Fuzion Frenzy 2

"Finally, the 360 has a party game for itself (shame the DJ sucks)"

Having played the original Fuzion Frenzy on the Xbox, I anticipated this game greatly, as I adored the previous game so much it hurt (from laughter normally). So, after finding this game in my local game store at £29.99, I thought “Why not? Should prove a fun party game.” Naturally, I went home, popped it in the disc tray and started playing…

Now, the moment it got to the main menu, the music piped up (as it does with most games). The music is actually really nice – it's basically of the techno genre – it really gets you in the mood to have some fun. I went straight into the options menu, and noticed that you can listen to the song playlist in its entirety. It consists of a soundtrack that is, as previously stated, very techno-sounding. Which, again, is fine with me (and I'm sure most people would be fine with it too). However, I do wish it had a little more variety. It doesn't particularly bother me but it would be nice.
Now, what really bothered me about this game was voice-over. When a person speaks, whether it's your character or the DJ, the lip-syncing is off. Really off. However, this is not the problem. The problem lies in what they are actually saying. By rough estimate, the DJ says around 40 different things, which might sound a lot, but it isn't when you're playing. It is unbelievably irritating to hear “Was that a lot of damage player 4?” over and over again, usually with only one or two different things to say in-between. This greatly reduces the ‘fun-factor' of the game, since you can turn off his voice, but then the game feels a little odd to not have a DJ in the background. Otherwise, the sound is very nice and quite varied - enough to make it feel immersive.

Next, the graphics. This game's graphics are average for a next-gen game – however it doesn't actually matter. For one thing, graphics aren't everything. And for another, this game isn't geared toward great graphics, it's geared toward gameplay (just like all games should). The graphics aren't bad - the DJ for example, is quite nicely textured, and the light effects are very cool. Things like lava and ice are also rather pleasant – they may not live up to the standards set by other games, but again, in Fuzion Frenzy 2, it just doesn't matter. The thing about the graphics in this is, they are very colourful and pleasant to look at. They aren't rough or ugly in any way - simply put, they are good enough to satisfy me, and they should be good enough to satisfy you.

Gameplay is the heart and soul of any game – and this is where the game truly shines. With 40 ‘mini-games' spread across 7 planets, there is plenty to do. You start off with around 20 mini-games, and unlock the rest as you progress. The mini-games are extremely varied, ranging from ‘collect the most crates in your forklift' to ‘knock your opponent into lava'. There are all kinds of vehicles that you start in, such as tanks, forklifts, hopping machines and a host of other wacky vehicles. There are different gamemodes too. You can do the tournament using one of 6 characters, you can play any of the mini-games on its own for a bit of fun, or customize the games you play in sequence (completing one of these gets you an achievement). You can of course, play with up to 3 other people, which makes it a very enjoyable experience, be it online or offline. For most of the games, the screen needn't be split, since the view is usually at an angle, almost top-down. There is one other interesting aspect: when you play a tournament or what-have you, you get cards, which can be used before play. These cards have a variety of effects, ranging from multiplying your score, to stealing the points of other players. This introduces a little strategy into the game – if you're playing a level you know you're not very good at, you can use a point-stealing card, or if it's a level you are good at, you can use the point-multipliers to increase your score. On the flip side, if you know a player is good at a certain level, then you can also use a point-stealing card to take some of their points. Then again, you could choose to keep your card/s until another round comes up that you are more confident with. It's all up to you!

Finally, there's the replay value. Because of the type of game this is, Fuzion Frenzy 2 boasts huge replay value, in that the every mini-game can be played over and over without getting too boring. You can invite some friends around to play, you could join the havoc online or just chill out alone with the AI and have some fun with them. The choice is yours – in any case, your bound to have some fun.

To conclude, Fuzion Frenzy 2 is a very fun game that can really help to lift the spirits if you've had a bad day, make you laugh so hard it hurts (well, maybe…) and make you despise DJ's for the rest of your days. Despite that singular flaw, the game comes out shining like too much Bloom effect: it makes the game look pretty but it can hurt your eyes if you look at it too long (bad analogy? Of course!). In any case, the game deserves a good 8.4/10 – it can be played for quite some time before it gets boring, but like every game, boredom does set in at some point or another…

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 02/22/07