Act: Final Duel 2 (by Fractile Games)

Game: Final Duel 2 - Deathmatch Arena
Release: May, 6th 2002
Genre: Action
Website: Fractile Games
System Requirements: 300Mhz CPU, 32Mb RAM, DirectX 8.0, Win95-XP
Price: Free 30 day trial. Full Version $10


Place yourself back in the original Asteroids game, throw in some slick 3D effects, and then up to four players at once. Sure you will have to cram around one keyboard, but you will enjoy the time you get to spend demolishing your friends with several of this game’s special weapons.  

You find yourself in outer space, just you and some cool 3D background mixed among several scattered asteroids. But just when you think it’s an asteroid game, another player at the keyboard can jump in and start blasting you away. You decide you had better show him who’s the boss of this galaxy. You will have to fly around asteroids and avoid laser fire to collect other weapons.

When starting out you get to choose between 6 different types of ships. Each one is unique in its own way; some have better speed while others are easier to maneuver. On top of that you get 6 different weapons in the demo version and 11 in the registered version. All are unique in their own way.  Some of them will shoot faster but do a small amount of damage while others will pack quite a punch on contact.

Graphics: 9
The developers spent a lot of time to make the graphics look good. One thing that can make a game is how pleasing it is to the eye. This game has done just that -- they created graphics that will keep you coming back for more. Everything rotates, giving you the effect that you are in a 3D environment. Another impressive effect they added amongst the explosions and ships was the damage. Your ships will not always look new; the more damage you take, the more your ship starts to fall apart.

Sound: 9
The sound effects are excellent quality.  Everything from the laser fire to the nukes timer, down to the very explosions and collisions has been created very well. The sound brings you into the environment, giving you more of a feeling of the game. I definitely feel that the sound greatly enhances the game play.  I love to hear my opponent’s ship blow up!

Game Play: 7
It is a bit difficult to cram around the keyboard, but the actual playing of the game is yet a little more difficult.  The game supports only joystick, but even still, getting to the point where you can get your ship to go everywhere you want it to is not likely...However once you have played for awhile and gotten used to how things work, you'll enjoy being able to bounce of the walls to get to fairly close to where you were going.

Options: 7
There are several great options for this game that you can change. Customize your keys, the background, or even put the screen area up to a high 1600 x 1400 for a sharp resolution display. Yes, you even have the option to change the sound quality, though I could not hear all that big of a difference. My only problem was that I must access it through another program outside of the game itself.  I found it to be a little bothersome that I would have to close out of the game just to change my background and setting. However there are quite a few options that you can customize and change.

Concept: 9
The concept of this game is simple: get a weapon and destroy your opponent. Don’t let the simplicity of the game stop you though. This game is one that you could easily get addicted to.  The concept does get a little repetitive, but that will probably not stop you from wanting to destroy your friends on the other side of the keyboard.  

Fun: 8
It is fun to start off as a single player game, but you will really want to get a friend on the keyboard next to you.  The game is increasingly more fun with each player that you add. What’s that? It’s a tight squeeze and you keep getting blown up? Well, push your friends into each other and then finish off their ship while they wallow on the floor.

Overall:  8
This is a good game. If you enjoy blasting others, then this game will bring you hours of enjoyment. You will enjoy the explosions as well as the various options you have with the game. Remember though, you will want another player on this game to really have fun. In the future, having the options within the game itself and possibly making a network version are two of the things I think would improve this game . Other than that, enjoy blasting your opponents out of space. Added: January 8th 2003
Reviewer: Bryan Lovell
Score:
Related Link: Final Death 2 Screenshots
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Language: english