Fear Effect 2: Retro Helix

About Fear Effect 2: Retro Helix

Fear Effect 2: Retro Helix (2001) is Kronos Digital's puzzle-driven prequel, showing how Hana, Rain Qin, Deke and Glas came together amid a global pandemic, from Hong Kong to the island of the immortals.

Fear Effect 2: Retro Helix in Depth

In Hong Kong in 2048, in the wake of a degenerative global pandemic called EINDS, Environmentally Induced Nucleotides Degeneration Syndrome, theft, murder and terrorism have become big business. Freelance operatives Hana Tsu-Vachel and newcomer Rain Qin, washed-up former soldier Royce Glas and cutthroat assassin Jacob "Deke" DeCourt each have their own motives, but become entangled in a sinister plot reaching far beyond politics, espionage or survival. The journey runs from a futuristic Hong Kong to the walled city of Xi'an, the lost tomb of China's first emperor and finally Penglai Shan, the mountain island of the immortals.

Like the original, it sets cel-shaded characters against pseudo-3D environments animated with looping full-motion video, and the player controls each of the four leads at different times for several perspectives on the story. It is mostly third-person, with controls mapped regardless of the character's facing, though a more traditional scheme is now an option. The arsenal includes pistols, shotguns and assault rifles, hand-held EMPs, a taser and a unique melee weapon for each character. It focuses on puzzles rather than combat, with few, statically placed enemies, aiming for tension over nonstop action; characters die easily, there are instant-death scenarios, and the fear gauge returns as the health meter.

Making Fear Effect 2: Retro Helix

Kronos Digital Entertainment developed it and Eidos Interactive published it for the PlayStation in 2001. It received "favorable" reviews according to Metacritic, NextGen saying everyone mature enough to appreciate it who owned a PlayStation should buy it.