Hero of Sparta II: This! Is! … er, Pretty Good!

App Name:	Hero of Sparta II
Platforms:	iPhone, iPod Touch
Publisher(s):	Gameloft
Version Reviewed:	1.0
Genre(s):	Action
Release Date:	July 29, 2010
Price:	$4.99
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In many ways, Gameloft helped define iOS as a gaming platform with their release of Hero of Sparta, the God of War inspired platformer. Now, they’ve followed up that game with Hero of Sparta II, which shows off everything Gameloft has learned about iOS gaming since breaking ground in 2008. This bigger, bolder, more violent sequel is not a better game than its predecessor, but it’s still a smashin’ good time.

Hero of Sparta II picks up right were the original left off, with main character Argos returning to his beloved Sparta. Unfortunately, in retribution for Argos’s hubris, Hades has unleashed Hell on the land. Argos must once again fight through the hordes of Hell to save not only himself, but his country from destruction. If the plot doesnt sound like much, that’s because it isn’t. It’s an excuse to throw more bigger, badder opponents at Argos. But that’s okay; you didn’t download Hero of Sparta II for finer plot points.

No, you downloaded it for brutal platformer combat on your iPhone, and Hero of Sparta II delivers. It is a faster-paced game than the original, offering a bigger variety of monsters, many of them requiring special moves to defeat. It also features the same kinds of colossal bosses faced in the original, though not with the regularity that they were offered in that game.

Combat is a little more involved than the original’s button-mashing fun. Now, the attack button is also a slider, and some enemies require you to attack them with a certain stroke (like shield-weilding enemies, who must be attacked first with a stroke down to disarm them of their protection). A lot of combat still boils down to frantic button-mashing, but the flavor of variety is appreciated. The sequence-triggered killing blows are also back; and, in what is perhaps my favorite macabre moment in HoSII, a performing a killing sequence on a minotaur enemy lets you – and I am not making this up – stick your sword into its head and “drive” its corpse for awhile to slaughter enemies, run down barriers, and smash things that Argos can’t smash by himself.

That’s right. By sticking your sword into its brain, you can drive a minotaur.

Level design is better than the original. There’s less running around between combats and a better variety of jumping, climbing, lifting, and tumbling to add some flavor. There’s hints of lessons learned from Gameloft’s time spent adapting Prince of Persia earlier this year, and the result is much more 3-D level design. Also, that annoying bouncing gold arrow is gone!

Graphically, it all looks better, too. Textures are improved, as are the character models (Argos has an actual NOSE!), background elements, and special effects. The color palette has also gotten richer. Some things still look terrible — like water — but overall the game looks good.

Its not to say the game is perfect. There’s a clunkiness to the way Argos controls, especially when jumping is concerned. They give him a set of mystical wing-weapons that he can use for gliding to help mitigate this, but still, Argos works best when he’s striding across the ground. I praised the varied level design earlier, but it’s a give and take: love the variety, hate the controls, because you’ll like the game least during its movement-challenge moments. Some refinement in this area would be welcome. Also, Gameloft, is it too much to ask for an adjustable camera? Please?

I also have a technical issue with the game. I played HoSII on an iPod Touch 3G, and boy, were there a few moments when I thought the game was going to crash. During cutscenes, the game seemed to tax my device to its limits. I know that, with the iPhone 4 out now, everything’s going to be optimized for that device, but I was still disappointed that we’re already seeing games that stress the resources of the last generation. To its credit, it never has crashed; but there’s choppiness and even some audio synch issues in the cutscenes (and even the occasional hiccup during gameplay).

Technical flaws aside, I like Hero of Sparta II for what it is: a fun, over-the-top action game. Is it still nothing more than an imitation of the God of War series? Who cares? If you’re into big, gonzo platformers, then Hero of Sparta II should be right up your alley. Grab your sword, start killing, and take a minotaur for a test drive today!

Our Score: 4/5.

Hero of Sparta II was available for $6.99 at the time of this review.

About the Author

Writer@Large Brian P. Hudson is an educator and freelance writer currently living in Dearborn, MI.

 

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