Urban Reign - PlayStation 2

Urban Reign is everything I could want in a fighting game and then some!Let's start with the fighting, what the game is all about after all. It seems to me that the fighting is a perfect balance pulling from all kinds of previous fighting games as well as innovating for games to come. Whether you like Tekken or Street Fighter, or you like the more 3 dimensional fighting games like the Jet Li games, Urban Reign brings the best from many previous fighting games and mixes them all beautifully. Incorporating lots real fighting styles into a massive variety of characters. The combat performs & controls extremely well, regardless if you mash buttons or really learn all the techniques of fighting in the game which there are a lot of. Also, the fighting always looks fantastic with a beautiful blend of old school body lighting and electricity and realistic, painful looking hits as well perfectly executed dodges and reversals.The story isn't the most well write story but that doesn't matter in this fighting game. It's still very entertaining! The story will have you fighting every kind of thug and boss you would want to, from street punks to Yakuza to almost military types of thugs with a full spectrum of different bosses to boot or get boot by. Word of WARNING the story is definitely difficult so be ready for some challenges. If your ready for some challenges than you will enjoy a lengthy story mode and be satisfied by the end.The other modes such as multiplayer are just as if not more fun in some case than the story mode can be. I would have been happy if I bought this game and it just had the other modes and no story but no it's got it all!The sound & music are masterfully done and right where they need to be. Although there could certainly be more songs used it is still awesome throughout.If you even have just a little bit of interest in this game I would recommend buying it! It will take a good while to beat completely. Whether or not you even do beat it I would say that this will be your go to fighting game on PS2

Urban Reign is one of those game that will appeal to a certain audience and was made for specific type of gamers. Its a beat em up game similar to final fight, death by degrees etc. Created by the same team that brought you the Tekken series it has that Tekken feel to it like that electric sprite you get whenever you hit someone.It has has all the makings of a beat em up urban areas, gangs to beat upc, weapons like bats, pipes, etc. The story is not something you'll really focus about, basically your a brawler for hire named Brad Hawk who goes around beating up various gangs and their members to rid the streets of urban chaos, well for the second half at least for the first half your just beating up people left and right just for the hell of it.Ok so the story is out of the way, now the gameplay its fighting from stage to stage just beating up people by whatever means but on occasion you'll be tasked to damage a enemies leg or their arms. Now there's 99 missions and this why I gave the game 4 stars the levels can get repetitive because you'll be revisiting the same areas but with different enemies. And this is the same with boss characters you'll fight the same ones again; first by themselves and then with more enemies by their sides, its lazy but hey I guess they had to stretch the 99 mission some how.Now this game is notorious for its sudden peak in difficulty, this is why I said its meant for specific gamers. If you like beat em up games, not fighting game that's just one on one;in this game you'll have guys coming at you from all sides juggling you to the point that it feels cheap and this can be maddening on the later levels. But one thing I like is that there is Multiplayer which helps you forget about how difficult the later missions can get. You can play with a buddy or just duke it out with more players in a deathmatch type modes; the multiplayers is the best part about this game.Urban Reign is a game for those who want the old school beat em up experience with challenging opponents who are just as tough as you. The multiplayer is a great add on that relieves the game that other wise would of been to hard for casual gamers.