If you are looking for a game that is similar to the original Fighting Force, you will be disappointed to find that Fighting Force 2 has taken a U-turn and gone in the other direction. Instead the developers have decided to insert some more adventure elements to spruce things up, so that it is not just mindless action that repeats throughout the entire game. That formula may have worked well during the Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo era, but gamers expert a little more from their games nowadays, and this has forced (no pun intended) Fighting Force to evolve with the times. Certain things have been taken away, but there are many things that have been added, as well.

One significant change that has been made is that there is now only one character that can be controlled (Hawk Manson), compared to the four that were in Fighting Force. However, this single character has been refined and developed so that he's one bad ass action hero with an arsenal of weapons that would make any generic enemy think twice before attacking him. Hawk has a variety of moves that can help him out of certain situations, but chances are most of them won't be used, since a good portion of the game comes down to punch punch, kick kick and shoot shoot.

Even though there it looks like this sequel has taken the total Tomb Raider-style adventure route, there is more action akin to Fighting Force in Fighting Force 2 than you might think. At its heart, it's still a basic simple beat 'em up set in the 3rd person perspective. There are weapons contained in the boxes that are found on the floor, and taking advantage of all of them is one of the most entertaining parts of Fighting Force 2. Shifting into first person mode and busting a few caps never fails to spark that little devil inside of you. And there is a good assortment to pick from when taking out the opposing forces. There are pistols, grenades, lead pipes, knives and mounds of others. Needless to say, I never grew tired of whipping out a pistol and taking out an army of blue grunts, even if it did get a bit repetitive at times.

Let me expand on the repetitive remark. Through the entire first level (and this applies to other stages, too, but the first level is one of the better examples) there are really only two enemies that you will come across: a blue grunt that is taken out with a few button presses and a big muscle bound monstrosity usually carrying a pipe. Changes occur level to level, but mostly the same incessant aspect stays rampant throughout and dampens the experience. For a game that was attempting to get rid of some of its 2D beat 'em up roots, Fighting Force 2 could have used some more enemy variety in order to keep players from having to pry open their eyes attempting to stay awake to see to the end of a level and on to the next one.

Core Design's previous effort, Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation, was more focused on adventure than fighting AI controlled enemies, but there were AI characters in it, regardless. Why is such an example here? Because the AI found in The Last Revelation is better than Fighting Force 2's. About half of the time the enemies will come at you attempting to take you down, but the other half will have them either sitting and minding there own business (not even moving, just standing there like brainless goons) until you come up to them and initiate a fight. Even more surprising was that a few times I found that all of a sudden the characters would actually just stop in front of me and stand there pointlessly. The most obvious example of this was walking upon a ledge to engage a couple grunts that were beginning to run at me, and as soon as I hit the stairs they stopped charging. This made it easier to take them out (a couple shots to the head...and boom!), but ruined some of the challenge behind the game.

Another problem with the AI was that it looks like it was programmed to only walk on one level of ground. I was unable to get any of the bad guys to follow me up a ladder or even climb up on a crate to attack me. If I found myself in a bit of trouble, all I had to do was leap up on to some nearby crates and take them out from above, since they were unable to hurt me from there. This was compensated at times, though, by the use of grenades. Just as I was about to take them all down I'd find a ticking bomb sitting in my lap. D'oh!

You cannot find too much to complain about when speaking of the graphics found in Fighting Force 2. Most of the levels have a generic futuristic look that has been far overdone, and a few of the levels give the feeling of "been there, done that" when moving through them. The game's models are also generic and likely will make you yawn; they are your standard colored differentiated troops. Furthermore, there are some very cool special effects that look great on the PlayStation hardware; such as a blue, buzzing beam that zap between a spinning circular object every few seconds, and the field of orange hurt that moves through and around your body when a certain enemy uses an electric prod on you. Other than that, there is not that much to complain about, but the game is not exactly a showstopper, either.

Seemingly a small addition, Fighting Force has a very good use of the Dual Shock controller. Since its introduction most games take advantage of its features, but few make a good use of it to enhance the gaming experience. It has become something that is just there and not cared for, with the exception of a few select games (i.e. Metal Gear Solid). Core Design, however, has added some great Dual Shock effects that took my by surprise when playing. For example, when over by some rotating gears the closer I was to them the stronger the vibration. Moving back and forth, I found the vibration's strength getting more powerful and less powerful as I backed up and moved closer. A subtle touch, sure, but a detail that is far overlooked in most PlayStation games.