Fear Effect 2: Retro Helix

Overview

Fear Effect 2 is a survival horror game released exclusively on the PS1, and was the final game (out of only two) in the Fear Effect series before it was canned.

Gameplay

Fear Effect features the same kind of gameplay seen in the early Resident Evil games. This means also that the game has fixed camera angles, that some times makes it hard to see the enemies. Unlike the Resident Evil games which focused on survival horror, Fear Effect focuses more on action with puzzles featuring just as often if not more so than the action segments.,. The characters have an assortment of weapons, which they use throughout the game. These weapons are mostly of the shooting kind. The weapons are pistols, shotguns, assault rifles, and a taser. Each character also has their own melee weapon which can be used to enact stealth kills. The fear meter returns from the first game. Unlike most games, Fear Effect has a heath meter that works differently. The meter is a heart pulse that beats faster and faster when your character takes damage. Death puzzles also return. These are puzzles in which, if you make the wrong choice or move, a cut-scene appears showing your character dying in graphic detail.

The entry of the game is through 4 discs, however the player is to constantly switch through per chapter using each disc for around 2 chapters each. It will also go in an unnatural order with the story beginning from disc 1 then leading disc 2 then disc 4 back to disc 1 and so forth.

Presentation

Fear Effect 2: Retro Helix has a futuristic cyberpunk theme to it. The developers further focused on this, by making the game in cel-shaded animation. The game features dark and gloomy environments, as well as beautiful environments. The game also has mature content, from graphic violence to sexual hints. The game also focuses on the lesbian relationship between Hana and Rain.

Characters

Hana Tsu Vachel: She is half French and half Chinese. She was a member of the criminal organization, known as the "Triads". They mainly used Hana to seduce and kill her targets. Hana has since broken away from them, even though they still claim her. She now does jobs for the highest bidder, and will use whatever means necessary to complete a job. She does this in order to pay the Triads the debt, they claim that she owes to them, so that she can finally free herself from them. While living life with a cold demeanor, she will prove many times that there lies a loving warmth inside of her, especially when it involves Rain. Her unique melee weapon are her fists.

Royce Glas: Was a well respected military commander. Glas was so well known in the Military, that a secret group, not even known by the CIA, would hire him to lead a group of soldiers on a shadow operation. The operation went horribly, as Glas would discover a shocking truth. Disgusted with the Military he served most of his live, Glas leaves the service. Now suicidal, yet still wanting a soldiers death for himself, Glas becomes a mercenary for hire. Most of the guilt is temporarily remedied through alcohol, however his character development through Retro Helix will have him settle alot of his past demons. His unique melee weapon is a small baton.

Jacob Decourt (Deke): Is a cold blooded psychopath, who only cares about self pleasure. For him that's money, sex, and murder. So he becomes an assassin for hire. He would kill anyone, even women and children, provided he's paid enough for it. He has Australian origin-his accent proves it. Deke would become infected with a disease, and would take a job in hopes of getting the cure. His unique melee weapon are spiked brass knuckles.

Rain Quin: She was discovered by Hana during one of her missions. She has since become Hana's partner, in many apects. She is plagued by strange dreams, that might just have the answers for her past, as she doesn't seem to remember much about it. She is a technical wonder and is most suited to the hacking sections of the missions she goes on with Hana. Her unique melee weapon is a dagger.

Jin (Last name never revealed): Jin is a long time friend of Hana, knowing her since her days working for The Triads even. He assigns Hana and Rain their mission details and objectives. Paranoid and maybe a little neurotic, his banter with Hana acts as some of the humor during Retro Helix.

Story

Prologue

The story of Fear Effect acts a prequel giving the events to how the initial three mercenaries from the original came to meet. It starts the player off as Hana along with her partner and love Rain Quinn who is the new character soon joining the core three. A prologue details Glas as a depressed drunk and Deke who seems to be suffering from some disease with him coughing up blood and requiring medication.

It shows Hana amidst an assassination mission to which she seduces an unkown man before killing him with a bullet to the head leaving him in the bathtub, still with the smile on his face from the expression of witnessing Hana undress.

Chapter 1

Soon after Hana is briefed on a new mission by her contact and friend Jin. He explains about the discoverer of a cure for the virus that is currently wiping out 100's of people through their genetic code.

Hana meets with Rain at the sewer ducts and they manage to infiltrate their way through while also encountering rogue

sentry machines and the remaining insane sewer workers. One of which explains what happened with the Fixer robots suddenly just opening fire upon the workers and handing Hana half a piece of mirror. Another in particular manages to capture Rain and attachs her to some strange device that is suspected to be of a sexual intent. Hana manages to kill him and release Rain, but not before the crazed man reveals to still be alive and sets off the bombs he planted around the aqueduct. Hana and Rain manage to evade the blast and make their way to the surface.

Chapter 2

From there, Hana and Rain split up with Hana then putting on a sultry and equally revealing dress to infilitrate the party as a member while Rain is to stealth her way through the gardens gaining some added data concerning the security bypass'.

Hana will come into contact with a charming gentleman who she briefly converses with after he hands her a bell for her to keep for luck.

Soon after Hana will work her way into the Gold members section and locate the Doctor. With some easy persuasion she is able to get close enough to pluck some of his hair which will help identify herself as him during the procedures in the facility.

Rain manages to bypass all the security features to finally gain herself the disk required to help with the formula theft of the cure. She will sneak off to a maze and dress herself in a stylish dress and meet up with Hana where they head to the elevator. Upon arrival, the camera in the elevator will pinpoint them and begin an identity verification, to which Hana quickly decides to do a faux peepshow with her throwing her dress over the camera.

Chapter 3

Reaching the 30th floor the elevator stops with Hana leaving to investigate. Strangly the elevator begins to work again and Rain is conveniently sent to the 33rd floor. Hana goes through the hassle of duplicating the formula's genetic detail while Rain disguises herself as one of the researchers with the goal to plant a bomb in the archives to cause a big enough commotion so the two to get out of there unnoticed. Hana makes her to Rains locations while Rain is found out and attacked upon. Arriving at the elevator there is a large man equipped with a heavy machinegun/grenade launcher. Rain will take him down and use the launcher to blast through the elevator.

The two will switch back to their dress' and make their way casually out of the building as the sirens are blurring throughout the party.

Chapter 4

The story then departs from Hana and Rain and switches to the control of Jakob 'Deke' Decourt onboard a freighter after just doing a silent kill on a sailor. He picks up a hexagonal like object and makes his way outside. Being spotted, Deke continues down the hub of the boat igniting an explosion in the crew quarters killing the sailor behind him and with Deke just barely jumping off of the boat avoiding the blast.

The story then takes Deke to a Japanese ghost town in the middle of meeting with a ''skinny China-man''. He hands over the hexagonal object and demands that he gives him the antidote for his disease. The Chinese man complies, but only before revealing Deke had been doped. Deke passes out from drinking his spiked tea and awakes in a junkyard surrounded by shambling creatures resembling zombies.

He shoots his way through eventually managing to find a key and some fuel for a monster truck. He then uses the vehicle to run down the Chinese man that drugged him. The truck crash lands with Deke sparcely making his landing on the edge. He makes his way through the ghost town stumbling upon levitating Chinese ghosts of sorts. He manages to get through a well decorated building that is filled with the things, leading to a wooden walkway. He notices more of the ghosts advancing on him as they overwhelm Deke. The story then cuts to Royce Glas arriving in the town riding his Mech robot.

Glas spots a woman stuck under some debris and helps her out. She warns him of the monsters and hands him a good luck charm. He offers her some of his rations, but finds that she has disappeared.

It then switches the focus to Hana, now riding towards the Ghost Town where Deke and Glas already are on a motorbike, alone, with Rain staying behind because of Hana thinking it might be too dangerous. Hana will eventually stumble upon Deke who manages to save her from some of the zombies, but forces them to separate. He'll meet up with her again for Glas to follow behind. They'll introduce each other with plenty of attitude being thrown around the room. They'll all put their pieces on the table with Hana's genetic code off the Doctor, Deke's ''doohickey'' object, and Glas will place a blood sample, which he describes as useless since Hana's already got the genetic code on disc.

Hana and Glas agree that this doesn't seem right and that the deal should be scrapped, but only before Deketo then pull a gun on both of them ordering them to hand over their items and hinting burying them both in the tomb below the town. Glas will throw a pipe bomb at Deke, stunning him, while grabbing his blood sample. The explosion will cause a wall to crumble revealing more zombies that storm in. Glas will tell Hana to chase Deke while Glas holds off the zombies.

More debris will fall onto the zombies and Glas will head towards his Mech, shooting through more of the incoming horde. However, his Mech will be too heavy for apart of the ground below and falls beneath, coincidentally landing in the same area where Deke crashed the monster truck.

Hana still on the chase of Deke will then find herself ambushed with his brass knuckles to her neck. Rain, with her impeccable timing, will arrive to shoot Deke saving Hana. Deke is presumed dead, or at least mortally wounded, while Hana hands Rain the items and tells her to go.

Rain does so only for her to eventually lead herself back to the room where Deke was shot. She is then captured by Deke in the same fashion as when he grabbed Hana. Hana arrives soon after, and is demanded by Deke that she's to collect Glas' blood sample, and he'll be waiting in the tomb below, otherwise he'll kill rain. While laughing manically, he jumps off of the edge - which should of definitely killed a normal human being, alluring that there's something mystical within Deke.

Glas then recovers from his fall and makes his way to the area were Deke kept putting his brass knuckles at everyones necks. Along the way he stumbles upon a peculiar old man who asks if he can help find his donkey and explains the history of Shia-Shqun (the Ghost Town). Glas reluctantly offers his help just to shut the old man up, and the old man gives him an apple as thanks. But before Glas can reply the man vanishs. Eventually he comes across Hana who asks for his sample; he refuses where she threatens that she wasn't asking. They get into a quick brawl with her gaining the advantage by pointing her gun as Glas' crotch. They call a truce and both decide on hunting down Deke.

They rappel their way to the tomb with Glas asking ''So how did he snag your partner?''.

Chapter 5

Upon arriving Hana tells Glas to hang by the entrance, just in case Deke makes his way back here. Hana then makes her way through the tomb solving riddles throughout. She will also encounter a ghost-like entity who will present challenges for her to solve through illusions. One has her staying in an Inn trying to get a good nights sleep by dispelling the haunting of the past tenant who killed himself, while another will have her attempt to avenge another ghost's death through trial by collecting evidence determining who the killer was.

Hana will finally unlock the chamber to where Deke is hiding. She manages to shoot Deke twice in the back and orders Rain to take the items and to meet up with Glas. Deke then heaves himself up and turns into some sort of rock demon. Hana will still manage to vanquish the demon, forcing him to disintegrate and leave behind the Messenger Seal of Heaven.

Back at Glas' post, Rain is in sight; Glas will become suspicious and asks if she is in-fact Rain. Rain warns him about Hana being in trouble and as Glas, with this proof enough, makes his way over. Rain then pulls a lever for the ground to crumble under Glas, having him fall a good distance down.

Quickly regaining himself, he shoots his way through some animated statues and comes across a whole audience chamber of statues and a powerful-looking Chinese man atop the chair, making him resemble a Judge or someone of even more power and influence. He asks if he is ''a God'' to which Glas retorts ''no''. The man deems Glas' dead and begins to shoot electicity at Glas. Hana will then luckily arrive and flashes the Messenger Seal at the Chinese Man, calling off his attacks. Hana then reveals that the man is in fact the very first Emperor of China. He refers to Hana as a Goddess, because of her owning the Messenger Seal, and asserts that she is to aid in stopping the evil ''Mother''. Hana complies, with Glas unwillingly joining in also.

They both are then tasked to pass a couple of tests, one for the mind, the other for the body. Glas will enter a small RTS game with another mystical being who claims himself a General. After besting him Glas is awarded a medal. Hana's first test is to move coloured objects next to their designated stable.

The body test is the same for both Hana and Glas, to make their way through a number of obstacles including fire pits and even Demon Deke chasing them down a collapsing pathway.

Once both tests are passed by both Hana and Glas, they are transported to the audience chamber. The First Emperor of China summons Deke and asks them to decide his fate. Hana asks for him to wake to get some answers. Deke awakes, but with no recollection of his betrayal or anything past when he was jumped by the Ghosts. He also gives further insight into his disease and why he was doing this job in the first place. Glas doesn't buy it at first, but with confirmation from the Emperor, and his mystical ways, that Deke is telling the truth Hana and Glas accept him into helping them rescue Rain.

Chapter 6

The trio set sail upon a mysterious boat handed to them from the Emperor to which them embark upon a huge mist. They all inadvertently get separated from one another,, with Hana reaching the gardens of elements infront a tall mystical tower. Glas, however, is forced to relive a flashback into his days in the army, and more specifically the mission that had him quit and become the bitter and depressed person that he is.It details the mission in which he was to fight off a mercenary faction, with his team all but wiped out. After making his way through countles GI's and even some of the Mech Robots, he comes face to face with his brother who in fact betrayed Glas' unit. He manages to kill his brother, after being shot while off guard, and retrieves the very blood sample he brought to the deal in Shi Quan from his brothers hand. He is then transported to the Elemental Garden.

Hana beforehand, while Glas was going through his flashback, came across a blind gardener who gave her a shovel to help in aligning the gardens to open up the doors to imposing Tower through the middle of Garden formation. Glas then turns up soon after she enters, but when entering they would each find themselves in differing floors of the tower, encountering different tests. The tests are all given to them by a series of Immortals; the people Hana and Glas have met along their journey who gave them the small trinkets for luck, including the charming man in suit from the second chapter party for Hana, and the General who Glas played the War game with.

Throughout, both Hana and Glas would be placed with a choice to make in altering their past. Hana would have to choose between finding Rain or having her parents brought back to her, while Glas would have to choose between the ideals between his brother or his father.

Hana chooses Rain and finds that it was the right choice. However, with Glas, no matter who he chooses between he will be sent into a Battle Ground with a primal demon. While all of this is going on for Hana and Glas, Deke is still lost within the mist until he is reunited with Rain.

Chapter 7

All four make it up to the top, but with two Rains arriving. One holding the genetic code disc Hana and Rain retrieved, the other with a Cipher needle. One is in fact the real Rain, while the other her evil twin sister. Glas and Deke both pull a gun on each other claiming the woman who stands by them is the real Rain. The twins decide that they should just shoot both. Glas and Deke instead decide it's better for Hana to make the decision.

Hana shoots the twin holding the giant needle explaining that ''Her Rain is left handed'. The evil twin falls down and Rain asks Hana to show her mercy saying it is her sister. In that quick moment, however, the evil twin injects the Cipher into herself transforming into the resurrected ''Mother''. All four of the heroes their ready, but Rain insists they let her do it alone. Hana passes Rain a poison which'll kill it and Rain and her ''Mother'' engage in battle. The monster is eventually knocked down during the fight, giving Rain a chance to dip the knife in the poison and lunge at the monster killing it.

All four then congratulate Rain, and Deke also expresses his gratitude towards Rain for curing his disease.

It then quickly switchs to the four in a diner. Hana, Glas and Deke are wearing their ''Fear Effect'' attire. Deke is shown to be having trouble eating with chopsticks and Rain hands Hana her knife for ''luck''.

Hana details a new mission given from Jin about a quick ransom snatch, telling Rain that this time she really should stay behind, insisting she won't be needed since it's a quick grab. She does ponder bringing Glas and Deke along, though, this referencing the first Fear Effect premise. Finally, the game ends with the King of Hell laughing upon a black backdrop.

Alternate Endings

While some mostly inconsequential choices for the player were permitted throughout the game, a fatal choice at the very end regarding Rain and her twin determined the ending rather drastically.

If Hana chose to shoot the evil twin with the cipher, the ending is played out much like how the story describes it. If Hana shoots Rain with the genetic code disc however, then instead of Rain fighting the boss, Hana, Glas and Deke step into fight The Mother. Hana and Glas eventually get killed, unfortunately, with Deke grabbing the wounded Rain out of desperation and running through the portal with the ending left there.

It is obvious enough that the ''Good'' ending is the canon ending since the main trio of Hana, Glas and Deke are shown to be alive at the beginning of the original Fear Effect.

Controversial Marketing

One of the most infamous aspects of the game people would remember was the sexually orientated marketing campaign EIDOS run. There were a small amount of posters and magazine covers showcasing a lot of Hana Tsu Vachel and Rain Quin in their underwear. It was to simultaneously touch upon the homosexual relationship between the two, and to also titillate any would-be customers.

Fear Effect: Inferno

With Fear Effect: Retro Helix's strong sales, it also had another sequel in line for the ps2 but was cancelled before much information regarding about the game was given to the public. It was to star the same four characters from Fear Effect 2, but little story elements were revealed up to its cancellation giving little detail to their roles in the story.

What was known was it involved Hana being caught by a shadowy organisation made up of demons and she was locked away in a padded room resembling a mental aslyum. Deke managed to infilitrate his way in to try and save her while it was unknown what Glas and Rain were doing to help. A love triangle between Hana, Glas and Rain was also set to occur.

The reasons for its cancellation were never specified, but it is assumed it was another one of EIDOS' cuts along with a number of other titles they made in 2002.