Attack on Titan 2 – Short Review: PC Version
Attack on Title Too
Back in those heady days of 2016 the first Attack on Titan game was quite a surprise. Web-slinging around a map populated by monstrous titans is (still) a novel concept, which ultimately, became repetitive. Hilarious when you consider that more happens in a single 24 minute episode of Attack on Titan than most other shows.
Hold up… if the first game became repetitive, how does the sequel fare?
Surprisingly well.
Unlike the first game you’re given the chance to create your own original character and are discretely slipped into the story, like the pervert you definitely are. You walk around various areas making friends and chatting shit. Befriending a lunatic flying through the air, wielding double blades is worthwhile, as they’ll not only provide (useful) upgrades but they’ll be more useful when you see combat…
Yes, my character suffers from a debilitating glaucoma condition.
… Wait… before I go on. You revisit the entire first season of Attack on Titan. Again. Not much time has passed since the first go-around. Man; isn’t this fundamentally a terrible sequel? This is a better adaptation, but if you’ve already bought the first game, who’s ready to revisit the same gameplay and story loops? This is a medium that can do anything. Be as wordy a book, visually cinematic, a mix of genres. It can explore the story in far deeper ways than a short tv show. The game could change the whole story up, spring a few surprises. To the games credit, it attempts this (very lightly) after you finish the game. But c’mon… the first Attack on Titan did the faithful recreation. It’s not a laziest game, plenty of content exists here and is far superior to the previous attempt. The game is the very opposite of bold.
Thank you for your patience, back to our original review.
Swinging around a miffed giant is tremendous fun. Jumping on a horse, chopping off massive body parts, standing astride the rubble of a house in a hero pose. This is all very good. Ordering a Teammate to save your bacon is also very satisfying. Naturally they won’t do this until you demand it; after all, you’re the star of the show. Wink. The Titan’s are delightfully disjointed, varied and janky. They bobble around, turn a burst of speed and their unpredictability sells the game. To alleviate any sense of repetition tough abnormal Titans require you to target and hit certain body parts before you can deal any real damage. Yes, they are a bit of a pain in the arse, but it breaks things up. But like their limbs… Ho Ho!
Please hit here. Also. Weeeeeeeeeeeee!
The in-game action always feels thematically correct as most objectives are life threatening. You feel compelled to be hasty. It all feels like it matters.
A handy sneak attack can be learnt and you’ll need this to cut through the (napes of) the rank and file. The trade off is, if you are too slow in lining up your attack and spotted by the Titans, they’ll go into a premature rage. A pissed off Titan demands respect as they’ll violently chase you down. A general rule of thumb to live by is “don’t get grabbed by giants”. Naturally there are items and bases to swing the odds back in your favour, and you’ll accept any dirty trick to get by. Building bases gives the game a much needed tactical consideration, as rapidly diminishing equipment is a constant worry. A dull blade’s useless in front of a relentless Titan hoard. Beyond artillery and resupply bases, I’m not sure you really need a mining base to complete the game. It’s a shame this element could have really elevated the game to something quite special, then again, do people really want strategy in a hack and slash Titan hunt? Maybe not.
Peeking Tom Titan.
Side Note – Resupply issues seldom happen again, after you’ve gone through the horror of running out of gas and blades. Now that’s a dreary, soul destroying limp journey back to a resupply point.
The upgrade system is very computer gamey. You buy new equipment to scale with the games difficulty and ultimately, it feels like a waste of time. It’s just something you have to do or the damage done to the Titans becomes negligible. Things like this appear because “these are things computer games have” rather then “this is something the game needs”. If in doubt, make the number bigger. You could say the same for multiplayer, which does try, bless it, but it’s unpopulated and redundant.
Hello BOYS!
For all my moaning, I had to complete the game. I had to get to the end and I very much enjoyed my time with Attack on Titan 2. It’s a very easy game to drop into. Slinging around is very soothing. There’s a lot of additional content beyond the main story and town life. I did enjoy the minor distraction of chomping people as a Titan itself, but the main story was enough. Walking round town, unlocking new areas and shops. Talking to each NPC to raise their friendship rankings is not the sexy adventure you think it to be. Loot-box humans passing out minor treats for listening to trite dialogue. It’s a fine idea on paper but do you know how many characters there are in Attack on Titan!? Thankfully you can teleport directly to each person otherwise I might have given up on it altogether. I mean, which character gives you a genuinely useful upgrade dammit? You can also train your character for the most meagre of points. Hah! You can even fail training. Urgh, it all feels unnecessary, even for a fan of the show… but again, I had to do it. It does guarantee I’ll never want to revisit the game after I’ve mined it. I’m convinced the upgrade and skill elements could have been dropped for something more meaningful. I’m sure these contrived nonsense systems were created for the online portion of the game. Sigh.
Quick! To the smoke signal! In a minute. Maybe. I might need a little rest.
Every good idea in this game is intrinsically enforced by very nature of the source material.
The scoring has me conflicted. Everything that bothers me about the game simply doesn’t matter when you’re flowing round the stages, rescuing teammates then ordering them to takedown a foe. The person buying this game for more Attack on Titan will not be upset with what’s on offer.
A solid core game mildly let down by the very concept of computer games.
Deep and superficial all that the same time.