Virtua Cop 2 has the same premise as the original, with level design faithful to the arcade. You know the drill: As a cop the player blasts his way out of various crime scenes (titled "The Chase," "Save the Mayor," and "Railway Shoot-out") while the bad guys shoot, drop, and attack with great realism and detail. Advancing through a scene, "police work" is complicated by innocent bystanders, who pop up along the way. Nail them and lose points. Among the new features are multiple routes in each level. Counting all the course variations, VC2 is easily twice as long as the original. There is also a killer driving sequence that involves shooting at enemies from a police car. It's quite an adrenaline rush to hear the siren while in hot pursuit, picking off enemies on motorcycles.
The graphics have improved substantially from the original - the brightly colored sprites have been replaced with gorgeous texture mapped polygons. The enemies have been given the once over and are now smoother. Gamers can actually see their enemies' facial expressions. And speaking of enemies, there is finally a variety of criminals to shoot (not just Reservoir Dogs lookalikes). Virtua Cop 2 branches out in the thugs department with ski masks, bandanas, and hoods - each crook wearing sunglasses, of course.
The gameplay is faster and more intense than in the original Virtua Cop. The full-force action is relentless, requiring frequent reloading. There are the usual power-ups throughout the game - shotguns, automatics, and machine guns (usually hidden in a garbage can or crate). Players can also shoot enemies in the knees (the sadists will enjoy watching these guys buckle over and die).
Fans of the arcade and original console versions of Virtua Cop should pick this game up. Bottom line, the gameplay is repetitive, but after a long day at work, nothing feels better than wasting bad guys before dinner. Feeling bold? Strap on two guns John Woo style and just have at it.
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