When the original State of Emergency from Rockstar Games hit the masses a few years ago, it was a game that had unique looks, unique gameplay and turned more than a few heads with its brutal lack of disregard for human decency. Starting riots and causing mayhem was the main staple of enjoyment, but the sequel, from the folks at DC Studios, gives the story and game play a little kick into more seriousness and it’s not as colorful and cartoonish as its previous outing. The main characters, Libra, Freak, MacNeil, Bull and Spanky all return and find themselves up to their old tricks in no time.

The story picks up after the events of the original game, with MacNeil and Bull in prison and MacNeil about to get the chair for crimes against the Corporation. Once MacNeil makes his breakout from the slammer, he rescues Bull along the way and the two set out to meet up with the rest of their partners in crime. Once they do, they eventually learn of a plan that would see the Corporation spread a mind control drug across the globe. Once the rebels get wind of the plan, they prepare for an assault against the Corporation main headquarters and will stop at nothing to put an end to the Corporations nefarious plan. The sequel to State of Emergency has an underlying darker tone to it than the original did and is more focused on story and gameplay rather than just causing chaos. Along the way, you and your crew will take out the Corporation soldiers by any means necessary and those means include driving tanks and choppers and killing everything in sight. Gone is the ability to fight hand to hand, to pick up objects as well the freedom of roaming around.

For the majority of the game, you will be running a very linear path with one of the four playable characters, sometimes two at a time that will allow you to swap back and forth between the two. Each of the characters has their own strengths and are needed at different parts in each stage. MacNeil is used for sniping, Libra for scaling walls, Bull for knocking down doors and Spanky for recruiting gang members to even the odds against swarms of soldiers. Each of the twelve missions are broken down into three or four sections and each chapter has its own twists and turns on the gameplay to help keep it from getting too stale. The different missions range from taking the helm of a chopper to destroy radio towers or commanding tanks to blow up restaurants, as well as mini-games, like having to interrogate enemies to get information, or having to fill a meter to break down doors. One thing about State of Emergency 2 that you will notice right off the bat is that the game is difficult. In each chapter you will die, and you will die a lot. It will usually take you a few tries to learn the best way to go about completing the objective set before you and will slowly make your way through with trial by error.

Some missions will require you to sneak around to make the missions easier, some will require you to snipe enemies before they get a chance to spot you and some are just flat out gung-ho style missions where you simply kill everything in sight. The defend type missions, such as where you need to protect a character while they set up a beacon in the city streets are either hit or miss. Sometimes it is easy as pie and sometimes it’s incredibly impossible. An odd thing about moving from chapter to chapter is that the weapons you collect don’t transfer along with you. Not that there is a large array of weapons to actually choose from and need to collect again, but having to start each chapter with just a pistol is annoying. Another little irritation is the lack of a jump button. Running through areas that are scattered with debris and broken walls and not being able to step over them makes you scratch your head in bewilderment. Not everything is totally different from the original game however. The riots are still rampant just about everywhere you go while traveling on foot. From the prison riots to the uprisings on the streets, there are people running around all over like chickens with their heads cut off. Given the fact that there is no penalty for killing civilians, taking one or two or ten out as you take down Corporation soldiers, is nothing to but an afterthought.

While the single player campaign will only run you about seven or so hours at the most, there are a few other modes included to help keep the game disc in your Ps2. Arcade mode lets you play mini games that you unlock during the single player campaign, such as speedboat race and sniper challenge. The multiplayer mode allows you to show off your skills and play against two to four other players and/or AI controlled bots in various split screen modes like Team Deathmatch, Last Man Standing, and Flag attack. The assortment of missions, stage by stage, are enough to keep your interest in the game from beginning to end, although the difficulty that dramatically changes in degrees may not. If you are looking for a limited, but fun, shooter game with a range of different style missions, State of Emergency 2 is a good way to kill some time and is worth giving it a run for its money.