โFear Effect 2: Retro Helix -ย โThese Two Ladies Put the Ass in Assassinโโ
EGM, February 2001 (#139)
There were two big recurring themes in video games at the turn of theย millennium:ย Resident Evil-style-survival-horror, and Lara-Croft-style-bombshell-heroines. Eidos took notice late in the game and introduced the anime-inspiredย โFear Effectโ series, a cheesy horror action-adventure that adopted REโs then-trademark fixed-camera, and close-quarters combat. ย The series stars the beautiful Triad assassin,ย Hana Tsu-Vachel, and its prequel, advertised here, introduced us to Rain Qinโherย partnerย and love interest for the game.ย Manyย โ90s kids may remember how much Eidos exploited this relationship for the gameโs steamy magazine ads, (this one of three) all of which wore its sex appeal on its sleeve and ย used the twoโsย bisexualityย as a selling point. (In the previousย game, Hana had a male partner-lover.) While there are plenty of risque jokes and scenes, (some of which are so randomย that I jokingly call this ย game โLesbian Spies in Troubleโ.) the gameย wasn'tย someย thinlyย veiledย sexploitation, though that appears to be its legacy: a shame, since the game still retains an impressive cel-shaded art style and I think deserves a respectable franchise reboot.
