The Coma 2: Vicious Sisters captures the essence of a classic manga-style comic with a seemingly innocuous story that quickly descends into a sinister horror story complete with gore, jump surprises, and adrenaline-fueled exploration as things that can kill you may lurk around every corner.
PLOT
In The Coma 2: Vicious Sisters, the player takes on the role of Mina, the main character. Mina is a typical teenaged student who suddenly finds herself in an alternate universe that transforms her school and town into multiple levels of a dark shadow realm. Mina’s goal ultimate goal is to survive while unlocking the mysteries of this alternate universe. Besides collecting objects that assist with gameplay, there are many missing journal pages to find that helps to unravel more of the story. There are several NPCs to encounter – some are helpful, and some once-familiar faces might now seek to kill Mina.
GAMEPLAY
Players control Mina through simple keyboard commands that are introduced in a very simple tutorial. Gameplay consists of side-scrolling action that involves basic movement and interaction with objects and various NPCs. Inventory is limited, increasing the challenge of the game by forcing the player to strategize on the best items to carry in case of emergency, and there WILL be several emergencies to encounter. In addition to items, the hidden journal pages are scattered throughout each level, so it’s important (albeit optional) to collect each one to unravel the story before moving onto a new chapter. Playing with the sound up can definitely give an advantage in hearing if an enemy might be approaching. As for saving progress, there are a few checkpoints throughout each level, shown on the map. If Mina dies, she restarts from the last checkpoint saved.
PROS
The Coma 2: Vicious Sisters has beautiful and detailed comic-style graphics and art, along with very fluid movement throughout the game. The game has a nice balance of action and story “cut scenes”, which allows for a nice break from the adrenaline rush while exploring this sinister realm and avoiding the various things trying to kill Mina. The story is in-depth and engaging, with many mysteries to unravel along the way.
CONS
The limited inventory and save checkpoints can create a bit of frustration for some gamers who live by the “collect everything” and “save often” mantras. Also, in order to collect all of the optional journal pages of the story, the player must explore all areas of a level before progressing to the next area. It would have been nice for this to be hinted upon at the start of the game or in the tutorial.
VERDICT
The Coma 2: Vicious Sisters is a fantastic game for avid horror and comic fans. At a regular price of just $14.99 on Steam, it would be a great addition to a gaming library. It provides quite a great long playing time for the price with hours of spooktacular entertainment. https://store.steampowered.com/app/1045720/The_Coma_2_Vicious_Sisters/
