Another video
game based on a summer blockbuster. Yippee! Off the top of my head, I
can only think of two movie-based video games that were any good: The
recently released Spider-Man: The Movie, and a little FPS that may or
may not have saved the N64 from slipping away into obscurity called
Goldeneye. Men in Black 2: Alien Escape is by no means in the same
league as Goldeneye, but it certainly isnt the steaming pile that most
games based on movies turn out to be. MIB2 is fun while it lasts, but
after you save the world once, there isnt much to keep you coming back.
The story in
the game follows agents J and K as they pursue aliens who escaped off of
a prison ship that crashed into the Earth. The bigger story is that J
and K are not voiced by Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones, and only sort of
look like them. A goatee here and some extra wrinkles there blur the
line between J, K, and the men who played them in the MIB movies. The
voices wouldnt be so bad if it wasnt so obvious that they were trying
really hard to sound like Jones and Smith. Even Zed is voiced by a Rip
Torn sound-alike who doesnt quite cut it. It would have been better if
they either gave us different agents to play as (P and Q, for example)
or got the real actors to do some voice work. These cheap knockoffs just
dont cut the mustard and really only spoil the whole experience.
You are
given the choice of using either J or K as you take on the scum of the
universe. The only difference between the two is a slightly different
arsenal, neither of which is all that much better than the other. There
are only six weapons in the game, which is a disappointment, but you can
collect powerups to give them a little more bang for your buck. The guns
range from a standard blaster to a flamethrower to a fusion cannon.
There isnt a Noisy Cricket though. Whats up with that?
The gameplay
in MIB2 is actually quite fun. You run around the levels in a third
person perspective and just blast away at the dozens and dozens and
dozens of enemies that spawn and respawn throughout the levels. There
are very few moments in the game when you arent shooting at something,
so the action is fast and furious and rather satisfying. The sheer
number of enemies the game throws at you at once is impressive. They
appear behind you, ahead of you, on crates above you, all over the
place. They fire at you in easily avoidable patterns, but the sheer
number of enemies and the huge amount of plasma flying around adds a
nice level of difficulty to the game. Certain enemies cause you to drop
your weapon upgrades when they hit you, so you have to pick them all up
again all the while avoiding the hail of gunfire from enemies. Powerups
and "worm guys" that need saving are scattered throughout each level for
you to find as well. Finding upgrades and blasting the hundreds of
enemies can only be described as fun.
The levels
you explore in the course of the adventure include a nuclear power plant
and even the streets of New York City. There are only five levels, and
each one is split into three chunks that each take only about ten
minutes to complete. There is also a boss battle at the end of each
level that can take anywhere between one and five minutes. If you do the
math, youll find that it takes you about three hours to beat the whole
game. It is fun while it lasts, but the game is just too short. There is
also a training mode and some "Making of MIB2: Alien Escape" stuff to
unlock, but the unlockables arent really worth the trouble. Once you
play through the game once, you probably wont want to play it again,
and that is the only real problem with MIB2.
Controlling J
and K is a fairly easy, although limited, affair. You cant jump, other
than a back flip of questionable usefulness, but you can roll out of the
way, which also isnt that useful. You still get hit whether you roll or
back flip out of the way, so I didnt bother to use them after about the
first five minutes of the game. There is also a button to do a 180 turn
that is somewhat disorienting at first, but becomes a useful tool later
in the game. And that is about all you can do besides moving around and
using your gun. Aiming your gun is a matter of pointing it in the
general direction and firing, which will usually score a hit. You can
lock onto enemies and deliver a charged up shot, but isnt worth the
trouble against anything but a boss. Vertical aiming is automatic, so
you dont have to worry when you spot an enemy flying around above you.
The controls are simple, but suit the game.
Graphically,
MIB2 gets the job done, but doesnt go above and beyond to give us a
fantastic visual experience. The levels are fairly simple, but they look
good enough. You are usually running through them so fast you dont
notice, though. The aliens are all different but, again, you are
blasting at them and running through them so fast you cant take the
time to admire the fact that each species is unique and detailed. You
just end up classifying them as "red", "blue", "green", "garbage man",
"brain thing", "spider thing" and the always annoying "flying thing". An
absolutely great graphical touch is that all of the enemies explode into
blue or green or orange goop a la Mikey from the first Men in Black
movie. It is pretty darn satisfying to turn alien scum into gibs. The
weapon effects are bright and colorful and look pretty good. Overall,
the graphics are pretty decent.
The sound, on
the other hand, is pretty crappy. The Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones, and
Rip Torn sound-alikes are trying too hard to match the nuances of each
actor and they just come across as fake and forced and hurt the overall
experience. The weapons make pretty generic sounding blaster/laser
noises that we have heard before. There is music, I guess, but you dont
notice it at all while playing through the game. Overall, the sound is a
major disappointment.
Men in Black
2: Alien Escape is a surprisingly enjoyable game. Featuring fast,
exciting, and satisfying gameplay, it is simply a blast to play through.
But once you beat the game, there isnt much to keep you coming back. It
looks good and controls well enough, but three hours just isnt enough
gameplay to warrant a purchase. To someone who loves shooters or is a
big MIB fan, it might almost be worth the $29.99 price tag, but I would
recommend renting it before you decide to buy it. MIB2 is definitely a
solid rental for anyone who wants some mindless shooting action for an
evening.