KOEI's tactical shooter series returns with Winback 2: Project Poseidon, and this time out KOEI has upped the ante with more refined gameplay, some new tactical elements, and a new batch of characters. Whether or not it will be enough to bring fans into the fold remains to be seen, but Winback 2 does offer a stronger experience than previous titles in the series.
To those unfamiliar with the series it began its life on the Nintendo 64 as a kind of homage to Metal Gear Solid complete with a main character garbed in "snake" style costume shooting his way through a barrage of bad guys. A later iteration (a port called Covert Operations for the PS2 called Covert Operations) of the game was slightly more tactical but still retained a fast paced action focus that fans fell in love with. Both games offered all these elements through stages where close quarters combat is the main thrust of the gameplay. The new game in the series still retains that fast-paced action element but provides a more tactical experience with a couple of new gameplay mechanics that we'll delve into later.
Have Gun, will Travel
In Winback 2 players take control of three different (and new) operatives with different play styles and weapons. There's the seemingly more stealthy Craig Contrell, fem fatale Mia Cabrera, and the rather bulky and powerful Nick Bruno. One of the new gameplay mechanics that is central to gameplay is the route system. Players basically play each level twice as different characters. The first character plays Route A, clearing a specific objective like eliminating enemies and saving hostages or unlocking doors. The second character takes another route in the same level -- often times the back way -- and confronts other objectives. The game gets interesting when you see the actions completed in Route A played out while you are playing Route B. For example, Craig might save a bunch of hostages and then eliminate enemies at a choke point in the level and then Nick will reach that point and watch as the enemies are eliminated by Craig. It's an interesting concept that works pretty well, but timing is everything and there are other elements that play out as you move forward.
But the Route system is the most important element players will encounter and while it sounds pretty straightforward and simple, the fast-paced twitch style of gameplay can prove to be difficult to accomplish. Luckily the game does allow you to continue from the beginning should you fail while completing a route - but sometimes this will cause you a penalty in your final score.
Another important element in Winback 2 is the CRT point system. CRT points are collected as power-ups or earned by certain actions that may or may not relate to your prime objective on a route. These points affect your health so earning and collecting them is a pretty important thing. These points also carry over to the next route so they can really prove to the difference between living and dying for your second operative. Players can accumulate up to 15 CRT points by collecting items dropped throughout routes or by meeting certain objectives. Players start out with a number of CRT points at the beginning of the mission, and while collecting extra points is advantageous it is just as important not to screw up and lose the ones you already have..
Another important element in Winback 2 is how you can take out enemies. Players can kill an enemy by shooting them in the head, but that's not always the best course of action - sometimes you'll be required to apprehend these guys and gals. Two shots to the head can effectively kill an enemy, but there are other ways to neutralize and enemy: one shot to the legs will immobilize an enemy, one shot to the left arm will take away an enemy's ability to lob grenades and shooting them in the right arm will effectively disarm them. Shooting an enemy twice in the arms or legs will arrest them instantly. Now players can certainly go through a level gunning down enemies with head shots - and sometimes that's necessary -- but apprehending them is better for that elusive end of stage scoring..
But before you take anybody out you'll have to learn how to use the environment and stealth movement to get the drop on targets. Players can crawl, hide behind objects for cover and shoot around corners if they need to. If you use the environment correctly it is pretty easy to sneak on on someone, target their arms or legs and take them out very quickly. Players will also interact with the environment, though only in limited ways. For example, players might shoot a button that opens a door, or search for a key somewhere - or even turn off a trap. While the interaction is pretty limited, it is nonetheless another important element of the game..
Scoring occurs at the end of each of the 30 stages you'll plow through in the game and is based on how much time you spend in the mission, how many objectives you completed and how much damage you or hostages took during the entire level. Scoring is important for your own bragging rights but it also unlocks components of the multiplayer game like new playable characters.
Four For Fighting
Finally, Winback 2 offers a multiplayer component for up to four players. If you don't have any friends, the game allows you to play against computer controlled opponents but this isn't quite as exciting as a real human player. Oddly enough the game doesn't offer online play on either platform so players will have to settle for one system gameplay using the PS2 Multitap or on their Xbox console. Winback 2's multiplayer modes consists of three modes that are divided up based on what weapons you want to use: there's Sniper Battle Mode, Blast Happy Mode (using heavy weapons) and Survival Battle Mode which relies on each characters default weapons. Death match is fun but feels a little too limited in this particular build of Winback 2 so we'll reserve judgment until we see the final product. The multiplayer mode lets players use the Winback 2 operatives as well as a variety of bad guys -- some of which are unlocked in the single player campaign..
Final Thoughts
Winback 2 is a pretty interesting close quarters combat game with fast paced action and sometimes unforgiving gameplay. That unforgiving gameplay, along with the game's route system, new characters, weapons and fast-paced action is really appealing but will probably not appeal to everyone. Keep your eyes peeled for this game when it ships on April 18th for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox.
