You know, someone must have forgotten to tell developer Zombie that licensed games are supposed to completely suck -- or at the very least be so mediocre as to be utterly forgettable, which may actually be a better fate than sucking. Sure, SAW was a game plagued by more than a few issues (most of it in combat and needless repetition and copy/paste mini-games), but the actual traps and some of the more involved puzzles were genuinely interesting. Our review, not surprisingly, reflected that surprising bit of optimism without forgetting to point out where things to get better.

We weren't the only ones, of course, and it sounds like the chorus of almost-but-not-quite positive reviews' criticisms were taken to heart. SAW II appears to be a better game in every way, combining familiar controls and setting (the game takes place after the first movie and game, but before the second big-screen flick) with quite a bit more in the way of diversity to the actions. Combat has become more than just grabbing a broom handle and beating on enemies, requiring more thought (in the case of one mini-boss fight, we had to bait the spike-headed enemy into an untimely end while completely unarmed before he could gore us) and the puzzles... well, it's all about the puzzles isn't it?

Atmosphere and foreshadowing are apparently playing much more of a part this time around, as the diabolical former mental hospital you wake in is filled with plenty of Jigsaw's victims. You'll see other inhabitants trying to make their way out, often falling victim to traps (like a massive scythe that swings down and impales a poor fella) as a way of showing you what's coming up. The familiar weighted door mechanism is here, but requires multiple button presses now, and there's still plenty of recordings and files to pick up to help add to the back story and world.

Things start a bit like the original game -- with a twist. Yes, you're locked in one of those head-vice trap... things (it'll clap shut with spikes facing inward), but the twist this time is that you'll have to use a scalpel to cut out the key before the thing springs. Here, the first instance of perspective and controls being a bit off reared their head, but after a little practice, we managed to slice open the hastily-stitched sutures and got the key, after which point we ran into familiar obstacles; locked doors, tightrope-style beams to cross, broken glass on the floor, circuit breakers that had to be fiddled with and sections of wall that needed to be bashed down to move through.

Most of these things appeared just once or with tweaks to the previous game's formula, though. Granted, the demo was fairly short (though at about 15 minutes, it was the lengthiest at the event by far), but just when we thought things were starting to become a bit familiar, wrinkles were added. That tightrope act (left stick for movement, right for balance) turned into a race against a quickly closing series of spiked walls. The aforementioned weights were a little more involved and the introduction of side missions where you'll have to puzzle through things to get to a Billy doll -- if you choose; they're entirely optional.

Though things were definitely familiar (which is to be expected since it appears this is going to be a yearly series at this point), if the traps can stay creative and Zombie can keep listening to fan feedback, things could certainly move toward completely bucking the licensed game trend. It's still far too early to know if that's happened completely this second time out, but feel free to check out the images we've snagged to see if there's any improvement in your mind.