Razor2's issues begin right at the start. Trying to skip past the introductory cinematics using the normal method (Escape) immediately boots you out of the game, which is jarring. Assuming you skip past all the tediousness and actually get into the game, you are presented with menus with no clue as to how they function and no real interest in learning how. In this sense, Razor2 completely fails to engage as soon as you boot it up, which is only a sign of further troubles. It almost seems petty, but it's not so bad when you consider how the rest of the game is. It may also be worth mentioning that Razor2 has nothing remotely resembling an interesting plot, unless throwaway words are considered a plot. While shmups are hardly the best games to tell a story, plenty (DoDonPachi, Giga Wing, Ikaruga) have told interesting stories without issue.

Presentation. It is the key to drawing in the player, and Razor2 lost the key in a bedroom drawer. The only decent part of the entire game is the orchestrated soundtrack, which is still inferior to other comparable soundtracks. The graphics look like something you would expect from the N64/PSX generation, thanks to incredibly blocky models and poor texture quality. The sound effects are grating and cheesy, and never get better. The voice-over is just plain annoying, interrupting with information in a thoroughly grating tone. The interface is unhelpful and generic, and actually interferes with the game more than it helps. The particle effects are rubbish. This is a thorough trashing, and for one simple reason: if the developer had spent more time on presentation, or scaled back to a 2D game instead of 3D, it would've looked great. As is, though, there's no excuse. The game is even marketed on Steam according to its "classic" presentation. There's nothing classic about it, as the art style is boring and everything else is a mixed hodgepodge of disappointment.

Now for the meat of the game. Razor2 is a vertically-scrolling shooter, and plays almost exactly like you would expect it would. You carry three weapons, two sub-weapons, and have both energy and shield bars. You can switch between your weapons at any time, although they don't really do much. Since there's no interesting juxtaposition of elements, the change in shots is mostly cosmetic. You can go with vulcan, spread, or laser, with laser being the best (and ugliest) of the three by an extremely narrow margin. The secondary weapons are also mostly interchangeable, and there's no reason to choose one over the other except personal predilections.

What hasn't been mentioned is that these weapons are changed and upgraded, along with other components of the ship, in-between missions at the shop. This evokes memories of Tyrian, except that the options in Tyrian were both helpful and interesting. The shop is the dullest part of the entire game, consisting almost entirely of menus and extremely minor changes to the ship. This would be excusable if the upgrades really meant anything, but they don't. It's needless flair in a game that really needs to focus on it gameplay objective.

Speaking of gameplay, the level design is absolutely atrocious. The first level is a repeating (well, feels like repeating) background of a generic concrete city until you fight the boss. The next levels are not much better. If you can make it past the first level without falling asleep, we commend you. If you manage to make it past the second without falling into a coma, you are truly a brave warrior. If you complete the game without wasting away of boredom, we demand proof. This game, while not outright bad, is relentlessly tedious and progresses at the pace of a snail. Enemies die and repeat. The same few enemies show up hundreds of times, with little variation in patterns. If it was ridiculously bad, it would have camp value, but as is it has nothing. Just mindless boredom.

The bosses are just as boring as the stages themselves, and show little creativity in the patterns thrown at the player. Most of the difficulty comes from hitting enemies more than hitting shots, after all. In case you are curious, hitting an enemy and hitting a shot will slowly drain your shield, and if you are hit with it down, you die. However, if you play on Normal or Easy, you will never lose a life thanks to how simplistic and easy Razor2 is. Hard is the only remotely challenging mode, and it's not because of skillful and entertaining level design. It's just more of the same idiotic, blind enemies.

Razor2's longevity comes primarily in three forms: customization, achievements, and leaderboards. Customization, as mentioned above, barely rates anything at all in the game. Leaderboards don't really count, as it's easy to get onto them thanks to the lack of dedicated players. Achievements are the only real thing that might lure players into the fold, which means that this game is essentially a way to pad your achievement statistics. While achievement padding is a fairly common thing, this game is definitely not worth it. Even if you want achievements, steer clear of this disaster.

Razor2 is a terrible game. We hate to ever say that about an indie game, but Razor2 really is that bad. The problem lies not in its badness, but in its potential: Razor2 could have been another Tyrian. But, rather than embrace uniqueness, it is content to be an uninspired clone that does nothing with any flair. Everything is so repulsively uninteresting! If you wish to see for yourself, feel free to peruse the demo hosted here on Big Download. Don't say we didn't warn you. We can not, however, recommend that anyone pay full price for this game. It is $10, and that is $10 too much for a game that can't even surpass two freeware games in terms of entertainment.