I'm not angry. I'm just disappointed. Maximo: Ghosts to Glory was a decent attempt to bring the Ghosts 'N Goblins formula into the modern era with just a few significant issues keeping it from greatness. I had hoped that the follow-up Maximo Vs. Army of Zin would fix those issues and be the game I wished the first one could've been. Unfortunately, while the sequel took a couple steps forward, it also took several steps back, and its heart-shaped boxers fell down.
This one takes place a few months after the first Maximo game. An evil force powered by unlimited souls and technology had been unleashed after years of being sealed in a vault. While the first game had some creativity with its story, the second is very cliched. The only unique element is the "magic infused with technology" angle. While story is usually something that can be safely ignored in a platformer, the plot downgrade here from the original actually hurt it.
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There are some positives in Army of Zin. The camera has been fixed. Camera control is now linked to the right thumbstick, making the combat and platforming much less chancy. They got rid of the cost to save that pissed me off in the first game. The cartoony visuals are just as pleasant as in the first game. In fact, thanks to the technology angle, Capcom was able to get creative with the creature designs, adding various automatons to the cliched skeletons and ghouls. There's also a bit more variety to the gameplay with combat stages that operate like the Horde mode in the Gears of War games included with the standard platforming.
Unfortunately, the cons do outweigh the pros here. While the camera controls work wonders in open areas, the camera gets stuck constantly indoors, leading to plenty of botched jumps. There are various townsfolk to save in the levels that provide various bonuses, but saving them is actually annoying. I preferred just exploring to find the hidden stashes in the first game. The standard levels may look as nice as they did in the first game, but they're not as creative as in the first game. In fact, the level designs are very bland, devolving into barely concealed corridors. Worst of all, the combat is outright boring. Unlike the first game in which you had to learn enemy patterns and find the correct strategy to win each fight, all the enemies in Army of Zin can be defeated by just flailing the attack button. If you just keep hitting, they won't even try to hit back. Even the bosses go down that way with the only difference from the regular enemies being the need to dodge their attacks until you can get up to their faces to continue flailing the attack button. I never once died in combat, only during the platforming.
Maximo Vs. Army of Zin blew it. The first game had a decent set-up that just needed some fixes. While the sequel made the fixes the first one needed, it also broke other things. While it is still playable and not as frustrating as the first game, it's actually boring which is a word I never thought I would associate with a game in the Ghosts 'N Goblins franchise. In the end, I'd rather tear my hair out than be put to sleep. Just stick to the other games.
