The Coma 2B: Catacomb REVIEW
he Coma 2B: Catacomb offers a very familiar experience for those who have played previous games, and it does not spoil the experience at all, since The Coma is well implemented and exciting enough to make you want to return to this world.
As the events of 2B take place between The Coma 1 and The Coma 2, players will once again take on the role of Jungho Choi from the original game. After escaping from the clutches of the persecuted Sehwa High, he resumes his life and attends school as usual, meeting and talking with friends and teachers as in everyday life.
But after a while, taking the tests and going through the standard classes and activities after school and returning home, you start to notice how things get a little skewed. The days begin to seem endless, and strangely enough, a sense of deja vu begins to engulf Jungho and the player as they notice small pieces that seem to have already happened or become distorted. As soon as you realize that the days and trials begin to seem endless due to a closed cycle, that’s when everything unfolds, and you find yourself in a Coma nightmare again, trying to survive and understand what is real and what is not, as the vicious power of the aura infecting this mirror universe begins to seep into reality.
From now on, the player will go through familiar environments and get used to the mechanics and functions of the game again, such as collecting money for vending machines; trading to get items that will save Yongho’s life; searching for collectibles that are necessary but not so important for the progress of the game. As well as completing quests and avoiding the dangers that lurk in the surrounding shadows. The movement feels good and the environment is extremely well designed – safety areas, points of interest and danger zones should be immediately recognizable.
There is that fine line when trying to make a game difficult, but at the same time exciting, and, in my opinion, it is even more difficult to find a way to do this in the horror genre, since the genre itself is originally designed to instill fear, most often without being able to protect yourself.
The Coma may seem accessible at first glance, but it’s actually more suitable for horror fans who understand and are seasoned with multiple checkpoints and location-based preservation. Those who are more careless, expecting frequent auto-saves and immediate restarts, will face real torment, as Yongho goes through a cruel world, being attacked and hunted by a variety of creatures, and all the while he strives to uncover and decide what is happening and how to stop it so that it does not happen again and in the future on a larger scale.
By taking horror through side scrolling, The Coma remains unique in this regard and still does its best to mitigate any problems that may arise from a limited perspective. Screamers are well timed and tasteful, but in many cases they can be accompanied by scripted moments in which you have to take damage. Abusing the sprint system will make Youngho out of breath and make him walk slower than usual, and the stamina recharge is terrible. Of course, there are items that can be replenished immediately, but with so many chase sequences and areas where the whole world seems to be watching you, sometimes it seems that there is no need to hide anymore.
Unfortunately, we must admit that The Coma 2B: Catacomb falls short of the original game, although it is by no means bad. In fact, it’s quite enjoyable, like all the others, but compared to the durability and genuine entertainment provided by the other two Comas, 2B feels more like an addition than a standalone game.
Once again, it is worth noting that the fact that this game is not the strongest of all, nevertheless it has the right to take pride of place among other games in The Coma series.
Overall, returning to The Coma franchise after a significant hiatus was quite a pleasant experience. Although The Coma 2B: Catacomb is not much different from its predecessors, it offers another pleasant but chilling adventure.
