ShellShock 2: Blood Trails

Shellshock 2 is one of the most poorly designed and unplayable games this generation. Not even its admittedly interesting premise can keep it from feeling unfinished and completely unnecessary.

Miserable graphics, poor sound and a story which isn’t able to fascinate – this game is a no-go. Maybe the king of no-gos. Don’t play this title, it will definitely be wasted time.

Up against World at War, Killzone 2 and Halo 3, it's a complete joke. The worst FPS I've played since Turning Point: Fall of Liberty.

Had this been released five years ago it would still have stood out as a poorly made FPS, so released into a market with the likes of Halo 3 and Call of Duty 4 sitting pretty on store shelves, and Killzone 2 due any day now, it's hard to see any reason to add this to your collection.

Horror and shooter fans alike may find some cheap thrills within Blood Trails, but ultimately the majority of the game is quite simply a very unsatisfying experience.

This really is absolutely shocking.

The game was just so bad, I could just about get halfway through. Unless you are desperate for a few miserable hours to waste then I would steer well clear. As I said before - try Bioshock, F.E.A.R 2 or Left 4 Dead instead.

Another day, another game about the horrors of conflict. For the six of you that still care about wanting to trudge through a true Vietnam War setting, the choice is simple – you either play Shellshock 2, or sit through the four hour cut of Apocalypse Now whilst daubed in body paint and playing The Doors on the stereo. Here’s your last clue – it’s not the first suggestion.

A budget title and it shows. The visuals, level design, AI, and just about anything else you can think of can't match up with the top-tier first-person shooters. On top of that, you only get 10 brief stages and no multiplayer options.

Shellshock 2: Blood Trials is one of the worst early 2009 games. The title is seriously inadequate under all aspects: a creepy graphical engine, an inaccurate aiming system, a ridiculous plot and a silly lasting appeal. Keep away from this title: there are more interesting shooters, published last year, that can be bought for a budget price.

Shellshock 2 is incredibly short, largely unsatisfying, and even painful to play at times.

Aside from the ridiculously terrible story, the 6 year-old graphics, broken AI, and lack of replay value, ShellShock 2: Blood Trails doesn’t sound too bad does it?

Shellshock 2 gives the word uninspiring a new meaning. The game never, and i repeat never ever, offers the player any form of originality or even simple fun. Five frustrating hours, no more no less, make of Shellshock 2 entertainment of the lowest order. If you can call it entertainment.

Shellshock 2 is a scandalous FPS made with no apparent knowledge of the genre, little but contempt for its audience, and few tools beyond a spluttering engine and a hammer. [Apr 2009, p.116]

ShellShock 2: Blood Trails spices up Vietnam with a liberal application of zombies, but the controls and the generic shooter gameplay leave a lot to be desired.

Rebellion tried to distinguish the game by adding a horror atmosphere, but what emerges is only a very poor technical realization and frustrating gameplay. When the list of cons drastically overtakes the pros, it's clear we have a game to avoid: the Eidos shooter can rather be taken as a compendium of what not to do in a game.

"World at War's" zombie-flavoured extra is more accomplished than this tosh. [May 2009, p.76]

This minor disaster is a huge step down for the developers, Rebellion, after their fun-but-flawed Sniper Elite, and the "people-would-acknowledge-as-better-than-Gears-of-War-had-anyone-actually-played-it" Rogue Trooper.

Even the poorest of titles there shows more promise than what’s on display here.