed some of the wildest ideas into this game. Where else will you find transvestites, six-foot-scalpel wielding doctors, vampires and heavy metal guitar riff playing witches as playable characters? In all, 20 combatants are immediately selectable at the start of the game, each with their own special moves, attacks, and parries, as well as a weapon. Like other brawlers, X2 has power gauges that are slowly built up over time during each round. However, the Burst gauge allows you to perform a quick combo attack emphasizing numerous hits over power, while the Tension gauge lets you unleash power strikes. However, X2 features some of the strongest attacks yet seen in a fighting game. Beware foolishly rushing into battles, because characters can perform a one hit kill and end a round or a match in a second. Literally. I thought I was seeing things until I witnessed something that completely blew that away: a 90 hit combo (!) used against me by the computer. Yep, even the most experienced fighter will get a challenge from X2’s computer opponents, who will punish you on even the easiest level. Graphically, X2 looks just like an anime on DVD. We’re talking bright, exquisite detail throughout the entire game. Characters are meticulously drawn, which adds to the appeal of the close-ups on their faces during story modes and selection screens. These characters also are packed with animation, from the most basic punch and kick to numerous victory animations. Most of these reactions are insanely humorous, making you literally sit and say to yourself, “Who comes up with this stuff?” Of course, your answer should be, “Artistic geniuses. Demented artistic geniuses, but geniuses nonetheless.” Backgrounds are just as nicely penciled, with a lot of background action happening in the background to catch your eye. It’s not uncommon to sometimes lose a match because of something that you’ve been staring at in the background instead of watching your opponent. Not surprising when your settings range from the deck of a ship to a large crypt to the bowels of Hell itself. Also illuminating these environments are large flashes of light emitted from powerful attacks or combos. The sound - more specifically, the soundtrack - is very well done, providing a pulsing backdrop to much of the action. Ranging from pulsing beats to laidback tunes to heavy metal guitar solos, the music in the game is what you want to pump you up to kick some pixilated butt. Add to that good vocal acting, and you’ve got an cohesive fighting experience. Guilty Gear X2 will be released in one month, and fighting fans shouldn’t be disappointed in the slightest. Check back here for a full review! Questions or comments about the upcoming release of Guilty Gear X2 for the PlayStation 2? Talk to us! [ E-Mail Jeff 'Linkphreak' Haynes ] [ Comment in our Forums ]

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