MediEvil II

"Dans back and he's deader than ever!"

INTRO

Upon hearing countless reviews and articles about Medievil 2 I decided to give it a shot and rent it. After my trip to my local Blockbuster I inserted the disc in my PSX and awaited for all the hype I've heard. The screen of Dan Fortesque came up with a sign loading as I anticapated the game. A great FMV played as an intro of the game and story which I will be talking about in a little bit. I was mesmerized and then I finally played the game. I have got to say that I am very impressed with this game. Unfortunately I didn't get to finsih the original Medievil, but I plan on getting it over the summer since it costs $20. Anyway I am new to Medievil seeing as I barely played the first one so in my own words I will describe my views and story of the hype in my own words. First off, Medievil 2 is the sequel to Medievil (duh) and is made by Sony. This game came out recently, I think in May or April of 2000. Now before I begin with the review I have one thing to say. Buckle up because it is going to be a long ride.

STORY: (8/10)

The story in Medievil 2 is almost the exac same thing as Medievil (or what I remember). This time a new bad guy is in town, but he is still connected with Zarok. I will explain the beginning of the game part of the story so I make sure I give out no spoilers. The last time Dan ever graced the earth was in 1386 in Gallowmere while he was after the evil sorcerer Zarok. Dan Fortesque is a brave soldier, who is dead, and is known all around the world for saving the people in Gallowmere and the world back in 1386. Well now times have changed and it is 1886 (I think) and Dan Fortesque is deep in the back of the museum sleeping on his tomb. While the hero is asleep, a man with a mission in search of power is off doing things he shouldn't be doing. Using scripts from the past and Zaroks old spell book, this man brings back the fear that was 500 years ago to London. Everything in London is a catastrophe and only Dan once again is the man or skeleton to save the day. As Dan wakes up he is greeted by a ghost named (forgot) and he helps out Dan to save the world once again. This is where your journey as Daniel Fortesque takes off. I liked the story a lot.

GAMEPLAY: (10/10)

The gameplay is excellent. Of what I played of Medievil, it is very similar and that is exactly what a sequel should be like. Medievil 2 provides more oppurtunities to do in this game. Basically, this is an action / adventure game where you control Dan and you walk around the level killing monsters, filling the blood chalice and completing the level. Pretty basic, which is why I had so much fun with it. You don't have anything else to do except follow the story, collect new weapons and beat the living crap out the bosses. There are a decent amont of levels and they are all really long which is a really good thing. The bosses are pretty hard...some just take a couple of hits to beat and some take a long time to beat. In every level there is a blood chalice (like the original). I don't remember what happens in Medievil if you get 100% on the chalice, but in Medievil 2 you get a new weapon by the professor which you will find out about later. The monsters are really hard too. I enjoyed the challenge of this game so I didn't deduct any points (I will talk more about the challenge later on). Dan still has the special twirl attack and now he can jump (I don't think he could in the original). About the weapons....well there is a big variety of swords, guns, shields and other items. This is very useful because throughout the game you will meet very weird and hard monsters. Dan starts out with a pistol and a small sword which you find in the beginning and then as you pass levels you gradually access new and strong weapons. There is also something else new. There is a guy in the game named the Spiv which provides you bullets, but nothing is free so you have to pay him for bullets. There are some puzzles that are kind of hard and requires a walkthrough unless you're a genius. The life is the same as the original. it stays at 300 and there are life vials to hold onto and fill in case you die. The healing spots are still around in the levels, but I think there are more because there are a lot in each level. That's pretty much everything about the game. It is very similar to the original and it is very fun. Overall, this game gets you hooked so you will have fun with this title.

CONTROLS: (6/10)

The controls are pretty bad in Medievil 2. I don't know how the controls were in Medievil (except the buttons), but I doubt they were as bad as this. The camera view isn't very good throughout most of the game and even though it can be changed it still isn't that good when you manually change it. The movement of the game was bad as well. It's double tap to run and it would make Dan run sometimes even if you didn't souble tap the controller. My main problem with the controls is the camera and the way you control Dan. The buttons are fine, exactly identical to the original so there should be no problem with the configuration if you've played the original. Dan moves really weird too. I can't really explain it, but he just moves weird. Maybe it's because of the dang camera, but I doubt it. I'll try and explain what I mean as best as I can. If you press up, Dan goes up and diagonal mostly and if you press down, he goes down and diagonal mostly. This stuff doesn't always happen, but it isn't rare either. Medievil 2 would probably be perfect if the controls weren't so bad.

MUSIC/SOUND: (9/10)

The music was low toned and supposedly evil because that's Medievils background. I don't really remember much of the music, meaning that it wasn't extremely great, but I remember that none of the themes were really bad. When playing this game you don't really acknowledge the music. Maybe because it's low or just because that's how it's supposed to be. The music in the town of Kensington is low and that's because the town is pretty much dead so the music is accurate with the background. The music was not only the thing that was accurate because the sounds are great in Medievil 2. The sounds affected my feeling towards this game. The sounds of the zombies groaning is loud, scary and very clear. Most of the characters in the game sound kind of dumb, but it's how they are supposed to sound. For example, Dan sounds just like he is mumbling because he is dead and the ghost in the beginning has an extremely annoying English accent (no offense to the british), but that's because the setting is in England. The sound FX of the swords swinging, guns firing and hammers, whopping are all clear and crisp. Every single sound in this game was accurate and detailed very well. Overall, I think that the sound FX definitely saved musics butt for this score. Good job to the sound and music department of Sony.

GRAPHICS: (10/10)

Very nice visuals in Medievil 2. Every stage in the game was fully detailed going into every aspect possible for a level of that kind. For example, (hope this is no spoiler) in the Naval yard there are sailor zombies, the area is very big with destroyed ships, and there is two docks. Every level being so huge is really detailed with nice dark colors adding to the mood and feel of the game. Every character looks good and very detailed. Dan even has a cob-web in his eye and he has rusted armor. Anyway, everything looks great in the game from Dans weapons to the backgrounds. The enemies look really good too and blood comes out of them this time. The blood doesn't look stupid either. If anything special happens or something is fired, a light of magic follows it showin where it is which is very helpful. Many things in Medievil 2 is very detailed and looks good. That's pretty much all I can think of about saying for graphics. Overall, the graphics are very appealing to the eye.

CHALLENGE: (10/10)

The challenge in Medievil 2 is incredible! I can't believe nor tell you how hard it was for me and my friend to pass the first level. I mean for a first level in a game, YEESH! There are a lot of hard enemies which take a lot of life away with even one hit. Some people may get very mad while playing this game because you could die in probably 8 hits and I'm not joking. The blood chalice is hard to get in every level. In Medievil, after the blood chalice was filled there would be no moe monsters left because it would take all the monsters in the elvel to fill it up. Not in this one. There are a lot of enemies. The bosses aren't that hard, as I said above some are easy and some are hard. I think that's like that for every game. There are also some puzzles that seem really hard and weird (lvl 5 puzzle was really hard), but there isn't much puzzles so don't freak out. The challenge overall is really hard because this is probably the most difficult action game I've ever...EEEVER played in my life.

REPLAY VALUE: (7/10)

I never played Medievil 2 again (mainly because I had to give it back), but I don't think I'd be a very good person to say if it has a high replay value or not. Knowing how taht game is I would say that the replay value is average. There's no point to play Medievil 2 again unless just for fun. Mainly because there's nothing to go back for unless you missed chalices or weapons and in the normal game you can go back to a level. I see no point to play Medievil 2 again unless you have nothing else to do because it isn't a very long game and it's really fun. Overall, it's OK to replay it, but as I said.. I'm not the best one to say whether it has good replay value or not.

PROS
- Great story
- Fun game play and simialr to the first
- New weapons
- Great music

CONS
- Too hard
- Weird controls

OVERALL: (9/10)

I really liked Medievil 2, but I had to give it a 9 because of the controls. I don't see this as a perfect game, but I see it as a really good game. I rented it, most likely soon to buy it so I recommend you buy this if you are an action gamer. You will love this game. For those of you who are a) low on cash, b) don't feel like buying a game or c) not into action games much should rent it. This is a game for everyone. Well, that's all I have to say to conclude Medievil 2. My final thoughts on this game is that it is just fun. Remember my suggestions and hopefully this review has given you a new game in mind to buy or just something new to rent. Have a nice day!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 08/26/00, Updated 08/26/00