So, you like punishingly hard games? Maybe with horrible tank controls? Where you control a guy who sometimes just can't land a hit? Where AI visibly cheats and avoids your punches and kicks with ease, while landing 2-3 hit combos on your face? Where you lose your life upgrades after death? And say, you like when savepoints are one or two per level, and sometimes hidden? Well then here's your new favourite game! Seriously, for the very first time I regret buying a game here.
I will try to write a honest review here, which is quite hard as LBA 2 is one of *the* things from my childhood, and thus I'm far from being objective. Little Big Adventure 2 is a 3D action-adventure game, a late MS-DOS one, and this probably will make many people cautious, rightfully so. The story is a big element here, and while simple (save the world, o Great Hero!), it's fitted into colorful world with a lot of characters. You will visit many locations, talk to many people and fight, jump, collect and solve puzzles a lot through it. Now let's talk about the bad stuff, mainly - the controls. I'll put it gently - if you can't stand how the characters in Alone in the Dark series move via keyboard, LBA 2 is definitely not for you. The so-hated tank controls are here and there is no way to change it. Also, the camera will sometimes be your enemy, and even semi-manual (sorta) way of placing it behind hero won't help you. Still on the subject of controls, LBA 2 uses the movement modes, so there is Normal (slowly walking and using stuff), Sporty (running and jumping), Aggresive (explains itself) and Discreet (sneaking and acting quietly). You will need to know each of them and all of the quirks, and how to quickly change them, and how to e.g. use objects while in Sporty (there's a dedicated key for it). LBA2 is quite hard and you'll need to make a lot of fetching and money collecting, truly in 90's style. Combat is purely arcade, with health and mana points, various weapons and spells, magic levels (no worry - no RPG like "levels", it's all linear and story-related). The graphics took a hit and after all the years, the unshaded, gourad-shaded polygons are looking archaic. The 2D locations, on the other hand, look quite nice, if bare. Music and sounds are excellent. The OST itself is worth the price, wonderful instrumental themes which sound a litlle bit like Vollenweider's mastepieces, just a little... So, there. I love this game to death, but many people don't, and I understand it. It's "coup de coeur" game - you may fall in love instantly in it, or never "get it". Same goes for Beyond Good & Evil...
