Kronos Digital

After playing and reviewing Fear Effect 2: Retro Helix, I knew almost instantly that I wanted to interview its creators at Kronos Digital. The unique blend of Hollywood-esque production values, trendy anime cyber-punk, and eastern-style mysticism topped off with gratuitous doses of ultra-violence and candid sex appeal had me wondering just what kind of mind is able to process all these different sensibilities and produce a videogame of such artistic quality.

I don’t think I was thinking about Thelma & Louise when I created Hana and Rain. I think it was closer to Xena and Gabrielle instead. Regardless, the relationship between Hana and Rain was not my main focus when I wrote the story for Retro Helix. I think it just got blown out of proportion due to the ads and the media coverage.

Game Description: Fear Effect 2: Retro Helix is the prequel to the critically acclaimed hit Fear Effect on the PlayStation game console. In this chapter, we delve into the colorful histories of the original cast of three mercenaries as well as the extraordinary circumstances that brought them together. Their adventure will take us to the chaotic alternate reality of Hong Kong, Hells Kitchen in New York City, the formidable Walled City of Xi—an, the lost tomb of the First Emperor of China and finally into the legendary mountain-island of the immortals—Penglai Shan. A variety of melee and range weapons, such as brass knuckles, pistols, and heavy assault weapons, will help you take out increasingly combative henchmen. The game allows you to play as any one member of the team: cover-girl assassins Hana Tsu-Vachel or Rain Qin, master operative Royce Glas, or greedy killer Jakob "Deke" Decourt. The game's variable ending changes with the disposition of certain in-game events, and other hidden features promise added replayability.

In an industry that can't seem to distinguish the fine line between mature and immature, the sexist T & A ad campaign for Fear Effect 2: Retro Helix was very troublesome to me. By alienating women and targeting the more sexually depraved and adolescent minded part of the male population, Fear Effect 2 signals a dangerous trend that may eventually condemn videogames to the same narrow ghetto culture that plagues comic books.

According to the ESRB, this game contains: Animated Blood & Gore, Animated Violence, Suggestive Themes

While I wouldn't go so far as to say that Fear Effect 2 is the digital entertainment equivalent of a cutting-edge novel or soul-searching film, it certainly pushes the envelope of games by going boldly where almost no console titles have gone before in terms of what qualities they are expected to contain, and it manages to do it with panache.