Maximo Army of Zin Review

21 Apr 2008 at 18:31:36 by Paul Younger
Systems used to review this title: (PS2)

"Maximo: Army of Zin" is the sequel to Capcom's "Maximo: Ghosts to Glory" title, released two years ago. For players new to the series, this games blends fighting action with some typical platform elements, wrapping the package up in stylish cartoon graphics and animation. For players of the original game, there's more of the same on offer, with some welcome improvements over the original.

The player once again takes control of the story's hero, a young knight called Maximo. The story requires that you investigate the source of a mechanical robot army terrorising the local population. Guiding him through a series of outdoor environments, you must defeat any opponents you encounter while exploring the game's levels, finding secret areas and collecting coins and gems along the way. After completing a number of levels the player will have to tackle fighting one of six "bosses" before moving on to the next section. Maximo only has a limited amount of health, and he'll shed layers of armour if opponents repeatedly hit him. Finally, he will be stripped to his boxer shorts before he dies, which is a friendly nod to the original Ghosts 'n' Goblins arcade game.

Additional rewards are given when the player succeeds in saving members of the civilian population from attack, or dispatches enemies quickly and effectively using a combination of moves. The game's collectable items are converted into currency, which as you progress through the game can be used to buy special moves, health and armour. Despite the ability to purchase new moves, the combat is unfortunately rather repetitive throughout.

Early in the game the player collects an additional weapon, a hammer, which can be swapped for your sword at any time. While your sword is exclusively used for fighting, the hammer can be used to activate switches. This is frequently used in the game's puzzle elements to move objects and gain access to new areas. Maximo can also talk to the civilians he encounters, occasionally providing clues to later objectives in the level.

Maximo is unashamedly old-school/traditional in its premise, requiring a significant amount of patience and persistence from the player in order to make steady progress. You will only get a limited number of attempts to complete a difficult section, after which you are forced to start the entire level again from the beginning. Players that succeed in making smooth progress through the game are unlikely to become frustrated, but if a particularly challenging section proves difficult, this forced repetition can quickly become irritating. Is this a serious problem that could compromise your enjoyment of the game? Probably not, unless you need to finish a review in order to meet a deadline!

It's not all bad news, though. Apparently listening to feedback from gamers, the developers have addressed some of the issues that detracted from enjoyment of the original title. Maximo now starts with a greater number of basic moves, designed to make the combat more enjoyable right from the start. Most significantly, players are no longer required to use their hard-earned credits to save their progress at the end of each level.

According to the notes accompanying the game, the Japanese artist Susumu Matsushita has designed the characters. I did some digging around on the web to find out more, and he appears to have an impressive pedigree in the world of animation and character design. The result? The production values in this game are excellent, and while the game's environments occasionally lack detail, a great deal of care has been taken to ensure the the overall standard of presentation is very high. In addition, the game's frame-rate always remains consistent and the controls are fluid and smooth. The developer has helpfully included the option to play at 60HZ on TVs that support this mode, so it's clear that this is no sloppy PAL conversion. The camera angle can be manually adjusted during play using the right analogue stick, but it's a credit to the developer that this is rarely necessary. The background music and sound design are fairly typical for the genre; there's nothing particularly offensive or worthy of enthusiastic praise.

"Maximo: Army of Zin" carries a 12+ rating. The relatively uncomplicated action and cartoon style suggest this title is aimed squarely at a younger audience. Naughty Dog's "Jak and Daxter" games have succeeded in raising the bar significantly in the platforming/action genre; “Maximo: Army of Zin" will clearly have to endure uncomfortable comparisons to these titles. With this in mind, there simply will not be enough variety in this package to keep many players interested. For others, the difficulty level will prove frustrating.

"Maximo: Army of Zin" has certainly been carefully crafted, with great production values. For fans of the genre seeking a challenging dose of traditional console gaming, it would make a worthwhile purchase.

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