I love good games, who doesn?ft? Maximo Vs. Army of Zen has what you would want to look for.
You have to give it up for the PS2. While Xbox may have better components, PS2 is the best for the platformer genre. Great titles like Jak 2, Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy, Ratchet and Clank 2, (just to name a few) make the platformer genre what it is.
Ghosts n?f Goblins was a best hit. It prospered for a few reasons that you don?ft find in many games these days. How long and hard it was. It didn?ft take a few hours to complete the game, that what is the beauty of the game. A game that as an appeal after many hours of play is a great one in my book.
Maximo Vs. The Army of Zin picks up the story right around the ending of the first installment ( give or take a few years). The first two characters you will be seeing are Maximo and his best friend Grim Reaper. These two hero?fs are on there quest to find the only true love of Maximo?fs jaw dropping life. Things don?ft go too well for a while though. The two heroes come back to find that Zin?fs army has escaped and are due to cause some trouble. So being the thoughtful person Maximo is, he sets out on another eventful quest which will be sure to stink up havoc.
Gameplay is solid. You know what you have to do and your asked to perform it in tip top shape. What?fs great about Platformers is that you know what you will be doing, running around smashing already corrupted faces in and solving various and sometimes unique puzzles. The longer and harder the levels the better, but sometimes going harder can be a bit dangerous and Maximo Vs. The Army of Zin goes completely over the boundary and defies a new meaning of hard. The main attack system is composed of overhead and side hits. Even though there isn?ft the moves of Soul Caliber 2, you can still chain combos up to really kick some ass. At first the combat can be choppy, but once you get the handle of things, you can get monster combos that will help you out in the end. The better and longer the attack, the more and better the treasure you will acquire.
I was excited to hear that I was going to get the game that defined hard core. You?fll be finding yourself playing ever so carefully, yet with intent. The bad thing that makes the difficulty level higher isn?ft the A.I. difficulty or the level design. It?fs the excruciating health setup. Instead of getting life points or something of the sort. You are only given three lives. Getting hit deducts a life. You have to guide Maximo like you were the one swinging and lobbing heads off. This can become quite frustrating when you become trigger happy and get too close for comfort. Another great disappointment is that when you collect a prize found somewhere you have to hold on to it for dear life because if you die, you will be taken back to the last acquired checkpoint WITHOUT the item that you found. Maximo 2 is like no other game. Instead of regenerating you life in between levels, Maximo is left with what health you left him with in the previous level. That?fs right, so, if a boss is near take care of your rear! To live, you?fd might want to fight a lot or buy lives, each option either becomes time consuming or expensive beyond belief.
Maximo 2 also defies what a follow game should be. It almost all of the problems and bugs that frustrated many players in the first one. Plus it adds a good lot of new options/items that can be readily accessible throughout the game?fs experience. Now you can buy power ups through venders to boost up your equipment. There is an all new destruction device known as the ?e hammer?f that will deal out more damage then the default weapon will ever be capable of doing. Upgrading your shield will almost be essential to proving that your worthy of saving the world. Each time you upgrade the weapons and the shields they get stronger, yet they become even more expensive to buy. One thing that brings witty humor is that you are even possible to buy/upgrade your boxers. That?fs right, your boxers! Even though this provides a few crackles, it won?ft really affect your looks or stats until you?fre left with nothing but your boxers. The boxers you obtain are very invaluable and help you more then you can imagine. The more you upgrade, the better the stats the boxers help you out with.
The level aren?ft as massive as you would like. Sure they are good, but nothing too great. However each level does have it?fs own unique settings and environments. Since the difficulty levels are set at mind blowing settings, trying over and over might be a thing that you will be introduced to. Monsters and traps are a few things that will be in the way of your success, and there are a lot of them. At the end of each level there is a boss. Pending where you are in the game, the bosses?f difficulty level varies. The Mastered Seal is an award (if you can call it that) you get at the end of each completed level if you have saved enough villagers, slaughtered plenty of enemies, and found the secret locations ?esecretly hidden on the level!?f. The more you unlock, the more goodies that will be available. You?fll still be able to get passed the length of each level due to the fact you?fll be trying to get 100% on each given level.
As mentioned earlier every level?fs settings has it?fs own special look. Character models are sculpted with perfection. The little details is what makes this game so beautiful. From the shining from the armor, to the animation used when fighting large quantities of enemy. Slowdown in the frame rate would be bad in any game, but it would be particularly in this genre. It takes a smooth frame rate to fulfill all of the needs of the gamer so you won?ft experience poor combat and bad jumping/ moving actions because there is such a high demand in this genre.
Sound fits the game perfectly. One thing I hate about games is when the music score is totally of centered, it doesn?ft belong there. Maximo 2 takes care of all that and plays everything like a New York Concert Band. For level and mood there is, a certain piece of music will be played that best fits the moment. Sound effects are superb. Clashes and bangs of swords swooping left and right, and hearing the Zin?fs robots screeching for there helpless life. It all lifts the moment in the air and places you in the direct action.
If you can get over the extreme level settings this is a beautiful game. It blends in all that you would want in a game and even supplies more. Great level designs make you feel that your helping helpless victims of Zen?fs harsh and punishment. Even though the story is a little on the short side, you?fll have plenty of entertainment trying to get that hard to accomplish 100%. Maximo Vs. Army of Zen has upgraded plenty of stuff that was missing in the first and is a solid recommendation