"Brilliant and sadly forgotten"

Some games are just unlucky enough to slip under the radar, for no plausible reason. Irrespective of quality, originality, creativity and enjoyability, sadly not all things get their just recognition. There is no rhyme or logic as to why MDK2 went by so unnoticed. If quality and recognition were measured, it would have sold bucketloads, but it didn't, and today it remains one of the most obscure stellar games out there.

What is MDK2 but the sequel to the eccentric third-person action-adventure game MDK, where you took control of reluctant hero Kurt Hectic in his coil suit and battled humorously incompetent aliens. MDK2 starts a mere moments after the first game concluded. Many have wondered what exactly MDK stands for. “Murder, Death, Kill” is the most popular one, but I think a more plausible answer is Max, Doctor and Kurt, the three protagonists of MDK2, living onboard the spaceship Jim Dandy, orbiting Earth. A new alien threat is rearing its head and Kurt sets out to stop it in his characteristic coil suit created by Doctor Fluke Hawkins. Hawkins's creation, the android six-legged dog Max, finds himself also dealing with the threat of the aliens as Hawkins sends him to disable their ship. If it sounds crazy and hilarious, it's because it is, and the game reminds you all the time. This is as funny a game as it is exciting and involving.

Even today, 11 years on, MDK2 is one beautifully-crafted game, and is crafted in such a way that framerate usually isn't a problem. The environments that our heroes battle through are, frankly, out of this world. The alien world, with its ships and even cities, are vast, brilliantly eccentric and just outright beautiful. The creativity and vision that went into this title is super-apparent everywhere you look, from the spaceships to the alien world Swizzle Firma. The character animations are beautiful as well, fitting the excellent characters that Kirk, Max and Doctor Hawkins are. Then we have the charismatic alien Schwang Schwing. There is atmosphere everywhere, with occasional vast and open areas with not many enemy threats. One particular room sees Max jumping from platform to platform while the enemy aliens actually cheer him on from hovering bleachers. The aliens are both despicable and hysterically funny, dancing whenever they can get away with it to name just one hilarious example. They respawn from melting pots that our characters often must find in order to stop them from coming.

MDK2 doesn't have a plethora of levels, but it ensures that it stays fresh by dividing the game between our three heroes. Each character has about three levels to himself, and the play style for each character is completely different. Kurt's levels are fast and fluent, relying more on puzzles and manouvering than firepower. He does have firepower, though, and lots of it, with an unlimited useful rapid fire gun as well as super guns he can pick up (but which deplete), as well as bouncing bombs (which often play a hand in solving puzzles). A new addition that will encompass the majority of Kurt's challenges is the sniper rifle. There are glowing spheres of energy at strategic points all over Kurt's adventure, and they can only be activated (or deactivated depending on the case) by firing them with the sniper rifle. The catch is that these spheres show up in consistently trickier situations. They might be moving around. They might be encompassed by a barrier that cannot be blown away. Sometimes you have to activate another sphere first. This is a very clever concept that will often leave you scratching your head, because the game designers have gone to every length to make Kurt's puzzles obscure, if not downright dangerous. The sniper rifle has another use, as some enemies can only be killed with the first-person weapon as well. I scarcely need to say that it's quite nerve-racking having to switch to first person and aim when an enemy is running toward you yelling blue murder. Kurt moves very slickly, though, and his coil parachute is often instrumental in getting from place to place. Experimenting with how far he can float through the air with it will be vital.

If Kurt's levels are a more of a continuation of the first game, then Max's levels are a whole new jolt of fresh energy. Max is a gun-loving, cigar chomping robotic canine. If Kurt chooses skill and stealth, Max chooses crashing into problems dead-on with guns ablazin'. Max's levels are decidedly more full of action than Kurt's are. Having four arms means that Max is enable to activate four weapons at one time. He has an unlimited pistol that's pretty weak and that you'll probably not use that much. There are loads and I do mean loads of other weapons for Max to pick up, though, from Uzis to gattling guns and even the odd rocket launcher. The Uzis and gattling guns are decidedly the most useful and fun. Max can have four weapons activated at a time, but he can carry up to ten. You thus have to be conscious of activating and deactivating your weapons of choice. Of all the levels in the game, Max's levels are my favourites. Blasting his way through hordes of daft aliens is indescribably fun. Max does more than just fire guns, though; he often encounters some devious challenges. A couple of instances include the strategic use of a jetpack. There are two kinds of jetpacks; one has to be recharged at strategic points, while another fills up while Max isn't airborne. Both these properties of the jetpack have to be taken into account. The atomic jetpack challenges constitute some of my favourite moments in this game. There are even some puzzles worthy of Kurt.

Completing the trifecta of gameplay styles are the levels of Dr Fluke Hawkins. His adventures are a stark departure from the atmospheres of the other two heroes. If they were more action oriented, Hawkins is all about puzzles. He can hold up to eight items, four in each hand (meaning that he has two inventories), but he can only have activated per hand. Using all sorts of ordinary items that he comes across, he can combine items into extremely useful tools like a ladder (I won't tell you which two items he uses to create it, it's just too crazy). Hawkins also has to deal with enemies, though, albeit not in the same reign as Kurt and Max. His weapon of choice is hilarious. Hawkins has to be careful, because his hit points are quite fewer than Kurt or Max (who can take double the damage that Kurt can). On the other hand, he's the only one out of the three who can store energy supplies in his inventory. Hawkins's puzzle challenges are devious and often quite intense. One particular level sees Hawkins basically do nothing but defuse bombs by stepping on glowing buttons in a particular order, all within strict time limits. I have to berate one insufferable puzzle, though, which sees you controlling a fish swimming through a maze looking for a particular switch to press, all the while trying to avoid bigger fish. I mostly find the button by complete random and it's probably the game's one dud moment.

As you might gather from the aforementioned, MDK2 very cleverly and delicately balances puzzle with action. To this end, the control system is excellent, and is completely the same for every character asides from the odd inventory buttons. You use the mouse to turn in your desired direction, as well as to fire and to jump. With the keyboard, you run and select and/or use the items you find. You can adjust the mouse sensitivity in the options menu. MDK2 thus feels as slick to play as to look at it. There are 10 save slots for you to save your progress, calling them anything you wish, as well as a quick save you can activate at any time (but it overrwrites itself every time you press the quick save button). And if you, like me, like having access to the in-game movies you've reached, the menu screen gives you access to all movies you have reached on your current play. There are even five difficulty levels to choose from, from Easy right up to Jinkies!

Part of what helps MDK2 feels so atmospheric and exciting is the whole audio aspect of it. The sound effects are excellent. The aliens have funny, nonsensical grunts. Max barks as he jumps and growls when he gets hit. The voice acting is excellent, and the characters work wonderfully together. The whole soundtrack is then phenomenal. All three characters have different music painting their adventures, with Kurt's more orchestrated and Max's more techno-driven, Hawkins's eccentric and understated. Max's music, composed by Jesper Kyd, is exciting and beautiful beyond words. Kurt's music is brisk and often quite ominous, the full orchestra helping it feel epic. The boss battle tune, shared by Kurt and Max, is then amazing and makes every boss battle feel like everything is at stake. There are even the odd atmospheric pieces that reflect the environment itself, no music but eerie and howling sounds that help flesh out the vastness, and weirdness, of space.

About the only dark spot I can give the game apart from the aforementioned atrocious fish-maze is the fact that the game ends on a rather dull note. The final boss battle actually feels really impossible to beat, but the ending is rather disappointingly brief, apart from the comic book layout of each character's actions after the adventure (this is the way the game starts as well). Pretty feeble spots, really.

MDK2 is one tough game. One particularly harrowing challenge sees Kurt forced to snipe at glowing spheres that are out of reach for anything other than bouncing sniper bullets. Then every level culminates in a boss fight (well, apart from Hawkins's last level), and these will keep you on your toes. Not only that, but each and every one involves a different strategy. Kurt's first boss is all about the sniper rifle, but then his next boss fight includes no glowing spheres at all. One of my favourite boss fights involves Max fighting another robotic dog. This robotic dog is clever, as he can steal Max's energy supplies (which respawn endlessly in a certain location). Thus, unless you stop him from getting to them, he's unbeatable. Quite nerve-racking.

VERDICT: All in all, MDK2 is one brilliant game, overflowing with creativity, atmosphere, character and challenge. I still can't work out why it wasn't the big hit that it deserved to be. It seems like, of the third-person genre, only the Tomb Raider series managed to build a real following. It's a real shame, but MDK2 is still out there for you to play, should you be fortunate enough to get your hands on it. It is one of the proudest achievements of one of gaming's most underexplored genres.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 03/21/11, Updated 03/21/11

Game Release: MDK 2 (EU, 07/09/00)