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Published
by Microsoft Game Studios
Developed by Artoon
Release Date: Out Now
Price: £24.99
Blinx
2 Masters of Time & Space is of course the sequel to
Blinx The Time Sweeper. In the first game a bunch of evil
pigs known as the Tom Tom Gang captured the Princess and
also stole time crystals that not only disrupted the flow
of time but also released many time monsters. In Blinx 2
the Tom Tom Gang are once again up to their tricks and they've
shattered the mysterious Big Crystal which has set the universe
on the road to destruction. The Big Crystal must be reassembled
if the universe is to be saved. Your goal is to collect
all of those Big Crystal pieces and help restore order.
In a surprising twist though you also get to control a member
of the Tom Tom Gang and whilst Blinx and his pals are masters
of time, the Tom Tom Gang are masters of space.
Unusually
for a sequel you don't actually control the main character
but nevertheless you'll still see Blinx in the games cutscenes.
In Blinx 2 you'll create your own characters to play as.
First of all you'll control your own time sweeping cat and
later on you'll get to create your very own pig. The amount
of options for creating your own characters is amazing.
You can alter everything from eye and tail size to the style
of their costumes. Of course whether you create a tall thin
or small fat pig or cat makes no difference to the way the
game plays but it's great to be able to customise your characters.
That said though it would have been great to have had the
choice to play as Blinx again. Imagine buying a Mario or
Sonic game and you can't play as Mario or Sonic, it would
be a little disappointing.
Now
we here at Deaf Gamers thought that Blinx The Time Sweeper
was a very enjoyable game. It was challenging and required
a fair amount of thought. Taking a look at other reviews
though it's obvious that many thought the game was too complicated
and as a result Blinx 2 has been dumbed down a lot and some
of the elements that irritated some people have been removed.
Before, you had to collect time crystals in a specific order
if you wanted to harness their power but now you just collect
them all as you go along and you are automatically given
the time controls that they offer. If you're hit by an enemy
it used to be instant death but now you have a health bar
that will decrease if you're hit but you're still alive.
You can also find items such as milk to refill your health
bar. At times the game feels like it's holding your hand
a little too much and provides too many hints. Blinx let
you get on with it and figure it out for yourself. At times
Blinx 2 feels like it's setting you a challenge and giving
you the answer in the same breath.
In
Blinx 2 though it's not just about controlling the Time
Sweepers and you also get to have fun with the Tom Tom Gang.
Whilst this is a nice inclusion, in theory, I didn't enjoy
playing as the Tom Tom Gang half as much and this is one
of the problems with the approach that Artoon have taken.
Most gamers will either prefer the Time Sweepers or the
Tom Tom Gang and few will find both as good. The Tom Tom
Gang missions consist of using stealth and space controls
such as Warp Tunnels and Hypercloaks. The pigs also get
to use gadgets such as decoys to distract enemies and banana
skins to trip them up and incapacitate them for a while.
The Tom Tom Gang missions are not poor by a long stretch
but I didn't enjoy them as much.
Blinx
2 has support for 4 player games and a 2 player co-operative
mode. The 2 player co-operative mode can be played by playing
the single player game and simply choosing the 2 player
option. The game is played on a horizontal split-screen
and depending on the difficulty level you choose, you can
either do the same things or split the tasks between you.
The Vs. Mode allows 2-4 players to have a Battle Royale
or Cats vs Pigs matches. These games are actually quite
enjoyable and it's a shame the whole thing wasn't on Xbox
Live with more players taking part.
You
usually expect sequels to look better than the original
game but for some reason this isn't so with Blinx 2. The
characters and enemies seem just as good, in some cases
better than those in the original but some of the environments
look kind of fuzzy compared to those in the first Blinx
game. For the most part the game still looks good but it's
a shame that some of the levels have a slightly fuzzy quality
to them.
Blinx
fans will be pleased to learn that Blinx 2 is subtitled.
As a result you'll be able to enjoy the games cutscenes.
The tutorials and all the information you receive whilst
in the missions is in text too so there's no problems at
all which is excellent. In several areas of the game, such
as the Tom Tom Gang's HQ you can talk to other characters
and these conversations are text only so again there are
no problems. The only area where it could have been better
is when you use one of the time controls. Using a pause
for instance triggers a kind of ticking noise which keeps
gamers informed of how long the pause will last. There isn't
any visual notification for this countdown. This isn't a
major problem though and in no way spoils the experience.
You'll also find that there are enemy indicator arcs which
show which way an enemy is coming toward you (if the arcs
are yellow the enemies are not aware of you but if they
are orange then they can see you and will attack) which
is again a great feature. Mission objectives are given in
text only at the start of each mission and they can be recalled,
in an abridged style, by pressing the start button.
Whilst
Blinx 2 has made the whole thing simpler and less irritating,
in some respects, personally I don't think the game is as
enjoyable as Blinx The Time Sweeper. That said though I
can see the game appealing to a wider audience this time
around as it's more forgiving with no time constraints and
more varied game play. The ability to create your own character
is a nice touch and many will appreciate the amount of customisation
options that have been included. The Xbox isn't well blessed
when it comes to exclusive platform style games and whilst
Blinx 2 certainly isn't a classic it's still enjoyable and
many will appreciate the amount of variety the game offers.
Overall
Game Rating: 7.6/10
It's both a good sequel in some ways and a disappointing
one in others. Artoon have simplified the whole thing and
whilst this makes it more accessible it also means it's
not going to appeal as much to those who really liked the
first game.
Deaf
Gamers comment:
No problems as it's fully subtitled.
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