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Warning! This page contains heavy spoilers for the game. To read a version with no spoilers (well, fewer spoilers), go back to page 3.
D2 on Dreamcast was WARP's last officially developed game; it is their grandest in terms of scope and ambition, and also their most accomplished title. It pushed the videogame boundaries of sex and violence in ways still not matched, featured a unique mix of genre styles and mechanics, is still a visually beautiful game with haunting soundtrack, but above all is still supremely enjoyable to play despite some minor flaws. Without question it is essential for anyone with an interest in gaming history and is WARP's magnum opus.
Mechanically it's an extension of D and Enemy Zero, in that it still has slower paced adventure sections, albeit now they're rendered in real-time polygons, which allows for much greater detail and clarity. While slower paced than the rest of the game, these sections are considerably more speedy than previously. The game is set in the Canadian wilderness close to Christmas time, meaning the polygon corridors of E0 have been expanded into massive snow covered mountains and valleys, all of which give a reasonable illusion of outdoor freedom. Later on the environment is so expansive that a snowmobile becomes essential for travel.
The 3rd ingredient of this genre mix are the randomly occurring battles, which take the form of a 360 degree cursor-driven lightgun game - describing them as being FPS in nature would be a mistake, since apart from being able to turn 360 degrees, you're rooted to the spot. They're actually integrated really well, since they use precisely the same environment of wherever you were standing when they start. As also noted by most players, random battles are preceded by the rather ominous sound of the Dreamcast's disc-drive increasing speed to load the data, thereby unintentionally warning of a sudden attack. As you win battles you earn experience in an RPG fashion, which yields a level up and stats boost. There are also regular boss encounters.
The combat mode
The story facilitating events is beautifully insane and equally disturbing. It again features a main protagonist named Laura, also on an aeroplane as the unreleased D2 would have started. Except now instead of the devil stealing her unborn child, she isn't pregnant and instead survives the plane crash in the Canadian wilderness. The game starts 8 days later, as Laura wakes up in a wood cabin. It turns out there were other survivors, except they're now mutating into hideous monsters. As Laura investigates the situation and tries to find a way to escape, she is joined by other survivors and meets the local inhabitants (most of which are severely unhinged). There are several references to Enemy Zero, such as the names of the main characters, and also lunch boxes found in the mines later on.
One of the coolest aspects of the game is its pseudo-survivalist setting (if you ignore the fact that Laura traipses across miles of winter countryside through waist-high snow in nothing more than a business suit and heels). As you explore the outdoors you'll come across 4 varieties of animal: hare, snow grouse, caribou and moose. You also have a hunting rifle with which to shoot all of them, though this requires some practice since if they become aware of your presence they run off. Successfully bagging a kill yields animal meat - and in typical videogame fashion this immediately appears in your inventory without need to travel to the carcass. Meat refills your health, and while there are first-aid sprays you can find, it's worth stocking up on some life-giving flesh for any lengthy trip. You can also earn ranks the more successfuly you hunt, from Trainee right up to King of Hunting.
Hares are the easiest prey
For more cosmopolitan players, there's a photo camera to shoot photos of animals instead of the animals themselves. The scenery throughout the game is quite lovely actually, and so use of the camera is highly recommended, although the pictures are saved in very low quality because of the space limitations on VMU.
Characters
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Laura Parton
Named after the blonde protagonists in D and Enemy Zero. After the plane crash she wakes up in a cabin, having been saved by Kimberly. After the shock of her ordeal she remains mute for the entire game, over the course of which she discovers the truth about herself and her mother Lucy, whose laboratory is situated nearby in the mountains. She is guided by the Great Mother, a spiritual forces that governs life on Earth. As it turns out, Laura is a hybrid born from the womb of her human mother, Lucy Parton, and the sperm of an ancient winged humanoid found in the belly of a frozen mammoth from over 60 million years ago. She doesn't know of her parentage, or her destiny, until she comes to Northern Canada.
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Kimberly Fox
A deeply troubled and complex character, named after and appearing similar to the Kimberly in Enemy Zero. As a child she saw the death of her father, then suicide of her mother after repeated abuse from loan sharks. Uses poetry as a means of escape and is heavily addicted to the drug Linda, resulting in psychotic and murderous episodes. At the start of the game she is attacked by a monster who forces one of its tentacles down her throat (censored in the US release). This allows the monsters to create clones of her, since later on there's a creepy body snatcher moment where you have to fight Kimberly in monster form (with full frontal nudity). As a human she also murders one of the terrorists, the musician Tom, and the priest in the stone building. At the game's end she is impaled by the infected Parker and dies alongside him.
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Jannie
A young girl travelling on the plane with her mom to visit her grandpa for Christmas. Her mother dies, but she survives and is protected by Kim. Befriends Laura. At the game's end Jannie is killed by the Great Shadow in what must be the most disturbing child death scene ever shown in a game - she melts away into a grotesque, gooey puddle, crying to Laura in a terrified voice that she has become blind and deaf.
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Parker Jackson
Also named after a similar looking character from Enemy Zero, he works for CETI (Centre for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence) and believes in aliens and the supernatural. He was on the plane, travelling to investigate a mysterious signal coming from Death Mountain. Unlike in Enemy Zero, he is at constant odds with Kimberly. At the end of the game he becomes infected and decides to sacrifice himself to help the others progress, whereupon both he and Kimberly die in each other's arms.
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David Brenner
Just as in Enemy Zero, David is the name of the main love interest for the protagonist Laura. A special agent for the FBI and the estranged son of the Dr who created the drug Linda, he is travelling to visit his father who wrote to him. When the terrorists take over the plane he attempts to intervene, and ends up saving Laura's life when a meteorite strikes the plane in mid-air. David is then only present for the rest of the game in flashbacks. Injured in the crash, Laura stays with him, but he dies in the intervening 8 days before Kimberly finds Laura.
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Sorcerer
Initiates the hijack of the plane Laura is on. Evil puppet of the Great Shadow, or the Evil Destroyer. He believes in bringing about a new world, ‘order into chaos', and is controlling the terrorists through the use of the drug Linda.
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Terrorists
Controlled by the sorcerer who keeps them obedient with drugs, these thugs bring about the plane crash. Two of them feature prominently in the main game: one transforms in the first hut and forces a tentacle down Kim's throat, while the other stays in human form and is later killed by Kim.
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Stewardess
First boss of the game, found in the plane wreckage near the start. Is grotesquely mutated by the virus.The ship's vice captain and pilot. A minor character, he gives Laura clues over the videophone before getting killed.
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Jannie's grandpa
Lives locally and was expecting his grand-daughter's arrival by plane. Plans on showing her some magic tricks. Normally a kind hearted old man, he's been infected and mutates into something violent and hideous, accompanied by giant doves.
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John Brenner
Brother of David who was on the plane. He's a homicidal maniac with a gun who takes control of the cabin and ties up a clone of Kim, believing her to be a monster. Is addicted to the drug Linda and, working at the nearby pharmaceutical company, has access to a more potent variety. After forcing Kim's clone to mutate by shooting her in the leg, he has his head bitten off.
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Tom Warren (musician)
Talented musician driven to madness by regular abuse from his mother, Martha. She wouldn't allow him friends, instead forcing him to play the piano. When he refused she'd lock him in the cellar. Eventually she brought him to the mountains to force him to focus on piano playing. She gets him addicted to the drug Linda in order to enhance his playing abilities. A tragic and utterly deranged character, he has a penchant for butterfly collecting and animal cruelty, slicing up rabbits and birds for fun.
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Martha Warren (Tom's mother)
Cruel mother who forces her own ambitions on to her son Tom, destroying his mind in the process. Her burn injuries were done by Tom when he thrust a burning log in her face, proclaiming that he could finally play the piano really well. She later mutates and has to be killed by Laura.
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Priest and parrot
Mysterious priest who lives in a remote, crumbling stone building in the mountains, with just his parrot for company. Has a mechanical arm. He reads you the prophecies of William Kneiff, which foresees the end of the world. Is later killed by Kim.
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Dr Brenner (David's father)
The father of David and John Brenner, he is also the doctor responsible for creating the drug Linda, which he named after his wife. The drug it turns out was produced by refining an lichen indigenous to that area. He's a doomsday monger who spent most of his life obsessed with the end of the world. After discovering the precise day it will end, by studying Stonehenge, he requests that his son David, an FBI agent, visit him. Laura finds Dr Brenner after he's been attacked by a monster and is in the process of mutating, and after he begs her to end his life she sets fire to him with a flamethrower.
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Linda Brenner (in a computer)
Is present only in computer form, having been digitised by her husband, Dr Brenner. She doesn't play a great role in the game's story, apart from comforting and re-assuring her husband. Dies by flamethrower beside him.
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Lucy Parton
Laura's mother, who has had her consciousness transferred into a computer at the Lucy Parton Laboratory. Her bio-mechanical appearance is subliminally freaky, as she begs Laura to end her suffering and kill her - which Laura obliges. Did a lot of work in the field of cloning, and her own daughter, Laura, was the result of bizarre experiments using alien DNA. As taken from the game's script (via Marc's transcription):“Dr Lucy Parton is especially well known for her work on mammoth cell cloning, a project that began in 1963 with the discovery of a perfectly preserved woolly mammoth in the sub-arctic permafrost. Her life and work were cut short in 1973 by a research-related accident.”
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The Great Mother
A supernatural force that is the source of all life on the planet. She protects and guides Laura throughout the game. Has been in conflict with the Great Shadow for millions of years.
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The Great Shadow
An evil force obsessed with wiping out all life on Earth. He is the opposite to the Great Mother. Uses people who are addicted to the drug Linda to enact his plans, but manifests himself physically towards the end of the game.
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Generally Eno hasn't commented a great deal on creating D2, apart from saying that at the time he knew it would be his last game with WARP, and that it had an extremely thick atmosphere as a result. He likened it to the final album put out by a band before they split up. As already said though, WARP developed a reputation for flair and conceptual creativity, and this final album was the one to remember them by.
Today this 4 GD-ROM epic will probably alienate players who have grown soft due to current design trends. At the time of its release critics complained about being confused regarding what to do and where to go, and this situation will only be exaggerated now. But for those with the patience and tenacity to persevere, D2 is one head trip you won't soon forget. It's easy enough so that everyone can complete it, and it's also not yet prohibitively expensive on eBay. For European players you'll have to import it from the USA, but the game loads fine and runs without problems on a PAL system when using Datel's Action Replay CD, or the demo of which was placed on certain magazines. Be sure to have an RGB SCART cable.
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The fight for survival stretches over several days
The idyllic landscape is disturbed by the grotesque
Huts aren't just there to offer shelter from the cold
This is an ex-stewardess
Crash survivors have mutated
D2 (Dreamcast)
D2 (Dreamcast)
A boss, featuring a crotch tentacle
The mines are dark and confusing
D2's story goes way, way back
This scene was censored in the US release
Unfortunately you don't always have the snow mobile
Be prepared to see the strangest things
Kimberly's clone boss barres all
D2 (Dreamcast)
Puzzles are once again very simplistic
If you're in this game, chances are you wind up dead
The human host has become expendable
D2 (Dreamcast)
The vision blurs when hit
Laura is very protective of Jannie
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