On top of the default bike (and its variants), other vehicles such as skis, unicycles, and jetpacks do an adequate job of mixing it up when playing. These additions won’t likely make the difference between putting the game down or continuing to play, but they don’t hurt. Joe Danger 2 sports six different environments such as a mo-cap style area, snowy cliffs, and returning cities. These provide nice backdrops for not only the preset levels, but also user created ones. Sadly, many of the levels that already exist on the initial product quickly burn the player out based on how overly similar many of the levels are to the next.
NOT
Not Very Fun at its Core
While I loved and had a great time with Joe Danger when it first released, the feelings were not kept between the release of the first and most recent title. Playing through the core story levels, or actual acts of the movie just doesn’t feel the same is it did when the original Joe Danger released. Though many additions were made to the game overall, the experience is lacking. Most new additions such as the skis and snow mobile barely feel different from Joe’s default bike on the surface.
At most, the story may take an actual hour or so of play time to get through, whether you are specifically hunting for stars (read: not maxing) or just playing through. From the minute I started, to the minute I finished it had been around an hour and a half. This was not gameplay time, but real time. I multiple times found myself feeling bored with what was going on in the story, and not even having a desire to continue. Footage reels did not help this boredom at all.
Where the first Joe Danger was a game where you would voluntarily do stunts because it was enjoyable, it now feels like it is done just to get boost and little more. When finishing sets or acts in various areas of the game, a recap like video is played (and cannot be skipped). This in essence isn’t too bad, but is more of a let down than anything seeing as it doesn’t actual take from the player’s footage or gameplay, but rather pre-set footage that Hello Games designated. A feature that could have added a nice spice should it be done well was generally ruined by the inability to skip and dullness of most pre-set footage. All of the above complimented by unusually long initial load times for levels make the base experience less than enjoyable most of the time.
Still No Online Multiplayer
Since the first Joe Danger game, there was only local multiplayer, and at the time it only supported a two player maximum. With Joe Danger 2, it has been slightly improved being that it now supports four players, but still relies on having people to play with locally. This is a true disappointment considering if you are able to find some friends to play the game with in multiplayer, it is an enjoyable experience, but one that is missing if not. Even should Hello Games have added multiplayer to the two player experience as an improvement rather than adding the two extra local players, it would have been an admirable decision.
Annoying Sound
Initially Joe Danger 2: The Movie had promise in this category, but as time went on and the game played out, I grew to hate it. While I never stopped favoring the music itself in the game, other parts were overly annoying. Two points heavily came into play for this not. The first of the two being the incredibly annoying commentator. This man will constantly shout out whatever happens to seem relevant. Whether it be switching lanes or doing jumps, he spouts out more than enough lines each track you play, and becomes nearly intolerable within the first act. The second is less noticeable, but still annoying, especially when playing stages over. This is the overall of sound effects in the game. When done properly they can add a lot of substance to a game, but in Joe Danger 2 they just feel annoying and little more.
Verdict
Joe Danger 2: The Movie unfortunately fails to live up to its precursor in terms of overall gameplay. While it excels in areas such as visuals and side modes, the base game is a very short and moderately dull experience. This is improved upon in the generally more difficult Deleted Scenes and Joe Danger Gaiden modes, but some may be turned off to the game before they gain full access to these modes. If you can fully immerse yourself in the game, it is a $15 well spent, but if not, you may feel remorseful.
[Editor’s Note: Joe Danger 2: The Movie was reviewed on the PS3. The game was provided to us by the publisher for review purposes.]
