The Game Where You Are The Loser Bounty Hunter. .W00t W00t.
Many people compare Headhunter to MGS since it seems that they belong to the same genre. Yeah, in a way, that is true, like MGS, Headhunter has VR missions; high tech stuff, stealth killings, conspiracies and mission based levels. But it is unfair to brand Headhunter as an MGS clone since this game does inject some different and new elements to the gameplay. Though this game has many control issues, it is still enjoyable. Anyway, I’m glad that Sega decides to port this game over to PS2 for more people to enjoy.
In the high tech world of Headhunter, the human organs are highly sought after because the wealthy citizens prefer natural organs to artificial ones in transplantation and their health is the top most priority of the government. Thus, the law-enforcing units are privatized to encourage the lowering of crimes and increase the source of natural organs; from the criminals. Yes, most of the organs come from the criminals whose organs are preserved in any gunfight by banning the use of conventional weapons and using ENP weapons instead. ENP technology (invented by Biotech) causes the brain to stop functioning while doing nil damage to the body thus enabling transplantation of the organs.
The main character is Jack Wade, former top best headhunter, who suffers from amnesia, he finds himself tied up in a strange place but he manages to escape. However, he cannot remember what happened and he is informed that he is fired from his job for reasons unknown. Thus, after accepting the offer made by Angela Stern, daughter of the head of ACN (Anti-Crime Network), he started by obtaining licenses to be a headhunter again and track down the godfather, Don Fulci to find out the truth.
This game creates one of the most original and creative universe for the storyline. The story starts off excellently with two cheerful looking news reporters reporting cheerfully about ACN, ENP technology and other background information of the world of this game. This is an interesting and unique way to start off a game and narrate about this world that the characters live in. Also, the way the reporters report their news in such a bright and cheerful way to the point of absurdity that gives the player a feeling that some conspiracy is going behind all these news and the public does not know anyway about it. Also, the loading screen features many ads of ACN and Biotech, which demonstrate the power and influence of these two organizations over the city, in a sarcastic way, this is a nice touch to the storyline. There are some nice twists and funny moments in the story, adding entertainment value and depth; so most action movie fans will appreciate this one. The only minus point is that there are no touching moments, where you can understand and feel for the characters.
Gameplay : This game is one of the closest thing you can get as to playing as a law enforcer, infiltrate buildings, searching for clues, shooting up criminals and basically, saving the day. The levels are mission-based in which Jack receives some new information and you will get a new objective, so you will to fulfill that objective. Of course, there are bad guys littering through out the levels, who will deter you from finishing your missions, so you can choose to evade them, dispose of them by stealth or just engage in a messy shootout with them. Personally, I think option 1 is the best due to control issues (see controls). Like MGS, this game has a variety of weapons, which you can use to dispatch the enemies with, from the standard handgun, the proximity mine and to the resonator grenade, though some of them are pretty useless, like the shotgun and decoy shells. Oh yes, one thing to note is that there is absolutely no blood splattering when you kill your enemies since conventional weapons are not used in this game. Actually, it is fun to exploring some areas, looking for clues, extra first-aid kits and ammunition, killing bad guys by whatever way you see deem fit and finding new information, which aids the progress of the story. Also, the feeling you get is good when you manage to snap some necks and you watch the body goes limp and then collapses. The bosses require different strategies to defeat, which keeps things interesting and contribute a sense of accomplishment when they are defeated. However, take note that they are not exactly easy to beat, so expect to try countless of time trying to beat them.
The puzzles in this game are not that difficult, so most gamers should be able to solve them. It is the basic “get this stuff, then use it on another stuff” kind of puzzles, gamers looking for challenging puzzles, like in Silent Hill 1/2 and Fear Effect may be disappointed. Let’s just say this game is more for the action-orientated gamers.
There are a lot of levels to be explored in this game from the criminals’ hideout, shopping mall to the sewers so the excitement of opening up new levels is always there, and sometimes, new enemies will appear in some explored areas to pay you a surprised visit! The good thing about this game is that there is this nice little radar showing the layout of the area and the positions of the enemies, so it is easier to maneuver around the area. Also, there are several cool mini-games, which add variety to the gameplay.
One of the best aspects of this game is the introduction of new gameplay elements to this genre: Bike Scenario and Leila License. First, the Bike Scenario, well, you can get a ride a bike around the city, complete with shades. In fact, like a bounty hunter, you will need to ride around in order to get to various places to look for clues and wanted criminals, the city is pretty huge with very realistic traffic, so you can go exploring around if you want. And you don’t have to worry about getting lost since there is a marker on the map to indicate where you should be going. Besides using the bike as a mode of transport to places, you will need to accumulate enough points by riding the bike at very high speed without crashing, in order to be eligible to take the Leila License Tests. The Leila License is quite similar to the VR missions in MGS in the sense that it take place in virtual reality, but it has some new elements in it. Unlike the VR missions, the Leila License is integrated into the game, meaning you have to complete it to proceed with the game. Don’t worry, the Leila License is not insanely difficult to achieve, and in fact, it is fun to play. There are four tests to each level of license: Bike Test, Stealth Mission, Massive Shootout and Getting to the goal using any skills you have. Besides passing these tests, if you think you are good enough, you can opt to beat the record set by Hank Redwood, the current top headhunter.
One of my complaints on the gameplay is on the weapons of this game, most of the time, you will be using the simulator a.k.a. the handgun because most of the other weapons don’t come in handy most of the time, and some of them are pretty useless. For example, the resonator grenade, it sounds good in the sense that it hurts everything organic within a certain radius but it is difficult to control distance and direction to throw it. The shotgun does a lot of damage when the target is near, but when far, the amount of damage is almost nil and the reloading time is very long, AND most of the time, your targets will be pretty far away from you because all your enemies seem to have super eyesight and they will start shooting at you the minute you appear in the direction of their vision. Also, the neurostunner is very user unfriendly, you need to aim at a target, then charge it and then shoot. Imagine a critical situation in which a group of enemies are plugging bullets into you, and you are still charging to shoot one target. Let’s me inform you this: there are a few levels where you can only use the neurostunner, so expect some frustrating moments. In addition, the neurostunner needs ammo, what the…? I mean, if a weapon actually needs charging, I’m assuming that it doesn’t need ammo like, the taser in Fear Effect. Well, more improvement can be made in the weapons’ department of this game.
Ok, here comes the ugly part of this game: the controls. First, the camera is horrible. A decent camera angle for an action game should be either MGS style (top down view), Tenchu style (the camera follows your back) or RE style (prerendered scenes), and for a stealth action game, the camera has to be either MGS or Tenchu style. Unfortunately, the camera for this game is none of the mentioned above, it is something like Tenchu style except that the camera will NOT follow when you change direction or make a turn. Yes, the camera will stuck staring at the wall while you go around the corner trying to catch a glimpse of the bad guy so you can snap his neck. So what you need to do is that go to the corner and turn, then press “square” or “R1” and the camera will then go behind you so that you can see where is your target, then move forward to kill him…that is, if he had not spot you yet. Though the camera is sluggish most of the time, sometimes, it will go crazy and suddenly spin around causing you to become disorientated and wondered which direction you are facing. Trust me, you will get dizzy after maneuvering in those narrow spaces for a while.
Stealth is an essential part of this game but the control not implemented probably for the execution of stealth moves. For one thing, why in world do I always have to arm myself with one weapon; can’t I just walk around without any weapons? Ah, you may wondered why I say that, the reason is that given that lousy camera, it is likely that you will miss the chance to kill your enemy by stealth and the worse thing is that you will start firing your weapon instead, alerting your enemy of your presence. Also, in this game, you have to stand PRECISELY behind your enemy to strangle him, otherwise, you will find yourself firing your weapon instead. To make things worse, it is very difficult to stand right behind your target due to camera issues and the use of analog stick.
Your character in the game moves according to the camera’s perspective (MGS style) instead of character’s perspective (RE style) and you use the analog stick instead of the digital pad to control your character. Some of you may like this kind of control but for those who prefer the RE’s controls (including me), these controls just feel weird and uncomfortable. There are no other options for the controls; you have to use the analog stick, which is not thoughtful enough on the side of the game designers. For one thing, it is hard to make your character face the specific direction you want using the analog stick. Also, the distance between the analog stick and the L1, L2 buttons is greater as compared to the digital pad, thus putting extra strain on the hand when stretching the thumb to reach the analog stick. Another thing is the problem of disorientation when using MGS controls coupled with Tenchu’s camera (the sluggish cum crazy version).
As for the digital pad, it is being used to open quick access menu to the weapons. The function is very much like Fear Effect’s inventory menu where you cycle through the weapons to choose the one you want while your enemies continuing to attack you. So it is better to go to main inventory screen to select your weapons instead of using the absolutely redundant quick access menu. It is a wonder as to why the game designers don’t implement the movements of the character on both the digital pad and analog stick, instead putting the useless quick access menu to the valuable digital pad.
Complaints aside, the merits of the controls are that the motion of your character is smooth and the buttons are responsive. Also, there is this cool feature where you can press against the wall and walk along it, when you reach a corner, you can press “R1” to turn out of the corner and shoot your target. Then you can release “R1” to hide behind the wall again. This helps in a lot of fights.
Graphics : The CG movies are pretty good with the characters showing very realistic body movements but the facial movements seem wooden and the characters look like they are wearing a mask. The in-game graphics are decent but edges of the character models and the environment have a bit of jagged edges. Also, the shadows of the characters are just blobs of dark circles, and the corpses decorating the environment look like ragged dolls. Several places are too dark making it difficult to find the right places to go, this will prove to be very frustrating. On the plus side, the background environment are littered with details giving a sense of realism, also, the walls will be filled with bullet holes if you had a massive gun fight with your enemies around there. The colour tones of the city will change according to the time of the day. For example, in the evening, everything is tinted brown, while in the nights, the headlights of the vehicles will light up. This is a nice touch to the graphics.
Sounds : The voice acting is excellent in this game. The voice actors, from the news reporters, the gangsters, the bored receptionist, to the main characters, all convey the feelings, emotions and typical slang realistically. The background music is your typical action movie music, nothing memorable. The sound effects are decent.
Despite the hideous controls, this game is still enjoyable and refreshing, action fans will not be disappointed, it is worth your investment of money, time and effort.