Shenmue II [Xbox]

Graphics
Though Microsoft and AM2 made some graphical enhancements, they were still working from a Dreamcast base and that's evident. Side-by-side, the game looks much better than its Dreamcast sibling, but it's still not up to Xbox standards. The animations remain a bit stiff (just watch Ryo running) and some of the character models look terrible (beware the arm wrestler). The lens flare, rich colors, and improved lighting aren't enough to cover up a game that's graphically outdated.

That's not to say Shenmue II will hurt your eyes (except for that arm wrestler... yeesh), especially some of the nicely rendered cut-scenes, but had it been developed specifically for Xbox, it would have looked a lot better. One of the best things about Shenmue II is the art design, which helps make each area of Hong Kong appear unique, despite being one large cohesive city. There are well over a hundred characters in Shenmue II and many of them look very distinct from one another. It's not like your standard RPG where Townsfolk #1 and Townsfolk #2 are the same guy with different colored hair. Here, most of Hong Kong's denizens are unattractive people, with distinct faces, a variety of different facial hairs, different head and body shapes, and different clothes. There are clones out there, but these mainly comprise the low-end NPCs who matter little in terms of progressing the story in any way. Kudos for that, but unfortunately, the overall appearance of the game isn't quite up to current Xbox standards. And though the slowdown from the Dreamcast version has been lessened, the game still drops frames in crowded areas.

Sound
The score is fantastic and the voice acting is terrible. That's Shenmue II's sound in a nutshell. The standard in-game sound is four-channel and it's decent enough. The ambient sounds are good, but unfortunately, the English dubbing is pretty awful. The translation in general seems a bit stilted and often sounds unnatural and many of Ryo's phrases can get repetitive quickly. Though there was a Japanese dub (English subtitles are already included) from the original Dreamcast version, Microsoft made the decision to only include the new English dubbing. The results are pretty bad. And there's one giant plot hole sitting there. The first Shenmue makes quite a big deal over the fact that Ryo can't speak any Chinese (Cantonese or Mandarin). He has to search his native Japan for others who can translate for him. He comes to Hong Kong, a country that mainly speaks English and Chinese dialects but suddenly he can talk and understand everything that's going on. Uh, how'd that happen?

But where the dialogue fails, the score picks up wonderfully. Featuring melodies that feel both mystical and deeply oriental, the score sets the perfect mood for the game. Great use of strings and flutes to add emotional weight to many important cut-scenes. If it weren't for the terrible dubbing, the sound would get higher marks. Though Shenmue II uses four-channel for the standard segments of gameplay, 5.1 Dolby Digital has been added to the cut-scenes. A nice touch, but it would have been nicer to see the entire game converted to 5.1.

©2002, IGN Entertainment, Inc. All Rights Reserved