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Xbox | Adventure | Pac-Man World 2

Boxart for Pac-Man World 2
Pac-Man World 2 12 screen shots
  • GRAPHICS: 4.0
  • SOUND: 4.0
  • CONTROL: 3.5
  • FUN FACTOR 3.0
  • AVG USER SCORE n/a
  • AVG CRITIC SCORE 3.3

Review: Pac-Man World 2

Review by BADHARE | 11/04/2002 | 13:59:14 PM PST

Remember the 3D platform-hopping update of Namco?s key character, which showed up on the PS2 and GameCube? Um, that?s this.

The Xbox port of Pac-Man World 2 (it?s already out for the PS2 and GameCube) takes the old chomp-and-run gameplay of Namco?s classic quarter-cruncher, puts it in a 3D world with several mid-air mesas, and adds lots and lots (and lots) of hopping. For a mascot-driven platformer, it?s fun?there are tons of secret paths to discover, old coin-op games to unlock, and you?ll get to try neat things like swimming and piloting vehicles?and it does a good job of blending Pac-Man?s classic gameplay with the hop-n-bop genre. So why will you be cursing within the first 10 levels? It?s not because of the graphics (pretty and crisp), load times (very fast), sounds (adorable and barely tolerable), or controls (tight)?it?s the camera that will drive you crazy. Even though it?s user-controlled, it still gets stuck in cliff walls and whatnot, and can make those leaps of faith from ledge to ledge even more frustrating than usual.

Cute but ultimately disposable, the pretty Pac-age doesn?t take advantage of the Xbox?s visual prowess. As a result, this straight port of Pac-Man World 2 might get gobbled up by the upcoming Malice and Blinx.