Death, Jr. 2: Root of Evil

April 2,2007 - The charming son of Death returns for another adventure, bringing his girlfriend Pandora along for the ride this time. The original he was featured in had a lot of potential as an action-platformer, but it ultimately fell short due to annoying gameplay quirks. With a new adventure awaiting the titular hero and the ability to have a friend play alongside you, does Death Jr. II live up to hype?

The story in Root of Evil is quite simple. Death Sr. is kidnapped by Furi, a plant monster named seeking to rule the world with her great power. Unfortunately, it’s revealed that Death Jr. and Pandora, who were out in the woods trying to finish a science project, had accidentally disturbed the cocoon containing Furi. Though they know nothing about Death Sr.’s kidnapping, they do notice the immediate changes around them. They then set off to fix their mistake. The story has a lot of potential to be really good, but the lack of the great cutscenes handicaps the story to being more of an afterthought. It’s a shame that the good humor and likeable characters aren’t utilized to their fullest extent.

Despite the option of choosing between Death Jr. and Pandora for the single-player, there is little that differentiates the two. The story doesn’t change nor do the characters play much differently. That makes multiple playthroughs less enticing than it could’ve been. The option to change characters mid-game isn’t offered, so you’re stuck with the character you choose unless you want to start over again. Co-op doesn’t offer any changes either aside from being able to play with another Death Jr. II owner.

As for gameplay, there’s a lot to like. The platforming segments are rather nice with the camera not hurting your ability to move around precisely. There’s a nice variety in the levels, though they tend to be designed as a series of areas for you to be ambushed by tons of enemies, which seems to be the substitute for smart enemies. It’s not a bad thing, but it does get repetitive to essentially get to an area, fight and defeat the horde of enemies, collect the nearby loot, and move to the next area and start all over again. Some platforming areas save the game from the repetition becoming a big negative. Death Jr. II features 19 levels, including a few boss levels, which doesn’t make the game last all that long but happens to work in its favor.

The controls are good enough, though things like strafing, lock-on aiming, and some combos can be tough to work correctly. The combos provide some variety, but in the midst of combat, the difference between pushing and holding the attack button in various combos can be tricky. Strafing requires the pressing of the R and L buttons at the same time, which seems to require scientifically precise timing. The lock-on aiming is quite nice most of the time but tends to have trouble if you’re not on an even level with the enemy or object you’d like to shoot. It also lacks the ability to cycle targets for simplicity’s sake. Upgrade labs that appear during levels are somewhat both useful and useless, as there is enough ammo around the levels to not need to purchase ammo. Weapon upgrades don’t really enhance the weapons much at all either. New weapons have to be put together after collecting hidden pieces around levels, which can add some replay value to the levels, but it’s also somewhat of a cheap alternative to just introducing new weapons as the adventure progresses. Combo purchasing is probably the most useful part of what the upgrade labs offer, as you can purchase new combos to add some variety to your moveset.

Death Jr. II has a really nice look to it, with a stylized gothic look that completely fits the game and sets the mood for what you expect of the game. There’s a nice variety to the look of the enemies you’ll face, as some of them will only appear in one level. There are a lot of destructible objects in the environments that helps add to your energy orb total. Some of the environments can be a little bland, though most are diverse and look great. One of the nice graphical touches in the game is the lighting and particle systems, which just adds to the game’s pretty look. Cutscenes are really nicely done, which makes the lack of cutscenes disappointing.

The voice cast for Death Jr. II is nice but isn’t used enough to really show it off. The game features some decent sound effects, though there’s little variety except for the particularly painful screams. They try to add to the atmosphere, but just annoys instead. There are some interesting musical tracks here that helps add to the atmosphere of the game.

Ultimately, Death Jr. II: Roots of Evil fails to really deliver on the potential of the concept, mostly due to some minor annoyances that manage to ball up into a larger annoyance with the gameplay. The pacing could use some work, but the short nature of the levels and the game itself works in its favor to not dawdle too long with the boring areas. Whatever character you choose really doesn’t matter, nor does bringing a friend in on the fun alter things much, but the one singular story is enough for an enjoyable game. If Death Jr. III can’t fully deliver on this series’ potential, it may be time to just abort and move on to more promising ventures.

Games, News, Reviews, Media and More