Guilty Gear X2 is one of those games where if you’ve heard of it, you
probably own it. While you may have seen an ad in a magazine here and
there, perhaps some other advertisement at one point, odds are you
didn’t pay much attention and perhaps don’t even know what genre this
game falls into. Well, clearing that up for you, it’s a fighting game,
but not like the fighting games released for the next gen system
nowadays, it’s an old school 2D fighting game.
The basic concept of the game is still a fighting game; you pick
from an assortment of characters and battle other characters, nothing
too fancy. Staying on the note of the characters, this game delivers to
the fullest. Each character is unique, and entertaining at that. Some
of you may choose to fight as the flame wielding ultra powerful badass
“Sol Badguy” while others will go the route of May, a young girl
wielding a ship anchor. Each character has a fully unique fighting
style, and a totally unique assortment of moves. A jab for one
character could mean stabbing you with an electrified sword, while for
another it could be stabbing you with the energy of a demon held within
your fighter’s body. Each character comes with their own set of
specials, but also this game each character comes with an instant kill
move. This seems cheap, but these moves take time to perform, and are
very easy to block. Instant kills are usually just a last resort, if
you are being pummeled, and when you land one, it feels great. The game
has several modes, more than you’re going to find in the average
fighter. You have your standard fighting modes: Arcade, 2 Player, the
whole nine yards. But, although not an exclusive, this game also
includes a survival mode in which you fight retaining your health from
round to round. Also, the mission challenges, 50 of them, are a new
mode and very difficult. While it may not seem worth it to just unlock
pictures after the missions, usually just knowing you beat the odds and
won are enough reward. As one would assume, the plot isn’t going to be
spectacular on any scale, but there is a story mode where you play as
each individual character to get a rough feel for each person, and
their motives for fighting. The only problem with this is that often
times the stories are too similar, feel too tacked on, or just don’t
really seem to bear any true relevance on the overall concept of the
game.
Control is always a huge factor in a fighting game, bad controls
usually means a bad game. Guilty Gear X2 delivers pretty much as sound
a package as you are going to get. The four face buttons are each for a
specific attack, high hard strike, low strike, ect. Movement is
controlled using the D pad, which is far better than trying to use the
stick. Specials are usually accomplished through a combination of
rolling on the d pad then using on of the attack buttons, and each
command is very difficult. One minor flaw however, is that since you
need to roll on the d pad, it can eventually start to wear your thumb
raw. Sure, putting you finger in your shirt allows for slick easy
movement, but not everyone will feel comfortable using this control
style. The shoulder buttons are used for some of the more advanced
techniques, like bursting and stuff, which will only be useful if you
really get into the game. This isn’t a problem though as they feel fine
when being used.
Most don’t come to expect much from the music in a fighting game,
but Guilty Gear really knows how to do it. The music is a blend of
various styles of rock, usually heavy on the guitar, and really feels
appropriate the action at hand. The sound effects are very nice, each
character having their own voice and few sounding alike. Sure, you may
hear the clink of sword on sword often or something, but this really
can’t be avoided, and depends on your personal fighting style. Most
times you will simply adore this games sounds, and add to the whole
feel very well.
The thing about a fighting game is that replaying usually doesn’t
mean much, as the main game can often be beaten in 20 minutes. Guilty
Gear provides plenty of modes to allow for a very diverse time each
time you play, but they really don’t feel like anything special. The
replay would be very good, as this game is tons of fun with your
friends, but the problem is the other modes, namely the missions, are
HARD. These will take you twenty tries usually at the very least, and
often pit you in seemingly impossible odds. Imagine you poisoned,
starting with ¼ health and not allowed to use specials against one of
the games strongest characters made golden (which makes them even
stronger) AND given regenerating health. It’s hard.
The graphics in Guilty Gear X2 are very, VERY impressive. They use
a style of anime, and many vivid colors add to the effect. They don’t
skip out either, every animation is simply spectacular, and none of the
moves ever are grainy or anything. The framerate is pretty much
flawless, and I never encountered a time where it slowed down for any
reason. They really go the extra mile to impress, if you fall a cloud
of dust will float up from under you, get electrocuted and lightning
courses through your body. It all adds up to a very pleasant package.
Guilty Gear X2 is a fantastic game, a must own for anyone looking
to have a good time with their friends. You probably won’t see this
game priced for higher than $30 so you might as well just pick u
