It is time to go back into the dark little corner of the world as Ethan Thomas :D. Picking up a year after the events of the first game we find Mr. Thomas a homeless drunk haunted by hallucinations and memories of the past year. Strange murders and rising violence in the hobo community lead Ethan's former SSC unit to come look for him after Rosa(Ethan's former partner) receives a strange message from Malcom Vanhorn, the uncle of Serial Killer X(SKX). What follows is a nicely done story filled with twists and turns that left me hoping for a third game.
Gameplay: Now the gameplay itself at times was a little jumpy but not too much to leave one frustrated, the combat system is a little improved from the previous game leaving a large variety of ways to kill your enemies. Hand to hand and melee weapons were my best way to down the influenced but like in the last game you have access to firearms as well, but there is a catch. Like Bender, Ethan cannot aim a gun worth crap if he is sober and the gun will being to move around as you try to aim. Downing a random bottle of alcohol will clam you and steady your aim so you can down you enemies with better accuracy.
CSI: Bloodshot: Your CSI skills in this game are put to the test as you now have to try and piece together what happened at crime scenes you come upon. No longer is it just take a picture or scan the blood, you will have to choose from a list of options on what happened to the victim. For example: One CS you come upon is a dead body laying on the floor with a hole in it's back, first thing you have to do is determine if it is male or female, then identify what kind of clothing they are wearing, then the wound on the vic(Were they stabbed or shot) and then determine if this is where the victim was assaulted or if the body was dragged. The more accurate answers you give the more information you will receive. Though every crime scene varies and as the game progresses it get even more difficult to determine what happened.
Online Multiplayer: The only big problem I have with this game was the XBL Multiplayer matches. Sadly the game can skip around really bad even on a decent connection, though that is not the main complaint I have heard. A few of the game modes(Evidence collection being the most talked about) is that the sides seem to be stacked one sided. While playing team investigation players are split up into two groups The Influenced(Bad Guys) and SSC. As the Influenced it is your job to hide evidence and do your best to stop the SSC team from finding it. Most of the time you start off with no weapons. While on the SSC team you are geared with a stun gun, flash light, CSI tools, and an Assault Rifle. See what I mean by one sided? 9 out of 10 times SSC will destroy the influenced without breaking a sweat. Death Matches seem to set a bunch of people in a random area and have them run around beating the crap out of each other with their hands, weapons are few but if you are lucky to find a sledgehammer or axe you can be sure you will take a couple people down before they overwhelm you to claim your toy.
The Scores(Which mean nothing)
[B]Gameplay: 7/10[/B]
(While fun and exciting it sometimes leaves you wanting a little more.)
[B]Story: 8/10[/B]
(Once the story gets moving it is quite interesting, though it might be a little hard to swallow for some people)
[B]Multiplayer: 5/10[/B]
(Though online bum fights are fun, this part of the game could use some vast improvements.)
[B]Fun Factor: 9/10[/B]
(Giant Rabid Bear....that is all I am saying)
[B]Overall: 7/10 [/B]
(I enjoyed the game but I could see a few places that were open to improvement, but then again this is only my opinion. Please for the love of god do not base your decision to buy this game or not on my ramblings.)