Death, Jr 2 cutting a dash onto PSP
Konami gets to the root of evil
There's no escaping death it seems, even on handheld consoles, as both the PSP and DS are set to receive a visit from the grim reaper this winter. Or to put it more accurately, from the grim reaper's son, since the star of this show is Death, Jr.
Although both PSP and DS games feature the same character who first showed his skull in the PSP's launch line-up, they're otherwise quite different, so we'll look at the DS outing Death, Jr and the Science Fair of Doom separately, and focus here on the PSP sequel.
Death, Jr II: Root of Evil charges DJ and his friends with the task of wading through an army of evil toys, robotic llamas and mutant security guards en route to stopping a powerful spirit.
The platform action looks to remain true to the first title, as does the distinctive visual style and general weirdness of the settings.
Unlike the previous outing, however, players can now opt to control either DJ, his goth friend Pandora or, by teaming up over wi-fi, both.
Naturally each character has individual moves and weaponry, with DJ wielding his scythe whilst Pandora prefers her Tommy Gun; other weapons such as the Flaming TP Launcher and the enhanced C4 Hamster Mark II can be appropriated as you progress.
The camera and control system have also apparently been given a good once over, which is just as well considering the boosted enemy AI.
The original Death, Jr was a rare original PSP title, but it wasn't much above average when it came to actually playing the thing. If Konami has gone back to the game though, we can only hope it's decided to spend some time (and money) making this a worthier homage to the Lord of the Underworld.
We'll soon see – we're painting the office black in preparation for the review.
