The sequel to Kileak: The DNA Imperative, Epidemic drops players into a world plagued by a deadly disease: The Gigari virus. Having spread across the globe, it has forced the remnants of human civilization into hiding underground. Home to humanity is Neural City, which is controlled by the Byflos Group, who hold the threat of shutting off all life support over the heads of the city's denizens. As Masao Coda, a member of the Del Sol liberation group, you must use your Protect Armor suit to engage the Byflos Group and its many robotic minions, rescue your infected girlfriend from certain death at the hands of the virus, and eventually, save humanity.
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it's not hard to understand why sony abandoned epidemic's original title for its western release; this is a massive improvement over kileak in almost every way (primarily because it isn't aping iron angel of the apocalypse anymore)
first, the almost: narratively it tries harder, but i'd be lying if i said that was to any greater outcome. cutscenes are pretty whatever and the localization is so piss-poor that it's often hard to tell what's going on or why you should even care to begin with
the core gameplay though? it's actually fun this time around because levels aren't entirely composed of 1x1 corridors and 4x4 squares! enemy fire is avoidable now and your mech feels equal parts weighty and satisfying to maneuver. the new ability to jet-boost through halls and around corners especially makes backtracking a nonissue and has a certain slickness to it that i'd compare to something like f-zero or wipeout. excluding deaths i logged about 3-4 hours and i could easily see that being cut down to 30-60 minutes on replays due to this mechanic alone
ammo and energy are also handled better - mainly because weapon energy recharges and boost juice occupies its own meter. can't say the boss fights are any more captivating as they're all still solvable by standing still or circle strafing while firing, but they serve more as a health/ammo check than anything else and i'm alright with that
i can't help but wish kileak's body horror elements were improved upon instead of completely abandoned, but i'll still take this over it any day. can sincerely recommend to anyone looking for an unconventional, mech-based fps
first, the almost: narratively it tries harder, but i'd be lying if i said that was to any greater outcome. cutscenes are pretty whatever and the localization is so piss-poor that it's often hard to tell what's going on or why you should even care to begin with
the core gameplay though? it's actually fun this time around because levels aren't entirely composed of 1x1 corridors and 4x4 squares! enemy fire is avoidable now and your mech feels equal parts weighty and satisfying to maneuver. the new ability to jet-boost through halls and around corners especially makes backtracking a nonissue and has a certain slickness to it that i'd compare to something like f-zero or wipeout. excluding deaths i logged about 3-4 hours and i could easily see that being cut down to 30-60 minutes on replays due to this mechanic alone
ammo and energy are also handled better - mainly because weapon energy recharges and boost juice occupies its own meter. can't say the boss fights are any more captivating as they're all still solvable by standing still or circle strafing while firing, but they serve more as a health/ammo check than anything else and i'm alright with that
i can't help but wish kileak's body horror elements were improved upon instead of completely abandoned, but i'll still take this over it any day. can sincerely recommend to anyone looking for an unconventional, mech-based fps