Death Jr. 2: Root of Evil
Pint-sized death strikes back, but is it worth a second look?
Published: January 4, 2007
There is no target-switching. And with the sorts of deranged enemy bombardments you'll encounter, you'll find it's for good reason. The control scheme is pleasantly cooperative, as a simultaneous press of the shoulder buttons will alternate between your standard free-roaming to an all-out side-stepping mode perfect for gun touting. Even if you're on the run from the angry mobs, this maneuver will turn you right around, with a reticle square on your nearest threat.
Weapon assignment also resorts to an interesting technique. Eight in all are available per character, but rather than having them stowed in a menu-accessible inventory, they are equipped to either a single or double tap of each directional button (say, pressing Up twice for the shotgun). A solution to task of mixing and matching weapons, for sure, and it plays out rather well, so long as you can remember to which button your desired weapon is assigned to.
But naturally, Death, Jr. 2, isn't without its faults. Grappling hooks and vine-slides can be a royal pain in the ass to time correctly. The game, for whatever reason, also lacks auto-save, and instead relies on your willingness to pause and save your data every so often (and God forbid you forget to after a two-hour long marathon). You're given the option of playing as either DJ or his quick-to-quip heartthrob Pandora, and while both lead identical adventures (only differing in weapon choices and melee combos), the latter vixen does seem like the more playable character. Perhaps that tried-and-true Tommy gun of hers provides the edge.
Gameplay shortcomings be they may, there's no denying this is a nice looking game. While we won't credit the movie sequences for providing plot cohesion, we will attribute them as some of the finest we've seen on the handheld (better yet, check out the storyboard movies to see the initial sketches for them). The in-game graphics have a pretty sharp sense of detail, but some fine executions of lighting technique is what really stood out the most (namely, a trippy multi-colored lightshow that illuminated our stroll through the World of Waffles).
The audio offering probably won't warm up to you quite so well, though. A colorful cast sports a good number of memorable voices, but the trashy script reduces a lot of it to forced vulgarity and further complications to what ends up being a pretty unimaginative plot. The tunes are fitting enough, often with an air of eeriness to match the bizarre environments you'll roam through. Thrown in there are also a mismatch of screams and squawks from defeated enemies, but nothing too out of the ordinary for the game's off-setting mood.
With some amount of persistence, Death, Jr. 2 can play out as a fairly complete experience from start to finish. You'll fight through the masses, take on a few bosses, assemble some utile gadgets, and get frustrated now and again, but hopefully come away from it all feeling as though you've accomplished something. It's got a head above the PSP's run-of-the-mill platformers, but that still isn't saying terribly too much. But if your heart's in the genre and you've got a weekend to blow, it's certainly worth a shot.
