I purchased this game on Steam a while ago, and am sad to say I can't recommend it. For the effort that went into the visual aesthetic, there wasn't nearly enough time devoted to crafting its gameplay or story. Frankly, it seems like it was released mid-development. The characters give you the initial impression they will become something striking and iconic - dropping verbal and visual hints at a noire, shadowrun-like world blending myth and futurism. But, the game forgets story elements as quickly as it introduces them. All these 'clues' are revealed to be nothing but fancy packaging for a mish-mash of stereotypes. Like many premature games, the gameplay is repetitive. There are simply not a wide enough variety of actions the player can take, or elements for them to interact with, to keep it interesting. Even the art design, which is gorgeous in the cut scenes, breaks down once gameplay starts. The screen space is a high-contrast fever dream that makes levels hard to navigate, and combat a shiny, but jumbled mess. A particularly hard problem to have in a fighting game. This would be disappointing enough. But even for something under Suda51's banner, the writing is remarkably juvenile. Specifically, the Gigolo missions - one of the necessary ways to progress in the game. In essence, you need to ogle women at bars until you have enough "guts" to bribe them into fucking you. There is no more depth to it than that - you look at their tits, until the game lets you offer them chewing gum, then implied sex. Seriously. These are not the crass antics of No More Heroes, presented with a knowing wink-and-nudge. This is a cynical, wit-less, crusty pick up simulator, only palatable for the loneliest of 13-year-old boys. This is not the visually stunning hack-n'slash you're looking for. What we are left with is a messy collage of horror tropes; held together on the ceiling of a teenager's bedroom with tacks, novelty Hot Topic duct-tape, and probably some semen.
This game is always '75% off' for a reason. I can't be entirely sure what happened. While never out-right terrible, SW2 manages to get a C- in every aspect of its design. The art, the story, the gameplay, the RPG elements, even the SHOOTING. It's all... subpar. Never worse, but never any better. In terms of story, it takes Shadow Warrior 2013's sense of parody, and turns it into an exhausting cliche. It's art is incredibly inconsistent, ranging from 'technical masterpiece' to 'why am I in GTA IV?' The loot is a DISASTER. Think: 'what if Borderlands had spreadsheets?' (with an inventory system akin to a TI-85 calculator) My best explanation? It feels like Devolver tried to break into the looter/shooter market, but didn't want to commit financially. Fortunately, this cynical and poorly envisioned entry flopped - and we haven't seen any attempts since. In my mind, a sequel should build off the achievements of its predecessor - ideally, design around critiques the first game faced. SW2 does none of that. Don't buy SW2 at full price. If you play games when you're too tired to think, and need a time-waster: get it on sale. If you're addicted to looter/shooters and DESPARATELY need something new: *maybe* get it on sale. Otherwise, go play Doom 2017 or any Borderlands game. They offer the same things, but done properly.
