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One Piece Pirate Warriors 2
Those crazy One Piece Pirate Warriors are
back again in this action adventure that takes players into this diverse
and whacky anime universe. Dubbed an action adventure, One Piece: Pirate
Warriors 2 is highly reminiscent of Dynasty Warriors with the amount of
enemy combatants that you face at once. At times, it can be quite
overpowering but thanks to your abilities, battling your enemies is
quite an enjoyable experience.
The
story of One Piece: Pirate Warriors 2 revolves around Monkey D. Luffy
who is the leader of the Straw Hat Pirates who takes his team of ratbags
and scallions across the globe seeking fortune and glory. However what
makes Luffy so interesting is his ability to stretch like rubber that
almost makes him like a crazy version of Mr. Fantastic or Plastic Man.
Joining Luffy is a colourful cast of characters like Sanji and Zoro but
when a mysterious and magical fog causes amnesia for his crew and forces
them to get captured by the nefarious Smoker, it is up to him to save
the day in classic One Piece fashion.
Even though the story is quite "out there", it is beautifully presented
on the PS3 and feels like an interactive anime. The cutscenes are not
only gorgeous but at times, they can be quite amusing and sometimes
leave you scratching your head on what on earth just happened. Just look
at the screen shots!
The
heart of One Piece: Pirate Warriors 2 were the battles and the
characters that you control feel like superheroes due to the amount of
power they have in their moves and the way that you dispatch them. My
favourite super powers were Luffy using his rubber and Franky who shoots
(I think) lasers from his nipples.
With
that said, each of the characters have various special powers and
abilities. At times, One Piece feels like Super Smash Bros meets Dynasty
Warriors due to the amount of chaos happening all at once. Another cool
element of the game is joining your powers with a fellow pirate to
unleash a mega attack. There is even an element of RPG used to increase
the statistics of your characters and must be used often to defeat your
bosses.
Apart
from the enjoyable campaign mode or Pirate Log, One Piece also allows
you to play any of the missions from campaign with its 25+ characters.
This definitely opens up the game for additional gaming fun. What I
loved about the campaign mode was all the One Piece fan service... I
think just about every character from the series is used.
Even
though the game is heavily focused on combat, there are some objectives
that still need to be achieved and these goals do assist in giving the
player a break from the sometimes repetitive nature of the title. The
biggest annoyance of One Piece for me however is that controller rage
can sometimes be an issue. This is more an issue due to the sometimes
lengthy levels and if you fail to defeat a boss, you need to start
again.
The
controls have been well mapped on the DualShock Controller and are quite
similar to Dynasty Warriors with the two button attack system. There is
also a metre that when filled allows the player to unleash their Musou
onto their opponents which is quite devastating.
Although the grunts in the game are quite easy to defeat, depending on
numbers, bosses provide an entirely new challenge. The strangest aspect
of Once Piece is the removal of a jump button that does take a little
time in mastering. Rather than jump, the developers have included a
dodge/dash manoeuvre. In terms of manoeuvres, each of the characters
that you have access to have their own set lists which can be mixed and
matched with your dodging abilities.
Final Thoughts?
One Piece Pirate Warriors 2 is a thoroughly enjoyable game that works
best in medium doses. The game is oozing with One Piece references that
I'm sure fans will get a huge kick out. Even if you are not familiar
with the series, the game is still extremely accessible. In terms of
combat, it's probably one of the most enjoyable games I've played all
year as I play pirate superhero and knock my enemies into the air.
Fun
but a little repetitive!
Key Features
• Plunge in the beloved One Piece universe written by Eiichiro Oda.
• Discover new stages, like Skypiea and Eneru’s boss, for the 1st time
on PS3™.
• Enjoy the powered up one-vs-many actions of Luffy and his crew in the
“New World” chapter!!
• Feel the thrill of unique playable characters such as Luffy, Sanji and
Zoro, with their New World’s costumes and techniques. |
