Junkman
Aug 26 2005, 01:30 AM
Game: Winpark 2
Creator: ML Productions
Genre: Action
Description: The terrorists are back! Help Stan Cougar and his partner Kyle Stewart to shoot them all out in order to win.

Rating: 59%

Review: As far as early projects goes, the SPG community have seen very little cases where the result actually was pretty intriguing and interesting. Winpark might had some pretty simple enemy AI, but this game had something that few other games in the community managed to have. It was actually pretty tense at points and the gameplay elements fleshed together rather well to make a challenging gameplay experience. There was something interesting with the puzzle-like elements that the game possessed: for instance, how could you manage to claim the gun at the end of the hallway without being shot down by the terrorist in said hallway? Even if the gameplay lacked variety and didn't introduced the player to other concepts as the game advanced, the way the obstacles were layered through levels kept things interesting during the ride through it.

Now skip ahead 2 years in the future, as Winpark 2 finally saw the light of the day. This came ahead as quite a surprise to most members of the community, as there were absolutely no clue about the game being in development at all. According to ML, this was a game that he had made in a rather quick period, and it pretty much shows. The most noteworthy thing that has to be said about Winpark 2 is that save from the game's (limited) story, the gameplay has nothing to do with Winpark at all. Whilst Winpark was an action game based off in large levels in which stealth and reflexes were a must to survive, the sequel to Winpark is a big, dumbed-down behind-view shooter in which you must shoot terrorists down in small, still screens based off in certain areas, such as a city, docks (or quay), a warehouse and others.

It might look like I'm ripping on the game only because the gameplay has been dumbed down to straight shooter action, but this isn't necessarly my qualm against this game. Big, dumb shooters can indeed be fun when you're in the right mood. It's fun to blast down hordes of enemies under the might of a minigun or a toxic pudding cannon. However, the fact that makes Winpark 2 a chore to play at most parts is that the gameplay is numbingly repetitive. Pretty much every screen is the same: you start downwards, there is a group of armed Cartmans in the middle of a straight hallway and there is the exit marker located upwards, or upwards in a corner. The only difference between levels is the graphical style of the level. Save from that, the gameplay is always the same, the enemies (or should we say enemy) are always the same. You avoid the enemies' pistol shots, you empty your ammo at them, you move to the side of the screen to reload, kill the remaining Cartmans, rinse and repeat 12 times. The so-repetitive gameplay is by far the most damning thing about Winpark 2.

Graphically, the game is not very detailled, but the background graphics are functional and they work well with the game's style. You'll never ever mistake the background elements for something else, such as a cow or a toaster. However, the characters, while being decent-looking, are totally boring and none of them actually have any animation. You see Kyle's lips move when he talks in a cutscene and that's pretty much the only animation you'll witness in the whole game. Cartmans suffer the same treatment as well, as they simply magically disappear when being killed. Sound effects is the standard TGF/KNP fare and the music is nothing we've never heard before. The VGMusic midis used within the game sometimes fit the game's action well, but otherwise they are totally silly and misused. In the end, the presentation just drags the game further down. As you play the game, you just don't find much incentive to keep playing the game with the average graphics and sound and the really repetitive gameplay.

Provided you thought that the original Winpark was too hard or offered too much challenge for you to handle, there are chances you might still enjoy this game despite the absolutely repetitive gameplay and lack of anything that ressembles variation. The simple gameplay might satisfy you if you have that retro gameplay vibe inside you, but after the mixed, yet ultimately enjoyable Winpark, you just can't help but feel that Winpark 2 is a subpar effort coming from a game maker who's proven himself capable of more in the past and future. There are better games like this one available out there on the Internet and even on the SPG community, but on the other hand, it's a mere 300k download... thus you might want to risk taking a look at it, but don't expect a great game out of this one.