We live in an entertainment world fueled by sequels and franchises, some of them - "Godfather II," "Spider-Man 2," "Terminator 2" and "The Empire Strikes Back" - better than their predecessors.And sequels are easier for everyone to get involved with. We know the characters. We're familiar with their worlds. The sequel is our license to sit back and enjoy, rather than working to become accustomed to something new, as we did in the first outing. This month, then, let's sit back and enjoy some familiar faces. After all, old acquaintance shouldn't be forgot.
Mechassault 2: Lone Wolf (Xbox; $49.99 Rated T; mechassault.com)
This follow-up to one of Xbox Live's launch titles, released by Microsoft the week after Christmas, stands in the shadows of its bigger brother, "Halo." Based on the Mechwarrior table-top strategy game series, the "Mechassault" series eschews the realistic simulation of piloting the walking tanks known as "Mechs," and instead creates a faster moving, quicker firing game.
"Lone Wolf" differs considerably from its predecessor by shifting from a Mech-centered game to a pilot-centered game. Rather than being tied to a single Mech, players control the Mechwarrior pilot, who can enter and exit a variety of Mech vehicles while on the field of battle. This is a crucial improvement to the series, as the focus on the pilot gives a greater sense of the weight and size of these machines than was present in the first game.
But not all Mechs are as graceful as a hippo. The newest addition also is one of the lightest; the new battle-armor acts as an exoskeleton with rockets, making the pilot small, maneuverable and yet still deadly. The battle-armor also has a unique feature that allows players to jump up and "neurohack" into an enemy Mech. Neurohacking causes a button-sequence code to appear on-screen: If the player can complete this code quickly enough, he'll effectively carjack the enemy Mech, causing the pilot to eject, and allowing the player to take over the Mech himself."
Mech-jacking" another human player while playing online is both terribly humiliating for the loser, and even more satisfying for the winner.
Although Xbox Live support allows up to 16 players per game and adds a unique "Conquest" feature, match selection still is host-controlled, unlike "Halo 2." This means waiting 20 minutes for someone to start a game is a real possibility, which only reinforces how desperately a game like this could benefit from the superb matchmaking abilities seen in its bigger brother.
Nevertheless, if you like blowing up everything on screen - and I mean everything - you'd be wise to spend the gift card burning a hole in your pocket on this one.
Prince of Persia: Warrior Within (Xbox, PS2, Gamecube; $49.99; Rated M for blood/gore/intense violence/sexual themes; princeofpersiagame.com)
Last year, I wrote that "Prince of Persia: Sands of Time" was a perfect game; I stand behind that. Its fanciful story, playful narration, arrogant but lovable protagonist, stunning graphics and amazing sound put in on my list of all-time favorites.
I couldn't wait when the sequel to "Sands" was announced, but I got worried when word reached me that "Warrior Within" would carry an "M" rating, as opposed to its predecessor's "T." I felt like a parent sending his freshman child off to college: What would become of my princely boy?Well, the Prince has returned from first semester ... complete with long hair, tattoos and a sour attitude that makes me want to consider home-schooling.
Considerably darker than "Sands," "Warrior" follows a haunted Prince, whose toying with the Sands of Time in the first game helped him escape his deadly fate. Now, alive when he shouldn't be, the Prince is pursued by the guardian of time, The Dahaka, who aims to put the Prince where he should be: six feet under. The only way for the Prince to unseal his fate is by traveling back in time and stopping the Sands from ever being created.
Although "Warrior" plays very similarly to its predecessor, the distinct emphasis on fighting and action was nearly nonexistent in "Sands." The Prince now has a plethora of attacks at his disposal, from taking a villain hostage, to using a second weapon, to performing any number of cinematic decapitations. But this numerous move-set is much ado about nothing, since simultaneously battling numerous enemies reduces the player to mashing repetitively on all the controller buttons, in the hope of survival.
Because of this emphasis on action, "Warrior" feels much more like an action game than the platformer of "Sands." Fans of the original game's multiple room puzzles, will feel like they're constantly pulling out their swords to fight an endless supply of irritating foes.Irritating, because new sound effects reduce most enemies to screeching banshees who never seem to shut up. And the repetitiveness of ridiculous one-liners from our hero makes me long for the whimsical Prince of yesteryear.
And nothing is more grating than the abundance of heavy-metal guitar riffs used whenever the Prince sees action. It's so bad that in order to play through the game, I had to turn off the background music completely; every time I turned a corner, there was another enemy and boom: There went Godsmack's Fender, wailing in the background. This is especially offensive, considering "Sands" had absolutely phenomenal music that invited the player to continue, as opposed to this game's repellent noise.
Mechanically and graphically, the Prince is still king, but this game's grittier tone does the series a disservice: It screams of trying to be cool, rather than just being cool. Sure, the darker tone may have sold more units than its predecessor, but the Prince would be best served by using his time-controlling powers to go back and retrieve his charm, before moving onto a third game.
Viewtiful Joe 2 ($39.99 (Gamecube) and $29.99 (PS2); Rated T; capcom.com/v-joe)
It's great to have a guy like Joe around.Maybe it's the abundance of pink used in the game, maybe it's his geek-to-sheik attitude, maybe it's because he gives us dorks hope that someday we'll be able to snag a superheroine girlfriend like Silvia.
Whatever the reason, Joe's back in a new game; although not much has changed, it's great to see him return.And return he does, but not alone: Joe brings Silvia as his partner in crime-fighting. An unlockable character in the original "Joe," Silvia is available from the get-go in this sequel, armed with razor-sharp pom-poms and a laser gun.
Joe and Silvia play off each other like Sonny and Cher - although I guess now it's Nick and Jessica (and I shudder at the thought) - because some puzzles require the use of Joe's VFX powers to slow down or speed up time, whereas others call for a female's touch. Swapping between them adds yet another layer of chaotic action to a game already known for seizure-inducing animation.
An observer might well get vertigo, as the action slows to a crawl before immediately jumping to mach speed.
This game's chaos is saved from becoming a jumbled mess by how well it's orchestrated: The controls are as fluid and responsive as ever, the story is playful, the puzzles once again are original and surprising, and the difficulty level is ... well, let's just say there's no shame in playing on the "Kids" setting.
Small wonder "Joe" is considered one of the best new franchises out there. In a world filled with Shooters, 3-D adventures and endless RPGs, "Joe" provides a clean breath of nostalgia for those who long for the action platformers of an arcade age long gone.
Joe, you're still that pink-cape-wearing, two-dimensional, cel-shaded goofball I fell in love with last year ... don't ever change.
(Yeah, I'm still lookin' at you, Prince of Persia)
Karaoke Revolution Volume 3 (PS2; $39.99Rated E; konomi.com/usa)
Karaoke.
It's a time-honored tradition of getting a belly-full of "liquid courage" and making a fool of yourself in front of complete strangers.
And it's most often populated by blotchy young men wearing Greek letters and screaming into a microphone, or by a gaggle of equally inebriated sorority girls singing "I Will Survive" so loud and off key that I fear my ears might bleed.
Now, with the "Karaoke Revolution" series, those types - along with non-Greek independents - can practice for "American Idol" from the comfort of their very own living room ... thus sparing a number of eardrums.
In my continuing search for nontraditional games that my wife and I both can enjoy, "Karaoke Revolution" may be the best. Winners aren't determined by who shoots the fastest or has better command of the controller, but by who's got the best pitch.
When starting the game, players choose a vocalist to strut their stuff across the stage at any number of venues, ranging from a basement party to an opera house. The virtual audience's reaction changes, depending on how well the song is sung: nailing multiple bars with perfect pitch can double or triple a score, and send fans into a frenzy of cheers and applause; wail like a screeching alley cat, and they'll boo you off the stage, causing your microphone to shut off and terminate your 15 minutes of fame.
But what good is singing alone to your TV? The "Karaoke Revolution" series really shines in its multiplayer mode. Rolling the dice and randomizing a medley to sing in front of your friends could mean moving from The Jackson Five and Frank Sinatra to Brittany Spears and Hoobastank. The most fun in these party modes isn't seeing who simply sings the best, but who sings the best on the worst song possible for that person.
But in a column dedicated to two's, how does "Karaoke Revolution Volume Three" fit in?
Why, with the new duet feature.
With two microphones plugged into the PS2 - you didn't think you sang into the controller, did you? - two players can battle or sing together on the same song. (Way cool: When the fans turn on you, you've got a scapegoat handy!) The duet feature adds another layer of longevity to a game that expires when the limited number of songs (35) becomes repetitive.Which is really the only problem with this series: Rather than each new edition incorporating the songs from prior editions as a booster disc, fans are limited to exploring their inner Pavarotti on only the songs from whatever version they happen to be playing.
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