Outstanding!
What makes VC2 so amazing is its fusion of multiple genres, while still remaining true to the tenets of a small-squad tactics game. Your basic activities consist, as you'd expect, of choosing a group of up to six individuals and/or vehicles, placing them on a tactical map, and then having at the enemy. Unlike most tactical games, VC2 doesn't have hexes or squares; you move your characters around the tactical map just as you would in a third-person shooter, using the analog nub to travel in real-time. All characters have an action bar, and they can only move to an extent that is consummate with the action bar's current charge. Once the bar runs dry, your characters are stuck where they're standing, though they can still aim, crouch, hide in tall grass, throw grenades, and the like. This whole process is done via a first-person shooter interface, where you actually aim a reticule and pull a trigger. And what you aim at matters: Weak points, explosives, etc., are all viable targets. You'll want to keep your FPS eyes peeled to notice these things as you play.
The maps are generally well-made, and the way the game rewards you for success cleverly pits different gaming styles against one another. To wit: The fewer turns it takes you to clear a map or complete a primary objective, the more bonus experience (and, consequently, levels) you earn. On the other hand, the more thorough you get when it comes to killing bad guys, the more gold and bonus items you earn (particularly if you kill said foes with the same unit over and over). The items are critical for upgrading your weaponry and armor between missions, which becomes increasingly necessary as the game unfolds. You can, of course, take a balanced approach during missions and try to get it all... but the way the game forces you to choose between methodical and balls-to-the-wall tactics in such an organic, subtle way is a truly impressive feat.
Between missions, though, you have the option to experience little story vignettes that tell you a bit about the individual characters, give you some insight into their situations, and occasionally open up new missions, items, and skills. These are very quirky and definitely aimed at a Japanese audience; much of the game's plot takes place at a military academy that bears a striking resemblance to every Japanese high school you've ever seen in an anime. And it doesn't help that you can't switch the in-game voices to Japanese -- both because the dialogue is translated in that awkward English-but-Japanese-diction way and because the voice-acting is pretty wack. Not Castlevania: Symphony of the Night wack, but wack-enough-to-call-attention-to-the-wackness wack.
Basically, if you have $40 that isn't going toward a drug addiction or loan shark debt, you should pretty much buy this game. Also, please be my friend. So lonely.
