.Hack: Quarantine (Part 4) for PlayStation 2 Reviews by Gamers

After eleven consecutive months of data draining, Grunty breeding, and gate hacking, CyberConnect2 and Bandai's oft-argued .hack serial has finally come to an end. Frequently criticized for its lack of innovation between sequels and scolded for its perceived economic gluttony, the previous three titles still managed to strike a chord with consumers that prefer their RPGs light on improvement and heavy on action. If anything else, at least the franchise has proven to have an intriguing storyline and its link with other entertainment mediums (like the .hack manga and anime) was a smart and effective business decision. Detractors, however, seem to loathe this approach without refrain and have nothing but nasty things to say about its appearance on store shelves on a semi-monthly basis. But for those of us who enjoy the series for what it is, a new .hack sequel every couple of months isn't such a bad proposition.

That said, the last installment of the franchise, known as .hack//QUARANTINE is finally upon us. The closing chapter in a four-part storyline, QUARANTINE does exactly what it's supposed to do: it ties up the loose ends. Mia's strange behavior around Kite, the spread of the data bug, Cubia's true objectives, and the mystery surrounding Orca's coma are finally revealed and explained with shocking and clever plot twists designed to provoke fans to ooh and ah with surprise.

It should be noted (as always) that naysayers and newbies aren't going to find their elusive reason to jump on the bandwagon here. Just as the previous two sequels did little to improve on the existing gameplay engine or its presentation aspects, QUARANTINE doesn't too offer much that's fresh either. But for veterans of the series that have already slashed their way through the three previous titles already, this revelation isn't really a revelation at all.

Gameplay

By now .hack's battle engine has been burned into our memories like back-to-back PhaVak Rom spells. Shown from either the first or third-person perspective, the action plays out with a combination of turn-based and real-time elements that combine for a unique blend of philosophies. While navigation on the field allows players to circle around and escape enemies without any extra commands, time-freezing menus must still be pulled up for spell use and companion instruction. Luckily your weapon attacks are still performed in real-time via the X button, and even if you don't give your party direct instructions they'll still do the proper thing based on the situation most of the time.

Without a doubt, QUARANTINE is the hardest of all four games; not necessarily because of an increase in enemy A.I. (as we saw in OUTBREAK), but because most of the creatures you face have unbelievable statistics and hit point numbers. What makes it particularly difficult, though, is the frequency of data bug-infected baddies that serve as run-of-the mill enemies instead of boss monsters (which was hinted at in the later levels of the previous game). Because of this high number of enemies and the game's crazy requirement for Virus Cores this time, however, viral infection spreads at a much faster rate -- with plenty of annoying side effects to punch you in the face in the aftermath.

The way to combat this problem (killing more enemies without data drain) is probably what turns out to be one of the game's biggest weaknesses. As by now, players have participated in tens of thousands of battles and forcing players to seek out and fight even more of these confrontations in an already combat-heavy game can get pretty repetitive. Fans shouldn't mind it too much (and fans we happen to be), but even the most tolerant of .hack veterans can start to feel the wear and tear of it all by the time we reach the end; and considering that there are even more missions to undertake after you beat the game and see the credits, a true sense of closure in this regard isn't really achieved.

As we mentioned earlier the improvements in this version seem a lot skimpier than what we've seen before. Kite's gauntlet gains its fourth and final ability (known as Drain Heart, it allows you to take rare items from a groups of enemies at once) and there are a couple of new mission types (including a new sort of Gott statue) in addition to several new enemies, desktop items, and better equipment and spells. It's nothing jaw dropping by any means, but at least Bandai has seen fit to add a whole slew of playable hidden characters for use once the final credits have rolled and the developers have done a good job of trying to add replay value to the action once you've completed the story (though participating in more battles may not be high on your priority list by the time you're finished).

Despite our concise nitpicking, though, .hack is still a solid source of fun. Elk, Mistral, and Mia come back as available party members again and the storyline is so engaging in this version that the familiar gameplay conventions are welcome diversions between cut scenes. Also worth mentioning is the fun Item Collection side even which requires you to hunt down and register certain item types as an ongoing sidequest throughout your adventure -- it's a little addicting, and definitely worth your time.

Graphics

The first .hack title saw its Japanese release in 2002 and its aging visual engine has definitely done a great job of wearing out its welcome. Despite the fact that we'll forever appreciate the series' character designs and unique environments, the game's dated look certainly doesn't match the standards set by more recent RPGs like Final Fantasy X-2 or even last year's Dark Cloud 2.

The camera can create quite a few problems too (especially in close-quarters battles) But at least the stages are varied and the faces filled with strong animations. QUARANTINE may not be the most technically pretty game of the bunch, but its style and emphasis in all the right areas really goes a long way.

Sound

We've always been strong supporters of the .hack soundtrack, but anyone can tell you that there haven't been many additions to the score since the original. Even without a huge number of changes, though, QUARANTINE still has a great mix of electronic melodies and ballads with a larger-than-normal quota of heavy metal butt rock (that one's for you reverend!).

.hack's vocalists do a great job as always and even the English track is pretty decent by today's videogame standards. But for purists who enjoy the game's original audio backbone, the included Japanese speech option runs circles around the Americans in terms of quality. The only we can't figure out is why the intro is the only segment of the game that lacks subtitles when using the Nihongo language -- weird.

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