FIST OF THE NORTH STAR : KEN'S RAGE 2

Small inventory for those who would return from the desert, hungry and emaciated, full sandy beard. Fist of the North Star: Ken's Rage's first name musty, as too often with adaptations of the cult series, but it finally possible to embody the man with seven scars in HD, which was once a stew choice of those we love to hate. Back to Table Veleda for Tecmo Koei, who took the time - almost two years - to produce a result and amortize the costs. Was it really worth it to come back from the dead?

YOUVOY SHOCK

A glance is enough to make a reason: if two years have passed, we feel that the efforts of Ken's Rage 2 focused on content, less on appearance. The man with seven scars still has a rugged face, post-apocalyptic landscapes do not lie about the state of the world, rather than technical limitations. In short, it is actually in the gray and monotonous pure juice still ugly later, with destructible environments, that is if destruction comes down to a two-step animated GIF. It is true that Ken inspires respect in these difficult conditions, even with an angry look as Chatelet, but at least the developers have heard some criticism from the top of turn. Now we take a bit of fun to play, especially to embody Ken, which is not what RoboCop sad, slow and dry unworthy of his rank. The attacks of Hokuto Shinken-finally affect more than one type at a time, the crowds are all denser away, even if they tend to come out of nowhere, like the ghosts punks who fell from the top of the screen in Streets of Rage. And all this to blow up in beautiful sprays of blood richer in hemoglobin. A real career.

Ken's Rage first time we return the endless levels aisle where it was better to be patient - and a missile - to cross without finishing petrified trouble. "Good" news, the game now prefers chain phases in levels rather confined, with many cut-scenes to boost the scenario a bit part and statues to save regularly. So yes, we can speak of a fig leaf: managers on how manga stills are not fooling anyone, especially one trying to hide a shortened development time and / or budget far from scalable. And simply mundane arenas will not either enter the Hall of Fame Ken 2 level design. But this subterfuge offers a little more aggressive in the sequence of sequences, because even if it is often a question of eliminating a number of opponents in a limited time, or sinter a boss in several phases, was at least the sense to follow the plot of the manga at a pace a little more sustained than in the original game, irrelevant. A warning to players who play offline: without applying the patch, load times on Xbox 360 are particularly heinous.


PECS LEMON

Continuation requires, include cutting the game in two modes, with one hand, the Legend mode, which follows the progress of the manga chapter by chapter, on the other Dream fashion offering alternative scenarios with the characters unlocked over the progress in the main mode. Generally more interesting and varied missions, with a concept to capture bases typically "Dynasty Warriors". We are moving away a little of the spirit, but it is conceptually more captivating than these phases or moments infiltration shady horse that does not raise nothing but misunderstanding. In accounting terms, Ken's Rage 2 is therefore in the bidding with an incredibly long main mode, since the entire series is covered, this time, the meeting with Bart and Lynn Kaiô up, not to mention the epilogue manga. Given the density of the work, we can understand why the developers opted for a series of fixed screens to complete the project. Result, the number of characters exceeds the twenties, with styles well represented, even if the visual style is debatable. In short, with the possible modes of game schedules branches, he will have accumulate dozens of hours to really see everything. Besides the online mode or in cooperation Versus per team (up to eight), with a series of missions to complete as quickly as possible to take advantage of the opposite team.

Finally, if the gameplay is ultimately similar to Dynasty Warriors & Cie, it differs on some points. No more jumping, replaced by a rather dodge class just tap into the energy gauge, closer to the manga in mind. Some boss fights, tough enough casually, ask to properly minuter these dodges for not finishing on the ground and pick up on the QTE killing spectacular. It will also place properly scrolls that Ken and his allies recover the way, a system that replaces the grid / sphérier the original. It's a shame, because this was the only real good idea of ​​the first Ken's Rage. In this sequel, it will align with recipes collected randomly on the five slots available, and try to make vertical lines with symbols (strength, defense, technical) for exponential bonus, in addition to the conventional level rise. A customization side a little less advanced than in the original, especially when the scrolls are random, even if a good score at the end of level will ensure maximum loot.