If you're looking for excitement, a gripping story and marvelously scripted characters you may get less than what you bargained for in Parasite Eve II, the sequel to Squaresoft's successful cinematic horror genre RPG of mitochondrion mayhem. The original Parasite Eve, based on the novel "parasite EVE" (Kadokawa Horror Bunko) by Hideaki Sena, was released a couple of years ago and made quite a scene with its brand of horror survival gameplay.

The story centered on NYPD detective Aya Brea battling strange, deformed creatures that had mutated after dormant mitochondria within their cell make-up "awoke" and genetically transformed them into hideous beasts. Mitochondria reside in all living things and had coexisted with their hosts in a peaceful symbiotic relationship until they suddenly evolved into something more menacing and savage. Once the cells awoke they would forcefully take control of the host to use for their own purposes.

Mitochondria also awoke in Aya, but instead of destroying her it granted her the ability to use special powers called Parasite Energy that she could use in a variety of ways. At the end of Aya's mission to destroy the transformed creatures, dubbed NMCs (Neo-Mitochondrion Creatures), she thought she had succeeded in eliminating the threat…but was very wrong.

This is where Parasite Eve II picks up the story. It's been three years since the New York Blockade incident and Aya has moved to Los Angeles where she works with a secret division of the FBI known as MIST (Mitochondrion Investigation and Suppression Team). She is a hunter now, tracking the remaining NMCs that survived the New York disaster. Early in the game Aya discovers a different type of creature that appears to have had its genetic make-up artificially altered, serving as a catalyst to ignite the evolution of mitochondria within it. These newfound creatures are aptly called ANMCs (Artificial Neo-Mitochondrion Creatures). Aya wonders if anyone could possibly be deranged enough to be experimenting with humans in this manner. The answers to this and many more questions wait to be unraveled in this twisted sequel from Squaresoft.

In Parasite Eve II you take on the role of MIST agent Aya Brea and start your mission with a handgun and a few recovery items. You have been called to Akropolis Tower, where some NMCs have been spotted - and it's your job to exterminate them.

For each enemy you defeat you are awarded Bounty Points (BP) and Experience Points (EXP), and in some cases you will recover Hit Points (HP) and Mitochondria Points (MP) as well. You are able to use accumulated BP to purchase weapons, ammunition and other items at various locations.

As you gain experience points you can spend them to revive Parasite Energy powers that reside dormant within Aya. There are four different types of Parasite Energy: Fire, Water, Wind and Earth. Each category specializes in a different type of attack or recovery power to aid in your battle to destroy the rampant NMCs.

Throughout the course of the game you will acquire numerous weapons to compile an arsenal with. Some weapons are better suited to deal with certain enemies than others. For instance, a pack of rats is more easily dealt with by using a shotgun with a burst of buckshot than picking them off one at a time with a handgun or rifle. It's best to experiment with different weapons and ammunition to see which is most effective on each creature. Every weapon has its own advantages and disadvantages though. All weapons have a different weight and take varying times to aim at targets and reload, and also have different ammunition capacities, range and power. The grenade pistol is great for blowing enemies to bits, but you have to reload slowly after each shot, which can sometimes cost precious time in a fast-paced battle.

Along with guns you will find many types of armor with different capabilities as you progress in Parasite Eve II. Each armor type grants a different bonus to your HP and/or MP and will sometimes add resistance to certain status effects. Armor also has a certain amount of items that you can attach to it, which come in varying degrees.

When you are not attacking you can freely use whatever items you may be carrying, but as soon as you enter a battle you are restricted to only using items that have been attached to your armor (this includes weapons, disposable attack items and recovery items). Attachment slots usually start around three and go up to ten. If you don't have armor with many attachment slots, never fear, for there are items that allow you to expand your armor's attachment capacity.

To help you eliminate all the nasties in this game and achieve a higher ranking you will find area maps that Aya will enter into her GPS (Global Positioning System) to reveal monster locations. When you view an area map an infested area will be red, unexplored areas will be gray and clear areas will show up white. To get the best possible ranking you must destroy all the NMCs and ANMCs that you find.

When a battle begins the screen momentarily goes white and you hear Aya's heartbeat. After a second the screen returns to normal and you can commence your attack. All battles in Parasite Eve II are fought in real-time, keeping you on your toes. A target appears once you aim your weapon at a creature and you can begin firing. If you have your GPS attached (or armor that has it built in) you will see valid targets in the room on a small area at the top right-hand corner of the screen. Creatures you are currently targeting (and sometimes objects in the room) will appear purple, while all others will be yellow.

If you choose, you can attack with a weapon or use a Parasite Energy skill if you have enough MP to invoke it. Once you select a Parasite Energy attack a small ATP (Active Time Penalty) bar will appear at the bottom of the screen and will deplete until the attack can be performed. Some Parasite Energy attacks take longer to initiate than others. If you are attacked while summoning enough energy for an ability the sequence will be interrupted and you will have to try again. Timing plays a very important part in using Parasite Energy successfully, and you must coordinate so that you have enough time to perform an attack and not put yourself in danger.

As you advance in the game enemy attacks become more frequent and more powerful, just as you would expect. There will be instances when you must find a key item in order to advance in the stage (e.g. a keycard to unlock a certain door). There are also a few puzzles that you must solve along the way. None of them are terribly hard, but a few will have you scratching your head for a bit.

Parasite Eve II has wonderfully detailed pre-rendered backgrounds to explore, although most are not very rich in color and rely on darker tones to provide the mood for your surroundings. The characters are horribly blocky polygons, reminiscent of those from Tomb Raider. Most of the time you are not subjected to close-ups of the characters and don't really notice the jagged lines too much. Most of the creatures you encounter have human qualities and even human faces. Instead of appearing scary or menacing though they just look dorky most of the time.

There are a couple of sequences that utilize FMVs as a background for your character to move across (like those used in Final Fantasy VII) which are very well done and look great. The CG movies in this title range from frightening to sexy and even downright disturbing, yet they are all appropriately placed and well directed. Probably the best graphic design in Parasite Eve II is the water. Squaresoft is able to produce droplets, waves and ripple effects of water with stunning realism.

When you see a game from Executive Producers Tomoyuki Takechi (Chrono Cross) and Hironobu Sakaguchi (Chrono Cross and the Final Fantasy series) you expect a game with great characters, dialogue and a story that really draws you in. Unfortunately for Squaresoft they have sorely missed that expectation by a long shot with Parasite Eve II.

The characters start very underdeveloped and remain that way throughout the game. The storyline is very predictable and doesn't have any plot twists or surprises to maintain interest. I believe that the dialogue throughout the entire game is perhaps the worst I have ever witnessed.

The heroine of the game remains subordinate to everyone else and takes orders from the other characters as if she didn't have a will of her own. Though she totes big guns and talks big, Aya is portrayed as being very fragile and weak. Her blue jean jacket, zip-up spandex top and shorts cut up to her rear only further exemplify her as little more than a dumb blonde with a gun.

There are a number of times when the dialogue between characters is very corny, off-color and without an ounce of wit. Character reactions lack credibility and are sometimes over-expressive, using broad hand gestures to emphasize a point. I feel that the story could have been developed in a manner that made you actually care about what happened to the characters.

Music often compliments a game, imbuing scenes with emotion and intrigue. I always look forward to how music shapes the mood of a game. In a cinematic RPG, such as Parasite Eve II, I expected to hear some great adrenalin-pumping music, but was sadly let down.

The opening theme, by Yoko Shimomura, is good, but is also from the original Parasite Eve. The rest of the music is provided by Naoshi Mizuta and lacks emotion completely. Most of the tunes are monotonous, dreary beats that loop continually and do little to enlighten. I was very surprised to learn that they had released the soundtrack for this game in America, considering its lack of noteworthy tracks. Perhaps some people will enjoy the music, but I think it could have been much more riveting and expressive considering the nature of the game.

Sound effects fare no better in this sequel of errors. There are a couple of voice-overs, which I felt were not necessary at all. In fact, I believe they detracted from the game because they were usually just one spoken phrase or word, then back to scrolling dialogue. There is, however, one segment of a woman screaming in terror that will simply give you chills.

Creature sound effects are where Squaresoft really goes way off base though. I think that they went to the zoo, sampled some sounds, and then said, "What should this terrifying monster sound like…hmmmmm…how about a penguin!" And that's basically what Squaresoft did, managing to produce some very lame sounds in the process. There are creatures that sound like elephants bellowing, ducks quacking, children laughing and even a train chugging along. There are a number of times when sound effects are out of place and improperly timed, sometimes even ruining a perfectly good CG cut-scene.

Control in Parasite Eve II is okay, but could see some improvements. Movement is easy to control and the menus are simple to navigate. The downside to control is that every scene is compiled of a number of different pre-rendered backgrounds and does not scroll seamlessly between them. If you move from one side of a room to another it takes a moment to replace the image with your new perspective of your relative location in the room.

There are some very cramped fighting quarters that make it difficult to even see the monsters you are battling. Thankfully, the GPS provides assistance and gives you a general idea of where your target is, though with multiple enemies you may not be sure exactly which one you are targeting.

In conclusion I would have to say that I expected quite a bit more from Squaresoft in all areas. The backgrounds and CG scenes are, by far, the best elements Parasite Eve II has to offer. Fans of Final Fantasy will find a number of references to characters from Final Fantasy VII that are amusing, but the biggest reference comes in a replay game where, if you rank high enough, you can purchase and use a Gunblade like Squall used in Final Fantasy VIII. Regrettably though, depending on which type of replay mode you select (Replay, Bounty, Scavenger or Nightmare), you start with less HP and MP, attack with half your power and take twice the normal amount of damage. Therefore, a replay attempt can be quite challenging and often frustrating.

Dialogue in the game is void of any realism, the story lacks unique elements and the characters are sorely underdeveloped. The entire game can be cleared in less than eight hours and only covers three main locations. Only if you desire the coveted Gunblade and trudge through brutal replays will you get enough "bang for your buck" to make Parasite Eve II worthwhile. My suggestion would be to trade in a game at your local store or buy a used copy at a reduced price, but I would not purchase it fresh off the shelf.

In the event that Parasite Eve II does not do well in stores I think Squaresoft will be consoled by the undoubtedly large chunk of cash that Coca-Cola™ paid them. Commercialism has never been so evident in video game with their blatant use of the Coca-Cola™ logo. I counted at least seven different instances of obvious advertisement. They even made a can of Coke™ a recovery item in the game.

Perhaps Squaresoft should have worried less about advertising and focused more on development and quality. In an attempt to emulate Capcom's highly successful Resident Evil series I fear Squaresoft has neglected to remain creative and offer anything unique in this disappointing sequel.