MediEvil II (Playstation Game)
Reviewed by Brian Schell
In the 13th Century, in Gallowmere, Sir Daniel Fortesque returned from the dead to defeat the evil necromancer Zarok. Upon his completion of the events depicted in the classic game MediEvil, was finally laid to his eternal rest. Well, Maybe it's not completely eternal... In the year 1886, Lord Palethorn of Shoreditch came upon the same book of black magic and began the story again. Upon re-awakening after 500 years of death, Sir Dan has found a lot is different in Victorian England. To begin with, he finds that he's not only a neglected museum display, but also many of the other displays in the museum have reanimated as well.
You are Sir Dan as he fights his way through the museum, battling dinosaurs, zombies, armed guards, animated statues, and many other creatures in his battle to defeat Lord Palethorn and go back to the "Big Sleep." Sir Dan is not alone; he has help from his helpful guide Winston the Help Ghost and new characters such as Professor Hamilton Kift, The Spiv, and Princess Kiya, and others. A variety of weapons are available in different parts of the game. Most often used is his trusty sword, but axes, canes, hammers, crossbows, and even pistols and Gatling guns are available for use. And since Sir Dan is already dead, he can pull off his arm and use it as a club if necessary.
Played with a third-person point of view, like in Tomb Raider and its myriad clones, the commands and buttons of MediEvil II is simple to learn. There is a lot of combat to keep the action fans happy, while the puzzles are challenging enough to keep the thinkers busy as well. Especially good is the camera view controls. With a simple 2-D circular view, the camera controls are the easiest to use of the 3D games I've played. While once in a while it would be convenient to look up or down, it's a fair trade-off for simplicity of commands.
One thing I didn't like about this one is something I've commented on before - save points. They are VERY few & far between in this game and early on I nearly gave up in frustration at replaying the first level over and over before I even found the first save point. You also can carry life potions that restore you if you get killed, but I could never find out how many of these I was carrying which was somewhat confusing.
Overall, this game is very good. The play balance is great- not impossible, but not too simple either. This is an excellent "Medium Difficulty" game great for those who like both action and puzzles.
MediEvil II by Sony
For more info: Requires: Playstation, memory card w/1 block free.
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