Recent reviews by Skunky Hackysack

SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO GOOD

Ah yes. Cowboy

I was an avid supporter of Receiver 1. However, I remember having to push myself in order to complete the first game. A lot of aspects of it were not fully thought through, but I didn't complain. The low resolution graphics, combined with the lack of variety of areas, and being forced to listen to the same exact tapes in the same order over and over again made it difficult to want to complete. Nonetheless, the gun mechanics and challenging game play made it worth completing. When Receiver 2 came out I immediately bought it, excited to see what they had added.
The gun mechanics are nearly identical to the first game, albeit with a few added misfire mechanics, which were both fun to learn and frustrating to deal with. I was happy with this though, the mechanics in the first game were great, and didn't need any improvement. The graphics aren't amazing. In fact they are quite simple, but I think this fits well with the game. It never needed great graphics, just good enough graphics. The enemies you face are also nearly identical to the first game, however the internal components of various enemies are much more defined. You now have the option to target different specific parts of the machines, each achieving different affects.
They also added a fair amount of more guns. Even a single action revolver, which was also both fun and frustrating. In the hub world there is a gun range and also a room where you are tested on both speed and accuracy, as well as how well you can reload your weapons, which is not a simple task in this game. These challenges were also both fun and difficult to complete.
The ranking system they added seems to have received a lot criticism, which I can understand only because it is a very brutal and unforgiving system. When you beat a "level" you rank up, unlocking more tapes to find, and more enemies to face. When you die, you get knocked back down to the previous level. While I understand the complaint that this is a little too challenging, I believe that it was a great decision on the developers part. Receiver 1 was also very challenging, but once you got into a groove and had learned how each section of the map is laid out, where every enemy can appear, and how to defeat them, it is only a matter of time before you completed the game. Now, with this new ranking system, things have become a little more complex. The various sections of the map are not as cookie cutter like the first game was. It takes more time learn the strategies you need to beat your current rank, and when you eventually do rank up, the amount of enemies increase, and the positions that the enemies take are different. There are now different, unique strategies you need to learn for each rank you pass through, and what used to be a fairly easy game to learn and beat, is now a much more difficult and time consuming challenge. And Receiver was always meant to be challenging.
The other criticism I've read is the lack of ammunition throughout the ranks, and yes, ammunition is difficult to come by, especially in later ranks where there are more enemies to defeat, yet still the same amount of ammunition lying around. Again, however, Receiver is a challenge, one where your only hope of completing is through extreme discipline and thought through strategy. Once you develop an understanding of the importance of every bullet you use, you begin to develop strategies to maximize the efficiency of their use. If you find yourself running out of bullets, you need to rethink your approach. In fact, one of the biggest complaints I had with the first game was that the ammunition was often found in excess, and so spraying and praying was a valid strategy. This is an unfitting strategy to encourage in a game focused around teaching the player about the proper usage of firearms.
The hacking system they added seems a little out of place, as well as not very challenging at all. However, I don't think it as meant to be challenging. Its simply a way for you to defeat enemies without having to use a bullet, IF you can manage to get close to them, which is often fairly challenging in its own right.
All in all I would recommend this game over the first game in a heartbeat. Its much more challenging, much more in depth/thought through, much more engaging/addicting, and much more frustrating (in a good way). I said in the beginning of this review that I had to push myself through Receiver 1. With Receiver 2, however, I never had to push myself. The game pushed me. If you like meticulous and challenging, yet addicting, game play coupled with in depth gun mechanics, this game is for you.
9.5/10