Equipment is basic. Aya has one weapon and one piece of armour equipped at a time. Her main weapon is a handgun or other firearm, and for defense she can strap on a Kevlar jacket. As Aya gains experience she increases her basic stats and unlocks new parasite powers, like “healing”, or “energy shot”. Bonus points may be earned by avoiding damage in battle, or beating a chapter without saving, and these can be poured into Aya's stats, or the stats of a weapon or piece of armour. Weapons and armour can be customized using tools found throughout the game, either by transferring stats or using special effects, both offensive and defensive.
Parasite Eve takes place in modern New York, with levels set in an NYPD precinct, the American Museum of Natural History, and Central Park. It also has a hidden ending, accessible via an EX Game mode, where players must battle their way up the Chrysler Building, floor by floor. The developers at least partially based the levels on their research of these locations, and it's pretty cool to be able to visit these real-life places in the game.
This is a straight port of the original with no changes. It's been over a decade since the game was first published and it can't be denied that some aspects are dated. The pre-rendered backgrounds were great at the time but can't compare to graphics now. The score is deserving of praise, but it's unfortunate it couldn't have been recorded with live instruments, particularly given the synthesized voice used for Eve's aria.
But Parasite Eve can't be faulted for being developed in the late '90s instead of 2011. The story, if nothing else, still resonates today. If you missed it the first time around, I honestly think that's a deficiency that should be remedied. For a mere $6 — which allows you to download the game both to your PS3 and PSP — you really can't go wrong.
Parasite Eve is rated M (mature) by the ESRB for Sexual Themes, and Violence.
Article comments
1 - eric
Pixels are related to polygonal graphics. You were thinking of sprites.