I remember playing this on 56k with friends back in the day. If you can't connect to Battle.net with the Galaxy client install, uninstall it and download the offline installer from the site, that fixed it for me. I have also played through the campaign but it reaches a point where it seems like cheats are necessary, because the AI cheats. I have still sunk a good amount of time into this since it came out on GOG doing mostly scenario maps vs AI, love the music.
Simple controls, 60fps, lots of fun and a real throwback
Too buggy in DOSBox, these should actually have disclaimers on them because they barely function. WCI has a lot of audio issues, plus if you hold down the shoot button it keeps you turning constantly in the last direction you pressed, which makes the game very difficult to control. WCII doesn't let you turn and shoot at the same time, which makes the game far more difficult than it's supposed to be. Don't bother with these releases, if they could have been made to run properly I'm sure they'd be fun games, but as it is it's either the DOSBox settings or DOSBox itself not emulating these properly. Broken release.
Sums the game up.
Still holds up, I'd say 8/10. Only downsides are the start is slow, once you get your ship the game is a lot better. There are some bugs with AI during combat so might as well just play on Easy to avoid the frustration, and using Force Speed (turn off the graphic effect that makes you have blur while this is active!) to traverse maps faster but then having to wait on slower party members to catch up before changing maps can get tiring. I can see why I fanboyed over this game when younger, it's a ton of Star Wars fanservice with some DnD-lite (consolized DnD dice gameplay) to boot. It's another example of a game that would have been way better if it was PC exclusive though, if they could've done it Baldur's Gate style for the combat (top down designed for m&k control) a lot of the combat issues wouldn't exist and this would probably be a 10. The game also forced me into a Light Side ending due to one decision I made near the end of the game (which reads very much like a Dark Side decision), even though I had played the rest of the game up to that point as Dark Side. The game makes it clear near the end that Light Side is the canon playthrough. Don't bother using the restoration mod since it doesn't do a lot and introduces some bugs, one of which can put you in a deadend game if you don't have a backup save. No native widescreen but the fix is easy and can be found through Google (UniWS method, not FlawlessWidescreen).
You're going to want to follow a FAQ as closely as possible. The game is unbearably cryptic with direction at times, you are mostly just clicking through a movie as there isn't a lot of puzzle solving (aside from that really awful sewer rat puzzle, there aren't actually any other puzzles in the game). You're mostly collecting evidence to force scripted events to occur, if you miss things it can either effect the ending you get or brickwall you until you find the right pixel to click on in areas you thought you had already cleared. You revisit areas frequently throughout the acts, and as such will see odd things like a staircase in the background you are unable to interact with in one act, that in another act is revealed to be the entrance to a secret underground laboratory. Why couldn't you use it the first time? It wasn't blocked off or anything, the game just doesn't let you use it until the reveal. Really cheesy. The game has a cool vibe to it, the RNG elements (which force you into a set of endings each playthrough, you won't know exactly what roll you got until it's all said and done) can encourage replayability but really once you know the core of the story there isn't a lot to do here. You have a gun but there isn't a lot of action. I had this when it first came out in 1997 and thought it had the same problems it does now, it just has a lot of that 90s adventure game crypticness to it that was a turnoff of the genre for me. However if you like Blade Runner you will probably enjoy the game enough by following through with a FAQ. The writing is really clunky and vague, due to the RNG nature of the game they didn't want to hone anything but the major unchanging plot points that you end up seeing in cutscenes. Overall a clunky game with an undeniably cool presentation.
Great graphics and sound. Gameplay is smooth. On Standard difficulty I had few deaths, none of which were cheap. Has a stat, skill, spell and weapon upgrade system. Took 6h20m to beat on Standard. Handcrafted mazelike 90s level design. Would have like coop multiplayer.
The short of it is that this has "legacy" slowdown which just shouldn't exist anymore. If any modern console game showed up on PC and had technical issues because it was a dump of a console game and not enough was done to hone it for PC hardware, it would be eaten alive. This game is a good game from the a "retro" era, however shortcomings due to "retro" technology should get ironed out when something is released on superior technology and a price tag is attached. So despite liking the core game, I know realistically what it is, and I have to hit not recommended. Not as good as Metal Slug 3, but still a good game. Just like all the currently available Steam/GOG versions of Metal Slug, this has slowdown and audio speedup/slowdown issues while more superior ports had neither. Again an option to switch Legacy mode on or off would have been great. All of these ports also have one really odd bug: when the "GO" icon flashes on the screen, my character will just start running to the right and won't stop until death. It's rare, but it happens. I like these games, especially Metal Slug 3, but these ports aren't very good.
The short of it is that this has "legacy" slowdown which just shouldn't exist anymore. If any modern console game showed up on PC and had technical issues because it was a dump of a console game and not enough was done to hone it for PC hardware, it would be eaten alive. This game is a good game from the a "retro" era, however shortcomings due to "retro" technology should get ironed out when something is released on superior technology and a price tag is attached. So despite liking the core game, I know realistically what it is, and I have to hit not recommended. What's especially weird given all this is that one of the major improvements X made on 2 (it's the same game being upgraded) was that it removed the slowdown - but in this version, the slowdown is back, so it isn't even legacy slowdown here. It's just a poor port. Not as good as Metal Slug 3, but still a good game. Just like the other versions on Steam, I wish there was an option to disable the Legacy slowdown - have it as a toggle for those who want it and those who don't. This is mostly a DLC pack for Metal Slug 2, but since DLC wasn't around in those days and most companies weren't doing the lock-on cartridge thing... it was buy the new game for your NeoGeo, or buy a new arcade cabinet. For some reason, the Steam and GOG versions of Metal Slug 2 don't have online multiplayer. X does however.
The short of it is that this has "legacy" slowdown which just shouldn't exist anymore. If any modern console game showed up on PC and had technical issues because it was a dump of a console game and not enough was done to hone it for PC hardware, it would be eaten alive. This game is a good game from the a "retro" era, however shortcomings due to "retro" technology should get ironed out when something is released on superior technology and a price tag is attached. So despite liking the core game, I know realistically what it is, and I have to hit not recommended. What's especially weird given all this is that one of the major improvements X made on 2 (it's the same game being upgraded) was that it removed the slowdown - but in this version, the slowdown is back, so it isn't even legacy slowdown here. It's just a poor port. Not as good as Metal Slug 3, but still a good game. Just like the other versions on Steam, I wish there was an option to disable the Legacy slowdown - have it as a toggle for those who want it and those who don't. This is mostly a DLC pack for Metal Slug 2, but since DLC wasn't around in those days and most companies weren't doing the lock-on cartridge thing... it was buy the new game for your NeoGeo, or buy a new arcade cabinet. For some reason, the Steam and GOG versions of Metal Slug 2 don't have online multiplayer. X does however.
