In Pako 2, you control a vehicle seemingly up to no good. You can tell you’re up to no good because there are roughly 4 million police cars rampaging their way towards you, while someone in the backseat of your car shoots them.
Generally a good indication of nefariousness.
Pako 2 feels like what would happen if you took the very end of every mission of Grand Theft Auto – when you’re trying desperately to escape from policemen while shooting wildly – and made a mobile game out of just that.[sc name=”quote” text=”Pako 2 feels like what would happen if you took the very end of every mission of Grand Theft Auto – when you’re trying desperately to escape from policemen while shooting wildly – and made a mobile game out of just that.”]
You start off with a simple instructional screen, telling you how to steer left and right, as well as brake, though you’ll find you won’t really have a lot of reasons to do that. You’ve picked your old, dinted Sedan and your map, so away you go.
You drive along the bleak mesa, rushing towards designated checkpoints which are always signposted heavily as you move, even giving you the number of meters away you are. As you reach each checkpoint, a new one is generated somewhere around the map, forcing you to often make a sudden left to avoid plummeting off of a cliff, or exploding into fire.
The main obstacle, besides all the large rocks and variety of civilian vehicles milling about, are the aggressive hordes of police officers. They’re chasing you no matter where you go, spawning just ahead or just behind you, desperate to smash directly into you or shoot you any way they can.
To resist them, you get a small health bar of three hits that regenerates every time you hit a checkpoint. If you smash into something, get shot or just generally explode in any way, you lose a health and get one step closer to becoming “Busted”. Odd that exploding in a fiery ball of pain and misery results in nothing worse than getting arrested, but I suppose that’s gaming.
What makes Pako 2 so interesting is the fact that the enemies have the same health system as you – although you have a helpful man in the back shooting at the police as they try to attack you, they need to take three hits just the same as you. The game doesn’t feel unfair or unbalanced; it’s just tough as nails and requires making some absolutely crazy twists and turns.[sc name=”quote” text=”The game doesn’t feel unfair or unbalanced; it’s just tough as nails and requires making some absolutely crazy twists and turns.”]
Pako 2 even offers you the ability to upgrade your car and change the map, adding replayability and easier progression with faster vehicles and even more powerful weapons.
Pako 2 is best described as a driving, shooting destruction game. You need to get around everyone trying to kill you, evading enemies with the exact health system as you.
Pako 2 feels fair, fun and energetic, requiring a lot of explosions and more than one accidental cliff jump.
[review pros=”Fantastically energetic and hectic. The enemies sharing your health system feels fair and makes the game more fun, not less.” cons=”The brake controls aren’t very well explained, but you rarely find you need them.” score=8.5]
[appbox appstore id1317692806]
