Headhunter PS2 Review @ Gaming Target

Written by Adam Woolcott on June 20, 2002

Review: When they say something costs an arm and a leg, they mean it!

The story of Headhunter is quite a long and interesting one. First unveiled for the Sega Dreamcast around the US launch of the DC in September 1999, the game was billed as Sega's answer to the Metal Gear Solid series. Thus, there was plenty of hype behind the game, given the popularity of MGS. Unfortunately, the game saw many delays and by the time the game was ready to be released, the Dreamcast was already put out to pasture by Sega. Thus, Sega and Headhunter developer Amuze canned the US conversion, instead releasing the European version only Ц to mostly positive reviews.

Amuze also went ahead and ported the DC version to the PlayStation 2 Ц again for Europe only. This time, however, Sega's publishing buddy Acclaim decided to make certain US players could get their hands on Headhunter, picking up the PS2 game for the US market.

Now that Headhunter is in the hands of zee Americans, the question looms Ц is the game worth all that hoopla? And the answer would be Ц yes and no. Headhunter is certainly a good, fun game that mixes up various styles of games together well Ц but also falls flat in certain fundamental categories. The result makes for a good game that will entertain fans of the Metal Gear/Syphon Filter/Winback series of games, but nothing here is truly groundbreaking Ц it's just a solid, if unspectacular, game.

Headhunter is about, you guessed it, a Headhunter. In a variation on the not too distant future Los Angeles, crime is out of control and something needs to be done. Thus, the President institutes the ACN, or the Anti-Crime Network. This ACN is a group of headhunters who nab criminals and make sure they are punished for their actions. The punishment, however, is a little different than you'd expect Ц instead of the usual treatment, they get their organs involuntarily removed. See, money isn't really the big currency in Headhunter's time Ц instead your own organs are the big thing of the time. Cripes, there's even a mid-game ad while an area loads that advertises a virtual УGod's waiting roomФ where your organs are practically ripped from your body right when you expire. Quite bizarre.

The ACN is largely successful, and keeps crime down to near non-existent levels. However, there's a small group called the Syndicate that believes the ACN is nothing more than a dictatorship, leaving hardly and freedom to the citizens. They frequently interrupt broadcasts of the State Lottery (a major ACN fundraiser) to push their message.

Unfortunately, ACN head Christopher Stern is brutally assassinated by an unknown assailant. This throws the Anti-Crime Network into a loop, looking for the criminal behind the killing Ц and evidence points right to the Syndicate.

Meanwhile, Jack Wade (one of the ACN's top headhunters), the character you spend most of the game with, is escaping a bizarre laboratory that is performing odd experiments on him. He escapes and is able to kill off a few of the scientists, but passes out in an alley before too long. He wakes up in a hospital with no recollection of his past whatsoever. He gets a couple visitors, including the daughter of Christopher Stern, Angela Stern. She convinces you to take the job of hunting down her father's killer and help you slowly regain your memory. From here, the game really starts.

It's certainly an odd story, but nothing that you wouldn't expect from a typical Hollywood B-movie action flick starring Van Damme or Schwarzenegger. The story is told through cut scenes that use the in-game graphics engine, as well as intentionally hokey live-action FMV's with a pair of moronic news anchors (quite similar to real life, now that I think about it) who over-enunciate and generally sound like idiots. At least it's intentional. Hopefully.

Fans of Metal Gear, Syphon Filter, and Winback will surely find themselves right at home with the gameplay. While stealth is an element that can be used Ц it rarely really works and forces you to use more violent ways of getting by enemies. Thankfully Jack is loaded up with weaponry, such as handguns and shotguns. There's a lot of ducking and shooting action, similar to Winback. It's also got the rolling and shooting action of the SF series, along with the ability to come up from behind and choke out the bad guys, just like MGS. Headhunter blends all these styles of gameplay together very well.

Also, riding a motorcycle through town is not only the way to travel; it's a required element to progress throughout the game. Jack needs to prove his skills on the bike in order to take headhunter license tests, in order to get his stature back (which he lost because of his memory loss). This is accomplished by going to LEILA offices and taking VR tests Ц similar to Metal Gear Solid's VR missions (like you didn't see that coming). Pass them and you earn levels of headhunter license Ц C, B, A, AA, and AAA. Each license level will not only give you more missions to tackle, it gives you access to more badass weapons Ц as well as access to more classified files to regain more and more of Jack's lost memory. Usually after completing a mission, you need to hit LEILA to upgrade your license, as well as put up with the bitchy woman who works in the office, smoking a cigarette, playing with her nail file, and generally being a major pain in the ass. And no, you can't kill her.

The skills required on the bike is nothing much Ц just being able to keep a high speed and maneuver around cars without hitting walls and such. Once you hit the requirement it tells you to go to the LEILA office and do your training, then prepare for a new mission.

Jack carries a Casio (yes, product placement is alive and well in Sega games) watch/mini-computer, which carries important files and lets you keep track of your inventory. It also is used to communicate with various characters that you're allied with, especially Angela Stern. It also lets you save your game Ц not anywhere, but only when you load a different area of the game, similar to how MGS's save system works. Since it's broken up well, this isn't much of a problem.

Each mission in Headhunter has you dealing with different members of the Syndicate. For instance, this wacko named Ramirez is set to blow up a bank and steal all the organs (since money means nothing here, and everything) and sell them on the black market. To get there, you've gotta sneak through the sewers, infiltrate a local mall, and sneak through the mall to access the bank. From there you get to fight Ramirez in a battle of spiders. Don't ask.

All of the missions are fairly straightforward, with little objectives here and there to accomplish. There's a few puzzles, but none are particularly hard, just there to give your brain something to think about in-between all the shooting going on.

If it sounds like the description of the game is fairly dry Ц that's because the game is dry. Simply, there is nothing here that is really original Ц most likely you've seen it before and possibly seen it done better. Plus the game is extremely by-the-numbers Ц the story progresses nicely, the action is fun, but again, there's not much here that leaves you thinking of how creative Headhunter is.

I'm certainly not saying the game is not fun Ц because it is. Being a fan of SF and MGS, Headhunter manages to keep my interest because the game certainly is executed well, but it's just so bland in many ways that nothing sticks out and leaps up at me. I never questioned why I was playing, but in a lot of ways it felt like going through the motions because the gameplay is so familiar.

It doesn't help that the controls are somewhat clunky at first. Switching weapons involves using the analog triggers to select, then a press down of the left thumbstick to select it. Since this is the same stick you use to move Jack, it's a pain in the ass, especially in a big battle to cycle the weapons and press the stick in. Also, instead of just automatically leaning up against a wall like MGS, you have to press a button to do it. This is unnecessary, and just another added element of difficult controls. Once you learn them it's not so bad, but it takes plenty of time.

The bike also is really poor to handle Ц turning the thing is a major pain, as well as just navigating through cars. I was under the assumption that once your bike skills improved the thing would loosen up, but it apparently doesn't.

This whole combination of Headhunter makes for a game that has a somewhat steep learning curve, but it can be rewarding. There is a lot of strategy to be had, from either being stealthy and choking out the enemy, or just going in Rambo-style and wiping everyone out. Just be sure to have plenty of first aid kits around. Plus the game is fairly long, giving you something to do in order to justify spending $50 on the game.

As a late Dreamcast game, Headhunter's graphics are surely good for the time, and still look good on the PS2. Since it's a straight port with no enhancements, the game looks like the DC counterpart. The important stuff like animations are nice, and the detail of the cities and buildings is really good. The engine points out items and important things like puzzles and such, keeping the flow of the game up at a non-dragging level. There's a few jagged edges and rough spots here and there, but on the whole it's not bad, even if it could be better. Like the game itself, the graphics are good, but nothing really big to talk about.

The audio is one of Headhunter's strong points. It's backed by an exceptional soundtrack, similar in ways to Metal Gear Solid 2's soundtrack. It gives Headhunter a strong, movie-like feel. Other elements like hearing chatter of the various enemies and footsteps is done well also.

The voice acting could use some help, though. It's intentionally bad in those FMV's I discussed earlier, but in-game they shouldn't. Instead, a lot of it comes off as really cheesy and annoying. Jack is a brutal combo of Gabe Logan from SF and Snake from MGS, but ends up sounding like neither of them. Mix in some hokey dialogue to give the actors and it's B-movie city. Yet, somehow I get the impression that hokey was the whole idea.