The game’s control system is also worthy of note, as it’s one of the best that I have seen in a long time, being simple yet effective. There are no menus or sub screens to trawl through, all actions and commands are at the touch of a button. When Maximo discovers a powerup (which are dotted around the levels and inside enemies) it is automatically selected and put to use. You find yourself unleashing incredible attacks with just a few swift button presses. It’s all very accessible and allows even a novice player to jump straight into the action; you’ll be raining molten rock death onto those zombies in no time.

Capcom have stated that they are proud of their enemy AI in this title. I’m a little confused at this point, as the enemies only seem to attack if you are standing right in front of them. Sure, they’ll chase you but only after you have triggered them by walking into their space! It’s not the best AI I’ve ever seen, in fact it’s downright awful as they blunder up to you, take a swipe at you then block with their shield, all you have to do is make a downwards stab and they’re dead. Oh well. Perhaps I’m missing the point here.

Maximo does have one more problem. Unfortunately, it’s a big problem. The game is just too damn hard in places. Now, I’m not talking about the game’s difficulty in general (before I get accused of not investing the time in it), I mean that certain parts of the game are infuriatingly hard and others are incredibly simple. The amount of times you’ll kill off five skeletons only to mis-aim a jump and land in lava, therefore dying and being forced to do it all again. This is all made worse by that camera; you’ll jump and appear to be on target, only to overshoot by a inch. The problem is not helped by the saving process, if you want to save it will cost you 100 ‘koins’ and you have to collect 50 spirits for a continue, which all makes the easy deaths really annoying as you struggle to get your lives back. Damn it!

So then, in conclusion, Maximo is a good pick up and play title, that will suit all ages and types. It’s perfect if you want a game that doesn’t require much in the way of thought or time. However, don’t buy it if you are easily wound up by repetition, as you will be doing a hell of a lot of it! Shame really.

A Ghoulish...

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By Ben Jackson