Changes: MediEvil 2

Reception
Aggregate scores
GameRankings	79.47%
Review scores
Absolute PlayStation	79%
Electronic Gaming Monthly	6.8/10
Game Informer	7.75/10
Game Revolution	B+−
GameSpot	7.6/10
Hyper	8.5/10
IGN	8.4/10
Official PlayStation Magazine (US)	3.5/5

Revision as of 14:33, 29 August 2014

MediEvil 2 (stylised as MediEvil II in North America) is an action-adventure video game and the second installment in the MediEvil series. It's a sequel to MediEvil, taking place 500 years after the game's events. It was released on May 9 2000 in North America and April 19 2000 in Europe.

Gameplay

MediEvil 2 contains several of the original forms of gameplay, weaponry and graphics that were present in the first title of the series. Whilst featuring many of the classic swords and other medieval weaponry, long range weapons are more modern, taking the form of pistols, shotguns and a gatling gun. Progress through the game is a bit more linear and story driven.

New Features

Weapon toggle: Two weapons can be selected from the inventory, so players can easily switch between them. By default, + changes weapon.
Camera controls: It is now possible to control the game camera with the right analog stick.
Dan-hand: Unlocked halfway through the game, Dan can place his heads on one of the scuttling green hands in order to get into small areas to solve puzzles or access hidden treasure. Whilst in this mode, Dan can freely swap between his head and his body. This does come with risks, as Dan-hand has no attacks and is quite vulnerable. Sometimes Dan's head will be stolen by a bird on certain levels, and Dan must climb to their nest to retrieve it. While Dan's head is off, octomators can also attach themselves on top of Dan and sap his health; rapidly pressing action will shake them off. + switches between Dan and his head, or puts it back on when standing over it.
Dankenstein: One of the levels involve Dan fighting in a boxing match, using a Monster-esque body, against a large robot. The fighters fight each other, with limbs coming off after certain amounts of damage. Up to two lost limbs can be recovered between rounds (after defeating the imps who are carrying them around). Dan will lose if he loses all his limbs, or if he is unable to defeat his opponent in three rounds.

Changes

Linear Progression and Level Selection: There is only one choice of next level, unlike at certain points in the first game, as the game doesn't feature a map. A projector in the Professor's Lab displays a single level onto a board and the player can scroll left or right one at a time to choose a level. Sometimes new levels will start immediately after completing one without first returning to the lab. Unlike in the first game you can ask the Professor to give you a mission briefing for a level.
Spiv: The Spiv character replaces the Merchant Gargoyles from the first game.
Start-of-Area Saving: As some levels in the game are made-up of more than one area, Winston the Ghost will offer you the chance to save inside a new area (after a load sequence), which often occurs before boss fights, using the phrase "Alright Dan, you've come a long way. I'd save if I was you!"
Falling Damage: Unlike in the previous game, when falling from a height Dan will now receive damage. Dan will either lose health or die instantly, depending on the height from which he falls.

Characters

Sir Daniel Fortesque - The protagonist of the game. He was the captain chosen to lead the fight against Zarok, but was killed by an arrow during the first charge. He was later resurrected when Zarok returned to terrorize the land once again. This time Sir Dan was able to defeat his nemesis, restoring his name and proving himself to be a true hero. He is a skeleton with no lower jaw, therefore he humorously mumbles in speech although unlike in the first game, the player can understand him. Compared to the first game, his design was slightly modified. His head is a little larger, and he also wears leather gloves.
Professor Hamilton Kift - A nervous, fast-talking professor in the laboratory near an unused underground rail station. He's a somewhat short man with mechanical hands and a large head. He is skilled in different forms of science, philosophy, the occult and has a knack for creating inventions. Collecting the Chalice in each level provides him the materials to create a new weapon.
Princess Kiya - A soft spoken mummy who has been dead inside her tomb for thousands of years and enunciates every word she says carefully. She is blue in skin color and wears bandages. She knows embalming techniques and is grateful to Sir Dan for having rescued her from her eternal prison.
Winston Chapelmount - A cheery young ghost with large eyes. His name is a play on Winston Churchill. His history creates a spectral shadow, upon which he can be called to provide help for Dan. He teaches Dan how to find and use ancient magic. He also provides save points on long levels and on a few occasions relays Dan's earned weapon to him when he is unable to access the Professor's lab.
Lord Palethorn - The villain of the game. His motive is to find all the lost pages of Zarok's spellbook so he can gain control of London. He was once an acquaintance of the Professor and was the one responsible for damaging his hands before being banished from the cult. He is voiced by Steven Blum.
Mander - Lord Palethorn's associate, he was turned into a lizard during the spell and is notably smarter than Dogman.
Dogman - Dogman is Lord Palethorn's muscle man. He was also another victim of Palethorn's spell, turning him into a dog.

Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot details follow.

In Kensington in the year 1886, 500 years after Sir Daniel Fortesque's climactic battle against the evil sorcerer Zarok, a sorcerer named Lord Palethorn discovers Zarok's spell book and casts the spell of eternal darkness over the city of London. However, the pages of the book soon scatter across London and Palethorn gains a demonlike appearance as a result. The spell Palethorn casts once again brings Sir Dan, who was resting at a nearby museum back to life. He is recruited by a professor named Hamilton Kift and his ghostly sidekick Winston to recover the pages of Zarok's spellbook and put a stop to Palethorn's plans. Along the way, they end up being joined by an ancient mummy princess named Kiya, who becomes Dan's love interest.

During an incident in which Kiya goes off on her own, she is killed by Jack the Ripper, much to the shock of Dan. Discovering a time machine, Dan travels back in time in order to save Kiya, merging with his past self to gain super armour. As Dan finally confronts Palethorn, he steals the pages from him and uses it to summon a demon. However, Dan manages to turn the demon against Palethorn, putting a stop to both of them.

Endings

Not all chalices collected: As Palethorn blows up his lair on his dying breath, Dan decides to join Kiya together in the afterlife as they return to their eternal rest in The Museum.

All chalices collected: If the player has collected all the Chalices of Souls, Dan and Kiya will instead go for a ride on the time machine, which takes them back in time, but also to an alternative timeline, where Palethorn had used the spell book to travel back and rewrite time.

Spoilers end here.

Cover art and CDs

Reception

The game received good reviews from critics, with an 79.47% aggregate rating at Game Rankings.^[4] The game was criticized by reviewers for its bad camera angles at points, difficulty and for sometimes being confusing, but was praised for its humor and approachability, among other things. IGN gave the game a score of 8.4, stating that the game "is clever, sick, and funny" and better than the first.^[8] Gamespot gave it a 7.6, praising the content and features while criticising the camera.^[7]

Chris Sorrell, the director of the first game, had this to say about the game:

“

Overall I liked most of what they came up with for M2, although I disliked the squeaky voiced helper ghost, and definitely in places the game's humour crossed a line for me from the silly/bawdy tone we had in M1 to something a little too puerile for my liking! I would also have definitely kept the Hall of Heroes since I always thought that was one of the more distinctive presentational mechanics we created in M1, oh and Dan's voice was *horrible* - incoherent mumbling was a far better way to go!

”

On April 9 2000, the game won the BAFTA award for Best Console Game.^[9]^[10]

Production Credits

Producer:	Andrew Kennedy
Studio Director:	Simon Gardner
Creative Director:	James Shepherd
Lead Programmer:	Julian Rex
Main Programming:	James Busbz, Paul Donovan, Martin Hamilton Kift, Alan McCarthy, Steven Tattersall, Iain Brown, Gavin Clarke, Gavin Bell
Additional Programming:	Will Bell, David Nicolier
Mapping:	Gareth 'Royston' Hughes, Dave 'Dazzler' Holloway, Katie Lea, Jon Double
Art Design:	Jason Wilson
Art Management:	Nina Kristensen
Technical Artist:	Jason Evans
Lead Enviroment Artist:	Pete Giles
Lead Rendering Artist:	Jason Riley
Assistant Art Design:	Leavon Archer
Rendered Sequences:	Jason Riley, Phil Lukasz, Kelly Scott, Justin Summers
Presentation Visuals:	Jason Riley, Iwan Scheer
Character Animation:	Matt Bagshaw, Justin Summers, Jason Evans, Phil Lukasz, Kelly Scott, Mike Philbin, Mitch Phillips
Enviroment Art:	Pete Giles, Ben Levitt, Jason Evans, Theo Pantazi, Jesus Cobo, Leavon Archer
Character Art:	Matt Bagshaw, Jason Evans Justin Summers, Leavon Archer
AV Management:	John Meegan
Original Soundtrack:	Andrew Barnabas, Paul Arnold
Sound Effects:	Paul Arnold, Andrew Barnabas
Video Post-Production:	Andrew Barnabas, Alex Sulman
Speech Post-Production:	Paul Arnold
Sound Effect Programming:	Gary Richards, Gavin Bell
Technologies Programming:	Chris Sorrell, Andrew Ostler, Julian Rex, Dean Ashton, Simon Brown, Mike Froggatt, Iain Brown
QA Manager (Cambridge):	Alex Sulman
QA Team (Cambridge):	Simon Brace, Robert King, Kieran MacDonald, Neal Radcliffe
QA Manager:	Geoff Rens
Internal Testing Manager:	Chris Rowley
QA Co-Ordinator:	Jim McCabe
Lead Testers:	Matt Ekins, Phil Green
Testers:	Carl McKane, Richard Bunn, Anthony Gill, Darren Perkins, John Cassidy, Miguel Sanchez
Copywriter:	Jim Sangster
Script:	James Shepherd
Additional Script:	Jim Sangster
Voice Actors:	Melanie Hudson, Marc Silk, Ben Stephens

Gallery

See also: MediEvil 2 images

Official screenshots

Videos

Trivia

The original idea for the game had Zarok being kept prisoner in the Tower of London with Dan having to free him. The two of them then had to work together in an uneasy alliance.

References

External links

Media

MediEvil series	MediEvil (1998)	Builds: All Builds • Commercial • Demo • Prototype • Demos: Rolling Demo • 0.32 Demo • Demo • Japanese Demo • Late Japanese Demo • Promo: Sony ECTS 1997 PlayStation Press Pack • Retailer Launch Kit • Merch: Les musiques de MediEvil • NAVIGATION BOOK • The Official Strategy Guide • Misc: Booklet • Instruction Manual (PSP) • Magazines • MediEvil Hangman • Website (US version)

	MediEvil 2	Builds: All Builds • Commercial • Demo • Prototype • Demos: 0.20a Demo • 0.36 Demo • 0.52 Demo • Merch: Paperweight • Prima's Official Strategy Guide • T-shirt • Promo: Press Kit • Strategy Tip Cards • Medievil Times • Misc: Instruction Manual • Magazines • Tips of the Week • Website (US version)

	Resurrection	Demo • Instruction Manual • Original Soundtrack

	MediEvil (2019)	Demos: Kiosk Demo • Short-Lived Demo • Misc: Original Soundtrack • The Art of MediEvil • MediEvil: Fate's Arrow • MediEvil Dynamic Theme

Abertay Uni prototypes	PSP	MediEvil: Boneyard • MediEvil: Defence o' the Damned • MediEvil: Grave Cards • MediEvil: Legends

	PS3	MediEvil: Defence o' the Damned

v · e · d

Full motion videos in MediEvil 2

INTROP1 • INTROP2(A) • INTROP3(A) • CATH • OUTRO • CHALLIS(A)

Levels

Levels in MediEvil

Gallowmere		Dan's Crypt • The Graveyard • Cemetery Hill • The Hilltop Mausoleum • Return to the Graveyard • Scarecrow Fields • Pumpkin Gorge • The Pumpkin Serpent • The Sleeping Village • The Asylum Grounds • Inside the Asylum • The Enchanted Earth • The Ant Caves • Pools of the Ancient Dead • The Lake • The Crystal Caves • The Gallows Gauntlet • The Haunted Ruins • The Ghost Ship • The Entrance Hall • The Time Device • Zarok's Lair • Hall of Heroes

Special		Title Level • Land Map • Credits • Programmer's Playground

Cut / Test		The Coffin Vaults • The Fields of Dust • The River • The Muddy Riverbank • The Mud Slide • Circle of Shadows • The Silver Wood • The Halls of Illusion • The Hub • The Great Machine

Levels in MediEvil 2

London		The Museum • Tyrannosaurus Wrecks • The Professor's Lab • Kensington • Kensington, the Tomb • The Freakshow • Greenwich Observatory • Greenwich Naval Academy • Kew Gardens • Dankenstein • Iron Slugger • Wulfrum Hall • The Count • Whitechapel • The Sewers • The Time Machine • The Time Machine, Sewers • The Time Machine, the Ripper • Cathedral Spires • Cathedral Spires, the Descent • The Demon

Mini games		Hand Rescue • Whack an Imp

Special		Flag • Title Level • Credits

Cut / Test		Parliament • Art Slot 1 • Art Slot 2 • Art Slot 3 • Art Slot 4 • Art Slot 5 • Collision Test • Network Test

Levels in MediEvil: Resurrection

Gallowmere		Dan's Crypt • The Graveyard • Cemetery Hill • Hilltop Mausoleum • Return to the Graveyard • Gallowmere Plains • Welcome to the Sleeping Village • Inside the Asylum • Sleeping Village • Scarecrow Fields • Pumpkin Gorge • Enchanted Forest • Pools of the Ancient Dead • Scurvy Docks • Dragon Island • Haunted Ruins • Ghost Ship • Zarok's Lair • Hall of Heroes

Mini games		Pit o' Death • Guardian o' the Bell • Arrow o' Fate • Trebuchet o' Terror • Shepherd's Delight • Vermin Control • Whack-a-Zarok • Weapon Master • Duck Shoot • Ghoul Shoot

Special		Title Level • Land Map

Cut / Test		Mystery Game • The Asylum Grounds • The Crystal Caves