Surrounded by hundreds of dark, sword-wielding figures with a scorched battlefield panning out in all directions, I launched Galen into the fray, cutting down everything in my path with his overly-powerful attacks and abilities. As the combo racked up into the thousands, there was no denying that I was enjoying the onslaught, with the impressive number of enemies on screen succumbing to the edge of my blade like lambs to the slaughter.

Then the second level loaded up, and as hundreds more enemies charged towards me, I realised that this was the entire game. Within half an hour, feelings of tedium and frustration had reached critical levels - and that's when I reached a boss battle. Unrelenting, unfair and bordering on bullying, these fights are a stark contrast to the ease with which you reached this point. Ninety-Nine Nights 2, or N3II for short, is an exercise in perseverance that has a solid basis, but isn't entirely sure what to do with it.

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Our hero Galen is on a mission to save the land of Orphea from the evil Lord of the Night. If that isn't cliched enough for you, just wait until you see the cutscenes which feature some of the most hopelessly fantasy-by-numbers dialogue I've read in a good while. Galen is a bad-ass who doesn't answer to anyone, unless they're a pretty lady with boobs on display. The story begins on the 92nd day, and the dark army is now on its way to Orphea, having already overrun the surrounding areas.

In all fairness, the sheer number of baddies on screen at any one time is really very impressive, and the all runs incredibly smoothly with no drop in framerate. Enemies form a circle around Galen, giving him the opportunity to swing his blade around and chop their heads, arms and legs off. There are a number of different moves at your disposal, from varying degrees of power for your blade swipes, to orb blasts which can clear the area around you.

You'll experiment for a little while, but eventually it becomes apparent that it's easier to simply use the same attack constantly. It doesn't help that the enemy are incredibly dumb - they've got you surrounded, yet they'll all just stand there, waiting for you to murder them. A single soldier will attempt to cut you every now and again, but it does so little damage that even if you stood still on the spot, it would probably take a good five minutes for you to actually die.

With this in mind, I soon realised that I could bypass this repetitive, tedious play by simply dodging through the enemies and not attacking at all. I completed a fair portion of the game by jumping through the crowds, completing objectives and reaching destinations. When the player is looking for ways to finish your game as quickly as possible, you know it's not exactly a winning formula.

Unfortunately, the missions themselves aren't very inspired either. As if the snore-inducing swordplay wasn't enough, the majority of levels consist of opening gates by hitting giant gems or destroying enemy structures, and repeating until fin. Levels are incredibly dull, both graphically and in design. There are platforming sections which tested my patience time and time again, with horribly precise jumps to make. How come a warrior who spends his days taking down hordes of evil beings can't do a simple action like grabbing onto a ledge?

Just to make things even more of a nuisance, the camera is an utter bastard. too close to a wall and your view will become as useless as possible, springing up above or zooming right into Galen's backside. You can't control the camera at all, and it's set at the same level of zoom throughout. With so many baddies on screen, it would have been nice to be able to zoom out and survey the area, but much like the rest of the game, this element is stuck in place for the sole purpose of making sure you don't have any fun.

Battle (or dodge) your way through the masses, and you'll reach a boss battle. You can imagine the developers sat around a table, pitching the idea: "Well, the rest of the level has been a piece of piss up to now, so why don't we end it with a ridiculously unforgiving battle which the player will struggle to complete?". Indeed, these boss encounters are as hopelessly difficult as they are uninspired, and eventually you'll find yourself playing through previous levels again just to level your character up and, in turn, level the playing field a little.

Let's stop laying into N3II for a brief moment and discuss what it does right. There are several different character stories to follow, which are unlocked by playing through Galen's story. Each character has their own story to play through, complete with different abilities and objectives. It's a nice touch and adds plenty of hours to the total play time, while providing a bigger picture of the full story as it unfolds. Levels from Galen's campaign are reused a little more than I would have hoped, but veteran hack 'n slasher won't be too bothered.

Online is available, and proves to be far more fun that the single player slog. There are stages from the main game to plough your way through with a friend by your side, along with some special modes. A survival-style game sees you and your partner holding back the hordes for as long as possible, but the Maze mode is a little more interesting, with one player solving limited puzzles while the other just tries to stay alive. Unfortunately there's no local multiplayer available, but if you're looking for some mindless Live fun, N3II may provide - if only for a short while.

Ninety-Nine Nights 2 is dull, tedious, frustrating, and many other negative words. There's plenty of hours of play on offer, but whether you'll actually want to see it through to completion is a different matter entirely. Consider this as a multiplayer purchase only - and possibly scavenged from the bargain bin.

47%

By Mike Rose