Ben 10: Omniverse 2

Ugh is what I said as I played through Ben 10: Omniverse 2. I have experienced the majority of the Ben 10 games thanks to my son being a big fan, but even he did not have a great time with Ben 10: Omniverse 2. This game was released for multiple consoles, but it is the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 version that I am going to be focusing on here. Why this has a 2 in the title is beyond me as it is nothing and I mean nothing like the first one!

Ben 10 Is Back Again

The story of the game is decent enough. Anyone who likes Ben 10 will feel right at home with the story that Ben 10: Omniverse 2 is trying to tell. Earth is in danger; Ben has been banished and he needs to fight his way back to save the day. It is your typical Ben 10 story, but I do feel that it is done well enough so that fans of the show will like it.

The presentation of the game is not bad. It has some voice acting from the show and the cut scenes are decent enough. I liked how bright it all was and the aliens are recognizable from the show.

Ben 10: Omniverse 1

Before I talk about the gameplay, I have to talk about the game that came before this. That was actually a pretty solid 3D action/platform game. It was fun to play, it offered a very interesting progression system where you could level up the aliens and tinker with their stats and it felt like a fully fleshed-out video game. It was done well, so well that when my son was excited about a sequel, so was I.

Is This For Mobile?

The gameplay of Ben 10: Omniverse 2 is just flat-out bizarre. How they went from that first game to this is beyond me. What we have here is pretty much a runner-style game (think something like Subway Surfers!) with arena fights mixed in. There are only six levels and the game has pretty much the bare bones of any kind of character progression! You select three aliens. You need one that can run and jump, one that can shoot projectiles, and one that can burst through walls. In the running sections, you need to switch between them to deal with the obstacles. The idea is ok, but the way the obstacles just come out of nowhere is frustrating as hell. Your energy is always depleting and when it is all the way down, you turn into Ben and if he gets hit once, just once, you have to restart the whole thing.

Step Into The Boredom Dome Of Frustration!

After a running section, you will be in a closed-off area where you need to fight a bunch of bad guys. The fighting in Ben 10: Omniverse 2 is not that bad, but as your health is always depleting, you can turn into Ben, and once again, one hit and he is dead!

You then have to repeat the running section again to get back here. It is just so frustrating and even my son who is a die-hard Ben 10 fan was getting annoyed with the game

Pros:

• The game features your favorite Ben 10 characters
• You can select which aliens to use
• The voice acting is good
• I liked the presentation of the game

Cons:

• The game only features two boring styles of gameplay
• This game is very, very frustrating to play

Ben 10 Omniverse 2 is a single player game for the Playstation 3 which combines hack n’ slash combat with a timing based hurdle run. Except that during this run, only one type of alien can actually jump over obstacles, and that’s the light class. These aliens run faster than the other classes. The heavy class aliens can smash through walls, and the medium class aliens can shoot suspended obstacles and enemies.

The Running Parts

This part of the game could be compared to Subway Surfers or Temple Run. Just use the class of aliens required to get past the obstacles you see while switching lanes to avoid others. Sounds easy, right? Well get ready to do a lot of it, because it’s pretty much all you get to do throughout half the game. While you won’t find me trashing Temple Run, if that sounds like something you would do, this game may not be for you. However, I personally did find that when you switch to the right alien for the job and break that wall just in the nick of time, it is very satisfying. Keep in mind that the light aliens run the fastest so that you can spend less time running through the labyrinths.

The Combat

This is actually my favorite part of the game. It reminds me of Ratchet and Clank, except that you get to swap aliens instead of weapons. The biggest downfall is that it’s often too easy to defeat enemies, and when you do get hit a lot, it doesn’t really feel like it could have been avoided. However, the combos are surprisingly easy to land, and sometimes I am actually able to dodge a bullet by jumping. It would be much more fun if you could play this part of the game in multiplayer, however it is still very satisfying to fight enemies in this game.

Rating

Running: This part of the game could be more fun to play. Many people who dislike this game will likely cite this part. However, I did find it to be enjoyable, especially when it was going smoothly.

Fighting: This is the bread and butter of the game. It plays a lot like the prequel to this game. I would like this game more if they fleshed this out and made the whole game based around this instead. However, it does break up the monotony of everything when the story pulls you through combat and running in alternate.

Overall: This game is fun to play, although it may feel repetitive by the end. If you are a big fan of timing based games like the ones I mentioned, or really just want to punch some guys as an alien with four arms, you can get some fun out of it.

Pros:

• The fighting is fun
• It’s cool to see the aliens in action
• The story is fun and engaging

Cons:

• You might be running and jumping a LOT
• It’s super short, so unfortunately only a few hours of content