Crash Test Dummies 2

They say you never break the same bone twice.

But there's nothing to stop you breaking it once, which is why I leave the house with several pillows strapped to every limb.

Crash Test Dummies – which was primarily about smashing a doll to pieces – was a hit. But is it possible to make a break in the same spot twice?

Simply put, no.

Let's be clear: Crash Test Dummies 2 doesn't make the mistake of becoming a car crash in its own right, but it does serve as the perfect example of an idea stretched too far.

The premise is essentially identical to that of its predecessor. You control a series of test rooms, with the idea being to put one bedraggled crash test dummy through the most eventful, and likely painful, experiments possible.

Using the '5' to trigger all manner of tricks – falling anvils, a series of springs, and punching gloves to name but a few – bouncing your subject around is key, with every collision and every accident adding points to your tally.

It's reaching an unannounced total, as well as performing all flips and spins en route and to order, that separates success from failure.

The only real difference between this latest chapter and its predecessor is that developer Pixalon Studios has attempted to pull out all the stops. If not larger, the levels feel far more packed with goodies and, when things go right, utterly haphazard

The trade-off is that you feel far less in control in this sequel than you did in the original Crash Test Dummies.

You quickly realise that all you're doing is working through level after level, never pinning down why things worked after one attempt and why they fell apart (or, rather, didn't) during another.

As a result, you never learn anything, and Crash Test Dummies 2 slips by almost unannounced. You're not satisfied, but nor are you frustrated. Play simply passes without making any mark whatsoever.

In other words, it's the very opposite of the pandemonium intended.