I was genuinely, pleasantly surprised by this game. I always heard that this game was looked down to a degree for “chasing after a slice of that Resident Evil pie”, but I feel like it carves out its own niche, worthy of standing tall on its own merits.

The game looks fantastic for a PS1 game. Mutants are disgustingly distinct, humans look nice and believable, and the pre-rendered backdrops are slick.

Coming off PE1, it took me a hot minute to get used to the tank controls, but it did feel natural after a while. The inventory system was still my biggest problem though. While we did get “key items” (so they wouldn’t clog up valuable inventory slots), your inventory will still be filled up extremely quickly, and be full constantly. All the guns you collect feel nice and distinct, your parasite powers are fun and intuitive to use, and it’s still fun to dodge and weave around mutants (in a different way).

The story does feel like a step down from PE1, but at this point they didn’t really have a novel/movie to lead off of, so I don’t mind the originality. Feels more like B-movie sci-fi/horror action. I'm also a big fan of inspecting literally everything in an area to get an idea of my main character's mindset, and I really enjoyed reading all of Aya Brea's thoughts on her surroundings.

My biggest complaint would have to be the music. It basically consists entirely of ambient noises and atmospheric nothing-sounds. I guess it makes sense considering the tone they were going for, but I still consider it a massive step down from Yoko Shimomura’s memorable, haunting melodies from the previous game.

Overall, I’d recommend this game if you haven’t played it. Definitely underrated.