2/2

Let the Bodies Hit the Floor
The magic attacks (or active skills) can be activated by pressing any of the face buttons, each one mapped to certain ability. As you play through the game you will unlock new moves and earn ‘soul points’ for every fallen enemy. This allows you to upgrade your character(s) weapons, magic and base skill level to make them more powerful. Weapons aren’t as plentiful as the first game, which is shame. I don’t think it could have hurt to have a few thrown into the mix, although you'd could argue their value compared to the active skills. Powering up your character and watching the magic attacks burst into action is awe-inspiring. It easy to get lost in the feeling of power, especially when dropping hundreds of enemies in one shot.

A New Cast
Returning to the characters, I was disappointed that the original cast (mainly Inphyy) didn’t have a part to play in N3II. N3II focus its efforts on the character of Galen (featured on the cover) who helps a population of elves on his mission for revenge against the ‘Lord of the Night.’ Once you finish the campaign as Galen, you can fire up the other four characters that you will meet during your travels. Your allies consisting of Lew, Maggni, Zazi, and Sephia have their own unique perspective on the struggle between light and darkness. The plot isn’t overly complex or tangled up in the obvious, which I found oddly compelling, making all the savage button mashing worth the effort.

Now including Co-Op
In addition to a new tale, N3II has added co-op support and online leaderboards to make the package more incising. The co-op is nothing special, your standard stuff here, but it does add another bullet point on the back of the box. Alone or with a friend, N3II's gametime is longer than you might expect, lasting an average of 20hrs + to play through the entire game, or even longer if you invest in maxing out your skills and completing all the optional objectives. No doubt, N3II will keep you occupied for a while.

Far from Perfect
Although the report has been fairly positive up to this point, N3II is far from perfect. The main problem is , repetition, which is a given in a hack n' slash title. However, besides the repetitive nature of hack n’ slash gameplay, the theme of repetition is continued with hordes of the same enemies with little variety, wrapped around the same objectives to conquer in each map. The maps aren’t short affairs either; they are actually fairly long and desperately in need of a few more checkpoints. Thankfully, the action rolls along at a steady pace, so you might not notice the lack of checkpoints during all the chaos. That is, unless you're not getting pummeled to death by the adversaries. Certain enemies that can knock your character down is annoying and a cycle that can repeat if you are not fast enough to power a skill or jump out of harms way. Knockdowns are not fun in any game (crackdown 2) and N3II is another example of how annoying they can be.

Continuing with the problems, the level design is horrible and requires you to play off a mini-map if you want to be productive. The maze like levels, which I already mentioned are too long, are also unnecessary confusing. A few of the levels are mildly interesting, but they are far and few between. N3II also needed to have more distinction among the personalities. Each character plays exactly the same, just a re-skin with different weapons. Even the giant sized Maggni throws a punch the same as the petite Sephia, which is silly. It is disappointing that all the dynamics are in the look. Lastly, a few other touches would have been nice like more costumes (not just colours), improved accuracy in the controls, and more weapons, but hey, maybe they are saving it for the third chapter?!

N3II: Ninety-Nine Nights is an improvement over the original. Staring with an increased scale to ensure your thumb never has a second to rest, N3II impresses in the numbers game. Demolishing thousands of enemies in a hailstorm of flailing metal and magical attacks is always going to be fun, and for a general hack n’ slash title N3II stands out in a crowd. Introducing a new set of heroes, you will likely be surprised on how much their story grabs you.

Even with all the good, N3II still has a list of standard hack n’ slash issues that hinder it from being more successful. N3II is a step in the right direction, however, its obvious that the ambition of the design team hasn't fully caught up with the gameplay. Overall, and with all its flaws, N3II is still worth a look for anyone who is looking for an alternative fantasy based action game... and for all the hack n’ slash fans, this one’s easy... pick it up! Now let’s talk N3-III.

Gameplay:6.5, Graphics:7.2, Sound:6.0, Innovation:6.0, Mojo:7.0  Final: 6.6 / 10

Reviewed by DowntownJimmy | 07.26.10

		Colossal feeling of power Lots of enemies to demolish Quick “brains-off” action Commendable art direction and design Solid graphical performance For a hacker, the story was pretty good Five customizable characters
		Repetitive button mashing, your fingers will get sore Gameplay is shallow Maps are too big, more checkpoints are needed Tougher than expected Enemies are unbalanced

Similar Games: N3: Ninety Nine Nights (6.0) | Kingdom Under Fire: Circle of Doom (6.0)