MDK2 is a saga involving three intrepid heroes - Dr. Hawkins, a exceptionally mad scientist who lives aboard his starship; Maxx, a six legged, uzi-toting android cannine constructed by the doctor and lastly, the lead star of the game, Kurt, Dr. Hawkins caretaker aboard the starship. Each character has a distinct control setup, which proves to be challenging and adds gameplay diversity,

MDK2 happens to be the hardest game I've played in years. All because the game forces you to think (something I haven't done since high school.) The biggest culprit is Dr. Hawkins, who must invent his own weapons and solve some difficult puzzles, but both Kurt and Maxx are just as guilty of making you ponder the solution to a problem. Maxx is more of a practical guy, so strategically selecting the best weapons and utilizing the jetpack in specific missions is his forte. Kurt, meanwhile, tends to force you to think on your feet while running. Should you go this way or that way? Snipe at an alien or use the chaingun? It's not always laid out for you.

Another impressive thing about MDK2 is the size of the levels. They are just massive. Massive and stunning. If you want to feel tiny playing a game just stick MDK2 in and feel how insignificant you truly are. Then beat the game and show them that one tiny bug can make a difference. Or something. Combine the size of the levels with very little slowdown and fogging at very extreme distances only and you get a showpiece title for the system. As a bonus the game happens to be very clever and fun. The enemy designs tend to look either foolish or stupid, but in all cases you learn to get over it. Nobody ever said evil and insidious aliens had to look evil or insidious. In fact for the most part the aliens and all the technology in the game seem to be modeled on cheesy 1950's sci-fi. Dr. Hawkins for example makes use of a fish bowl to breathe while space walking. The computer on the Jim Dandy is eerily familiar to anyone who has seen the classic "Lost in Space" television series.

Althought the graphics are impressive, and appear to be derived from old sci-fi themes, the music seems to be heavily inspired from "The Matrix". Not that I'm complaining, to put it simply...the music rocks. If your foot is tapping or you are rushing into the next area just so you can get into a fight and hear the music again you know you're doing pretty good. The sound effects don't fair quite as well, unfortunately. The aliens appear to be designed to sound like second graders. If that's the case then the designers have succeeded beyond their wildest dreams. Be it aliens that sound like two-years olds to others that do nothing but run around and fart, the enemies are the hardest thing in this game to take seriously. And the sound has as much to do with that as anything else. Thankfully it's just the aliens that sound moronic. Main characters Kurt, Maxx and Hawkins are each given enjoyable quips and the banter between them is highly entertaining.

The only blemishes which detract from the MDK2's overall fun factor would be the aliens (which were previously railed upon), and controls. Overall, handling Kurt and Maxx aren't too shabby, as their controls are similar enough. However, you'll pick up on control issues when using Doctor Hawkins whose control setup is significantly different than the other two. Thus, after playing as either Maxx or Kurt for an extensive period of time, you tend to become disoriented. It's enough to frustrate anyone on those occasions where you play deep into the night and should rightfully be in bed.

If I was asked to describe the impression I felt when playing MDK2 Armageddon, I'd simply express it in two words - old school. While the gameplay is quite challenging, it's very entertaining. This complements the wholly cool music and visually rich graphics. Generally, one of these elements are absent in first-generation titles (actually, come to think of it, many games are guilty of this). Thankfully, MDK2 doesn't fall into this pitfall and clearly screams "next generation" gaming and that's very good. Not many PlayStation 2 games have successfully acheived this caliber, so do yourself a favor, check into MDK2 and see if you can't avert Armageddon.

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