My expectations for this game were high as it looked as though it would provide a dark and gritty experience and that’s exactly the kind of thing I was hoping for. The screenshots reminded me of the World War One section in The Darkness videogame and, apart from my horrible motion sickness while on “The Hill”, I really enjoyed that bit so I awaited this with excitement. Then came the trailer with its voice-over and Lynyrd Skynyrd’s excellent ‘Freebird’ and this had a cinematic feel to it which in turn reminded me of Brothers in Arms: Hell’s Highway and added to the excitement. It is crunch time for Shellshock 2: Blood Trails and I’ll now put you out of your misery and let you know if it was worth the wait.

No. That’s the short answer but I suppose I should add some more words and explain my reasons behind it. You play a soldier who has been called to a make-shift hospital and while there you discover that some troops had been sent on a dangerous mission and only one has returned back alive and, in soap-opera style, this person happens to be your own brother. This would be the perfect opportunity for a rather sweet family reunion if not for the fact that your brother’s skin is all messed up and he is now madder than a bar full of Mad-Hatters who’ve just realized that someone has pissed in their drinks. Despite this fact you lean forward and touch your brother’s hand anyway. You have a strange vision and, as is tradition in this type of game, you lose all control of your senses. You regain your composure, discover that the facility is on fire, and you notice that your brother is missing. You run around a little bit and, following another tradition, parts of the building which have caught fire fall behind you and conveniently block off all routes apart from the exit. You see your brother leaping over a fence and the obligatory no-nonsense Sergeant character starts shooting at him to which you respond “you were trying to kill him” which should be dramatic but the voice actor chose to say it with the smallest amount of emotion possible. The Sergeant then replies with something along the lines of “That’s the fucking idea, I’m going to fucking kill him, don’t fucking cry about it.” instead of something like “he’s not your brother any more!” which I admit is clichéd but it is far more realistic in the circumstance.

Trailer and Screenshots can be found here and here

I am certainly not against swearing but I never swear for the sake of it so it pains me to say that the obnoxious dialogue here reminds me of the Kane and Lynch game which was an absolute disaster as far as I’m concerned. To give you an idea of what I mean, here is a direct quote from the foul-mouthed Sergeant, “Holy shit-ticket, shut the fuck up, I ain’t your fuckin’ ma!”.

If the ridiculously poor dialogue is not enough to put you off purchasing this game then the fact that the game feels like Area 51 should. Everything is so clunky and when playing I was constantly reminded of other poor FPS games which have come and gone over the years without leaving any kind of dent. I feel really let down because I was hoping for so much more from this title and the incredibly average gameplay added to the painful dialogue means that I can’t even recommend this as a title you should rent in order to try out. I rarely come across a game as poor as Kane & Lynch and the fact that I’m even mentioning that monstrosity should indicate how I feel about Shellshock 2. There are so many better FPS titles out there and if you’re even considering this game I beg of you to check out Brothers In Arms: Hell’s Highway before you do something you’ll live to regret.

4/10

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