Shellshock 2: Blood Trails Review

By Tom Bramwell Published 13 February, 2009

You weren't there, man. Just as well really.

Version tested: Xbox 360

Back in 2004, when everyone was already complaining about a surplus of World War II games, Vietnam was the next big thing, and Shellshock: Nam '67 was Eidos' answer to Battlefield Vietnam, Vietcong, Line of Sight and others. Nowadays, World War II is still big business, Vietnam has been abandoned once again, and Shellshock 2: Blood Trails is the answer to a question no one asked. It's not a very good answer.

You play as a grunt inserted suspiciously into a unit deep in Vietnam, only to discover that you're not only in the s***, you're on the hunt for your brother, who has been infected with some sort of zombifying virus that turns him - and a lot of his fellow GIs - into something out of 28 Days Later. Mist-soaked hills and raw jungle oppression were enough for Vietnam games five years ago, but apparently not now.

Which is a shame, because the Xbox 360 and PS3 would certainly do a good job of rendering Vietnam in smoldering, oppressive detail given half the chance. Whether for budget reasons or not though, Rebellion barely gives them a tenth of a chance. Textures are bland, geometry uncomplicated, lighting sharp and unrealistic; the jungle is jagged, clip-happy and static. Character models on both sides are dull, sparsely detailed and clunkily animated, and the frame-rate lurches into the teens with alarming regularity. Load times are also surprisingly long, although, as you'll see, I'm not going to complain about the time I got to spend not playing it.

'Shellshock 2: Blood Trails' Screenshot 1

There are virtually no screenshots of the jungle gameplay, just dark grabs of the opening sections that don't give much away.

The first-person shooter combat itself, which progresses from towns and ruins into jungle and cave systems, is frustrating and inexact. It's difficult to aim despite a range of sensitivity sliders, reloading takes ages, and every gun, grenade and ammo pack has to be manually collected by hitting a button when you run over it. There's an iron sights option, but it's no help in getting a bead on the mini-waves of troops and zombies being thrown at you. Throwing grenades is a complete lottery, and the explosive effect is roughly akin to a firework you'd take back to the shop for a refund.

And that's just on your end. The enemies themselves are shockingly basic. Soldiers shamble from blatant spawn points over walls and rock clusters and trip merrily into your crosshairs (assuming you can drag them round in time) without the wit for self-preservation or tactics, until such time as the game decides you've killed enough of them or you pass a secret line in the ground that stops them respawning. Despite their stupidity, they're also difficult to spot, spawning on balconies and buried amidst the trees, taking dead aim and hitting you with every bullet whatever the range, so you often have to retreat and use the damage indicator to judge where they are before clumsily engaging.

The zombies are a bit easier, since most of them are relatively docile, lumbering towards you and then leaping into canned pounce animations until you sink half a dozen M-16 rounds into their midriff or a single skull-shattering shot to the head. The main variations are zombies who leg it at you instead, which exhausts your ammo reserves quicker because aiming's so fiddly. If soldiers or zombies make it up close, you're sometimes called upon for a sequence of quick-time button presses to break their hold and incapacitate them. You'll be indifferent to the event and the result, but that's an improvement in the main.

The levels offer up a few set-pieces, but most are cack-handed sieges involving turret guns, which quickly run out of ammo and are no easier to aim. Stumbling through an overgrown mansion full of zombies about a third of the way into the game is vaguely compelling as you ration bullets for heads and then face off with a sort of super-zombie bearing a chainsaw, but for the most part the impact is absorbed by the shocking visuals and scripted routines. The defence of a creaky old church is typical of this: soldiers pour in through the roof and either jump down to engage or take up one of a few positions in the rafters to fire at you, and keep coming and following the same pattern until the game decides you've killed enough to use one of the NPC GIs to open a nearby door.

Every so often you're terrorised by the sight of a GI crawling halfway out of a hole, shouting at you in desperation, before they're dragged fiercely away into the dark where you have to follow, but like the poo-stick and swinging log traps that demand a quick stab of a button to evade, they're the sort of mediocrity that you'd frown about in a better game. They practically inflate the score here.

'Shellshock 2: Blood Trails' Screenshot 2

The weapons are almost all terrible, sadly.

There is almost nothing to commend whatsoever. The audio is dreadful - plywood door-slam gunshots, cicada helicopters, dead silence just when the game needs audio, forgettable voice acting... Everything is low-rent. Indeed, sometimes the game just defaults. At one point, scrambling through caves on the fifth level, I walked out of an animal-mouth doorway into a room with rubble on the left, another animal head in front of me, and a blocked-off stone staircase to my right. Ten minutes later I walked into the exact same area and had to double-check to make sure I hadn't been spun round and gone back to the previous room. I hadn't. In between, I'd been assailed by the noise of zombies, only to realise I was safe: they were all stuck in walking animations grinding against the side of the hill I was standing on, so I picked them off one by one.

With no multiplayer, and only ten levels, the game isn't even very long, but I still couldn't bring myself to finish it. It's no surprise that Eidos has been very quiet about it in the run-up to its launch today: had it been released on PS2, Shellshock 2 would have struggled to live up to the original's 6/10 legacy. Up against World at War, Killzone 2 and Halo 3, it's a complete joke. The worst FPS I've played since Turning Point: Fall of Liberty.

2 / 10

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Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (63) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Widge #1 3 years ago

    Friday 13th strikes for games being reviewed

  • Spooke #2 3 years ago

    another crap Eidos game, what a surprise.

  • stepneg #3 3 years ago

    I was going to pick this up until SF4 next week, it can't be as bad as Hour of Victory

  • DT-525 #4 3 years ago

    played the first two missions of this game, and i have to say this is the worst games of the year so far. i didn't think that a game developer in this day and age could make a game that is so crappy. i mean the graphics are so 5 years ago, the AI is stupid and did i mention the graphics. Eidos needs to be shut down they are so bad.

  • Rodchenko #5 3 years ago

    2/10 is the new 8/10

  • rhubarbandcustard #6 3 years ago

    Tom Bramwell hates games.

    Move on sir, this web site is for gamers.

    [link url=http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/ps 3/shellshock2bloodtrails
    ]http://ww w.metacritic.com/games/platform...[/link]

    Actually, to be fair to Tom, there is only one other review on Metacritic as I write this, and they hate it too.

    Weren't all the Vietnam games on last generation hardware pants too?

    How queer.

  • jonsaan #7 3 years ago

    Oh dear oh dear. I stopped reading after the zombie bit.

  • PlugMonkey #8 3 years ago

    "There are virtually no screenshots of the jungle gameplay, just dark grabs of the opening sections that don't give much away. "

    As was pointed out by a couple of us on the Destroy All Humans comments thread, if the screenshots you are provided with are not representative of the game, why don't you take some of your own? It's not exactly rocket scienc.

    And if the screenshots aren't representative of the game, what is the point of including them at all?

  • Prox #9 3 years ago

    I guess this marks the end of Rebellion's reputation as 'a safe pair of hands' for cheap & cheerful branded action actions games.

  • Eraysor #10 3 years ago

    Hurrah for shit games! They make excellent reviews.

  • stoopidgreg #11 3 years ago

    NOT better than halo?

  • Xerx3s #12 3 years ago

    Oh fuck off with metacritic, it's rubbish.

  • spitfire1945 #13 3 years ago

    Dang, zombies in Vietnam? what is this? a joke? Seriously, I can't imagine how they could tie those two factors together!!!

    Also, It's hard to believe that these guys went down so much in these years, going from bad to worse.

    The days when they pulled out Aliens vs. Predator on the Atari Jaguar, one of the best game on that platform along side Tempest 2000, are far and over!!!
    Edited by 1 at 13/02/09 @ 14:05

  • Kenshin001 #14 3 years ago

    Would still like to see a good Vietnam shooter come out on HD consoles one day. Maybe a game based on Apocalypse Now, cruising up the Mekong.

  • muscleblade #15 3 years ago

    At least you get 950G achievement points just to complete one playthorugh in about 5 hours. Still i wouldnt touch this with iron gloves.

  • Darren #16 3 years ago

    Gulp... the reviewer admits he didn't even finish the game!!!

    How on earth does he know that the last few levels weren't so magnificent that they make up for the rest of the game? ;)

  • HermitArcader #17 3 years ago

    Post deleted at 09:17:39 22-12-2011

  • Darren #18 3 years ago

    And why don't EG provide their own screenshots for reviews anyway. Every other review site worth their salt does. I'd rather see non-PR screenshots, please!

  • TruWari3r #19 3 years ago

    So which one would you play if you had to under gunpoint, Turning Point or Shellshock 2?

  • solidSnake04 #20 3 years ago

    yeah friday the 13th . bad bad for games

  • DUFFMAN5 #21 3 years ago

    Tom is spot on.
    I have the game (360) and I (user) reviewed the game on Play.com and Amazon a couple of days back.
    It is shite and I can play and enjoy some really pants games.I'm on level 7, I do/did intend to complete but I don't know if I have the stomach.

  • HermitArcader #22 3 years ago

    Post deleted at 09:17:39 22-12-2011

  • Katsumoto #23 3 years ago

    I'm sure it's standard practice not to bother completing a game if it's clear by a significant way through it that it will score under a certain level, 40% or whatever. Or at least, I read that somewhere, maybe, once. Who knows? Anyway, from the sounds of it I can sympathise with not finishing it!

  • ChaK #24 3 years ago

    I want vietcong with crysis engine

    oh and a new comp

  • creepylizard #25 3 years ago

    fear 2 it is today then..

  • Physically_Insane #26 3 years ago

    The screenshots look allright, but I'll trust Tom on this. Hurry up SF4!

  • creepylizard #27 3 years ago

    I just read a review of resi 5 in some film mag and I swear they only played the demo..revolting....

  • judas #28 3 years ago

    Haha! Failure!

  • Beek4257 #29 3 years ago

    EG probably can't be bothered capturing their own screenshots of games this sucky.
    Don't miss 'm much though, couldn't care less what it looks like.

  • Eighthours #30 3 years ago

    So, let's recap:

    Aliens Colonial Marines - allegedly canned.

    Aliens RPG - allegedly canned.

    Aliens vs Predator - announced this week, developed by Rebellion.

    Great use of the Aliens license, Sega. :(

  • miiiguel #31 3 years ago

    "Dang, zombies in Vietnam? what is this? a joke? Seriously, I can't imagine how they could tie those two factors together!!! "
    There's an 80's comic book featuring Constatine (nothing to do with the oh so crappy movie shit!), which did it briliantly.

  • HermitArcader #32 3 years ago

    Post deleted at 09:17:39 22-12-2011

  • miiiguel #33 3 years ago

    I'm sorry but I can't be sympathetic to not playing the whole game (and in RPGs it should include most side quests - I remember the kinda crippled Mass Effect review), prior to do a review.
    Anyway, that's my opinion and perhaps that's not possible. But, at my work there are also some mundane taks I which I didn't have to do.

  • DUFFMAN5 #34 3 years ago

    @vertical stand
    "I was slightly concerned that for what is called a short game in the review, maybe they didn't spend too long playing it overall, but also not seeing sections of a game that might be worth mentioning".

    Hi
    I'm at around 80% completion and there really is nothing that stands out, I do not see that changing in the final 20%. The one area that is very tense is the Mansion, Tom mentions this.
    Saying that if anyone wants the full pro mo I have it on my swaps post! Sorry for the plug, being as you (and others) have read the review I doubt anyone is going to be interested so no harm no foul.

  • smernicki #35 3 years ago

    i thought conflict vietnam was decent last gen...

  • Wastelander #36 3 years ago

    Zombies and Veitnam...

    Almost the House game I've been waiting for.
    Come on guys, the film came out in 1986 I'm starting to think it's no longer in development.

  • keano #37 3 years ago

    "I want vietcong with crysis engine"

    exactly my hopes...mod called dogtags vietnam was attempting this, yet it seems to have almost died with no progression.

  • asphaltcowboy #38 3 years ago

    I've had 10 minutes on this... seriously sh*t.

  • HermitArcader #39 3 years ago

    Post deleted at 09:17:39 22-12-2011

  • Obiwanshinobi #40 3 years ago

    I wish Rebellion better luck with 2000 AD stuff. Rogue Trooper was bloody brilliant.

  • dr_zoidthrob #41 3 years ago

    It should be renamed 'Shellshock 2/10'

  • espy #42 3 years ago

    What is it with this sudden trend of not including screenshots that show the gameplay? Strikes me as a bit pointless.

  • Triggerhappytel #43 3 years ago

    "I guess this marks the end of Rebellion's reputation as 'a safe pair of hands' for cheap & cheerful branded action actions games."

    Erm, I'm not knocking one of the few independant British developers or anything, but have they really ever been considered 'a safe pair of hands'?! Their CV is extremely inconsistent, to say the least.

    This does not bode well for Battlefront 3 & AVP3. I hope a bigger budget and more development time can ensure these products are better than Rebellion's recent efforts...

  • aidey6 #44 3 years ago

    way to big up western development to your prospective new owners!!!!!

  • el_pollo_diablo #45 3 years ago

    What happened Rebellion?
    You used to be up there.

  • CallousB #46 3 years ago

    No Deadly Creatures review today then? :-(

  • wattoo #47 3 years ago

    I can stand it no longer. I had to post. To those people saying Rebellion needed more time and this was a quick turnaround, this game has been in development for FOUR AND A HALF YEARS.

    Core Design were doing it before Rebellion bought them and continued doing it afterwards.

  • Derblington #48 3 years ago

    "Tip - pretend you're doing your job properly"
    Bless! Is this the first time you think a review has been written without completing the game?

  • vegard #49 3 years ago

    hey, this is Tom-Fucking-Bramwell. the man can do whatever he pleases. sex with your mom, not finishing shellshock 2...it's all good.

  • beckyh #50 3 years ago

    This game is terrible. It is way too dark and if you turn up the brightness you see there is very little detail and just looks like an old xbox game.

    It is truly awful and Eidos should be bloody well ashamed of themselves for pushing out such shit.

    2/10 is on the high side.

  • Svecke #51 3 years ago

    Dear Eurogamer.

    Learn how to take your own screenshots.

    Love,

    Svecke

    (But seriously, why not?)

  • spookyzombie #52 3 years ago

    Someone actually bought this from us this morning. They rang the store an hour later and did the old, 'I've just bought a game for a friend for his birthday, but someone else has already got it him. Can I exchange it for something else' line.

  • LewisResolution #53 3 years ago

    No exaggeration: this is one of the worst games I've ever played.

  • zisssou #54 3 years ago

    still better than halo 3

  • LewisResolution #55 3 years ago

    One thing this review doesn't mention, which I definitely found, is how unnecessarily uncomfortable the atmosphere is early on, and some of the jibes by US military types towards the Vietnamese (particularly one awfully disturbing scene where one of your pals taunts an unarmed Vietnamese man before shooting him in the head) didn't resonate with me at all. I know it's trying to portray the gritty reality of the war, but you've got to be extremely careful doing that, especially when the people you're portraying in such an awful way are on your side, and you're not actively going against the grain.

  • Death-of-Imagination #56 3 years ago

    Fee, fye, foe, fum! I smell the work of ginger, far too opinionated, inept designers. (Ok, they may not be ginger) This has been in dev hell forever and shows... No previews means they knew it was arse.

  • RazedInWhite #57 3 years ago

    It's a shame for Tom Bramwell that he didn't get to finish the entire game before reviewing it, I think he would've reassessed his opinion. It's a rare delight to be able to justify a 1/10 score after all. ;)

    Somehow the game does manage to get significantly worse in the last few levels, with the finale being exceptionally lazy. What a horrible piece of software.

  • LewisResolution #58 3 years ago

    I think one of the worst things about this game is that it manages to be so inept without being fundamentally broken in any significant way. In isolation, every mechanic is kind of "almost competent" - but as a whole experience, it's absolutely revolting.

    Actually, take that back. The level design is among the worst I've ever seen in a shooter.

    I'm genuinely surprised at how bad this is. I haven't enjoyed a single second of it.

  • flippet #59 3 years ago

    GOTY

  • pha #60 3 years ago

    WGAF!!!

  • andromeda #61 3 years ago

    reads like a 3

  • bloodflowers #62 3 years ago

    Why no real screenshots? It's easy, if I can afford to build an HDMI capture PC, EG certainly can. All you need is a Blackmagic card and an HDMI splitter (which works fine on the 360, unlike the PS3 which has HDCP enabled on games...).

    Anyway, shame to hear the game sucks, I'm one of the people who actually enjoyed the first Shellshock game. It was nothing special, but it was enjoyable and difficult in places.

  • Deep_Throat #63 3 years ago

    Another stinker from a company that regularly puts out crap!
    Man you gotta feel for the guys working there - from management on down - they are decent guys. But the high-ups - forget it!
    They are serious joke man.
    Look at what they did to Free Radical over Star Wars Battlefront 3 - made a decent psp/PS2 version of it but all the while they were in "TOP SECRET" talks with Lucas Arts trying to shaft Free Radical. What happened to THEM? Hell ask the mercenaries at Rebellion. Free Radical folded and Rebellion were there to "pick up the pieces". Even though it was well known that Lucas were gonna pull the plug on them and go with Rebellion (at least it was well know at Rebellion....)
    Took the Ps3/X-Box 360 right off them and even had the cheek to use their assets!
    They put the whole company out of work and went with Lucas. Meaning the poor guys had to work double time. An impossible task.
    But hay THAT'S how those shit-heads work. Make their artists and programmers slave because they pick up contracts on the cheap with impossible deadlines.
    And you wonder why they constantly put out utter crap?