| Game Reviews From a Parental Perspective! | |
|
|
|
| Home | Forums | Review Archive | Columns | Feature Articles |
|
Home >
Review Archive >
Video Games
> Results: Death, Jr. 2: Root of Evil
Format For Printing | Tell A Friend | Digg | Slashdot | del.icio.us | Buy This Game Scroll down for our Kid Factor. 
ESRB Content Descriptors Say:
Comic Mischief: GamerDad found that the dark humor of the cartoon series made appearances throughout the game ﾖ such as a toy graveyard where abandoned teddy bears attack you. Language: GamerDad found that hacking things to bits wasn't the only reason DJ and friends land themselves in trouble on a regular basis ﾖ they are also foul-mouthed little demons! Violence: GamerDad used DJ's scythe and Pandora's whip to decimate some crazy forces of opposition! Last year's Death Jr was a charming but deeply flawed action-platform game about the son of the Grim Reaper and his friends. The sequel improves on the strengths while letting the weaknesses languish, resulting in an even more beautiful and disappointing game that feels like even a greater missed opportunity than the original. Death, Jr. II: Root of Evil starts with the same arresting visual style and engaging character introductions as the original ﾖ but now looking even better due to improved graphics and the much touted addition of HDR (high dynamic range) lighting. You can choose to play as Death Jr. or his girlfriend Pandora, who was also in the original. The experience is pretty much the same either way ﾖ you kill stuff with melee attacks, you jump a lot, you kill stuff with guns, and you jump some more. Along the way you die a bunch, often for no particularly good reason. It is not terrible, just a very average platform action game ﾖ but it is intensely frustrating because you have such insane humor and plot potential that is completely squandered once again! If the game looks or sounds interesting at all, the original is now available for ultra-bargain prices, so that would be the best way to get some stylized macabre jump-and-kill action.  
My son looked up at me as he was working on a drawing, and said "You must be playing a gory first person shooter by the look on your face". "No", I said, "it is Death Jr. 2 and I just skewered a teddy bear in the toy graveyard with my scythe and used it to kill the next attacking toy." "Oh", he said, "I guess that means we won't be playing that game any time soon."
Death, Jr. II: Root of Evil takes everything up a notch from the original ﾖ which is something that the ESRB descriptors seem to miss. The original game was described as having "Blood and Gore, Language, Violence", but for the sequel "Blood and Gore" has been replaced with "Comic Mischief". In my opinion *both* should be there ﾖ the comic styling and troublemaking nature of the characters is enough to warrant the ﾑmischief' descriptor, but skewering enemies and having them blow to bits as you destroy them is certainly just as deserving of ﾑblood and gore' in this game as the original. The reason I mention this is because my kids read the back of boxes, and were hopeful that since this one ﾑwasn't gory' that it would be OK. It isn't ﾖ it is no more appropriate for younger kids than the original ... which means not at all. Comments? Chat about it in our forums! Format For Printing | Tell A Friend | Digg | Slashdot | del.icio.us | Buy This Game Home > Review Archive > Video Games > Results: Death, Jr. 2: Root of Evil |
Read the GamerDad 2007 Holiday Guide!
|
Please Note: GamerDad is not intended to be read by anyone under 18. We stay clean, but be warned! Content Management System developed by Redbird Solutions. |
