|
Tak 2: The Staff of Dreams
Tak is back with another
fun adventure for kids and us bigger kids too.
After the success of the first game, the series is
out to show that platformers don’t have to be rubbish and can be
something that every gamer gets something out of. It’s a nice
combination too with a great looking character for younger players to be
drawn to with a graphical combination that is sure to appeal to us
oldies, along with some honest to goodness fun gameplay.
There’s a neat little story involved where Tak has
been sleeping for two weeks and his tribe are worried about him
(really?). Tak in the meantime is off on a dream quest on behalf of
someone called Dream Juju to rescue a princess in a Dark Tower (Stephen
King anyone?). The landscapes that you get to go through in this dream
world are fabulous to look at and you can tell that the team has been
told to run wild with colours and imagination. Tak is woken by the tribe
eventually but he knows that he has a mission to undertake and you are
going to be the one who drives him to success.
Aside from the usual agility and reaction based
challenges, there are some surprisingly difficult puzzles to figure out
that is surprising considering that I reckon that some younger player
simply won’t be able to figure them out. It’s creative and thoughtful
and well worth making your way through, not to mention a lot of fun.
I liked the fact that it felt like I was getting two
games for my money playing this game with there being stark differences
between both the dream world and reality. You had a series of different
monsters and weaponry that you can use in both realms and of course in
the dream realm you do not have the assistance of your friends and
whatever powers they possess unlike the waking world.
Graphically the title is very solid and pleasing to
look at. There doesn’t appear to have been a system favoured (this is a
multi format release) and this bodes well as I’ve noticed that some
games on the PS2 have looked a bit tired lately when they have simply
been ported over. That’s not to say that this isn’t the case, it just
doesn’t look like it.
Sounds are appropriate for the title and whilst not
awe inspiring do add to the overall immersion value of the game. You are
not going to be agape at the quality of audio but at the same time nor
are you going to be offended by it either.
There are some minor issues at rare times with the
camera and it’s ability to work around some of the obstacles you face,
however I am really pleased and surprised to note that there is very
little to complain about with this title. That’s not to say that it’s
perfect, it’s just not very flawed at all.
Tak 2 is everything that a sequel should be, bigger
and better than the original. New looks, new moves and a character that
will delight both existing fans of the series and make new ones of those
who pick up the game for the first time.
 |
