Developer: Osome Studio
Publisher: Anuman Interactive SA
Platform: PC, PS4, Xbox One, Switch
Tested on: PS4
Asterix & Obelix XXL 2 – Review
Plenty of classic games from the PlayStation 1 and PlayStation 2 era have been remastered. Crash Bandicoot and Spyro come to mind with their trilogies, and more remastered versions of these classic games are on the way. It is a good way to introduce these nostalgic characters to young gamers, and it’s a means for seasoned players to indulge in memories. Asterix & Obelix XXL2 has been added to this ever-growing list, with our two favourite Gaul in the lead, but does the game have what it takes to put Asterix and Obelix back on the map?
Story
Asterix & Obelix XXL 2 is set during the rise of the Roman Empire where Julius Caesar comes up with more ideas to conquer Gaul. Somehow, he has gotten into the mind of the wise village druid Getafix, who leaves to join Caesar’s ranks in the theme park Las Vegum. The intelligent warrior Asterix sets off with his trusty canine Dogmatix (also known as Idefix) and his well-padded best friend Obelix to uncover the truth behind Getafix’ change of heart.
The Las Vegum theme park is heavily guarded by Romans, and Getafix isn’t helping either with his brilliant contraptions. But with the help of Sam Shieffer, a Roman spy, Asterix and Obelix manage to find their way into Las Vegum. Only to be stopped with more and more Roman guards, catching glimpses of Getafix along the way.
Graphics
The cutscenes may have received some facelifts, but they have not been remastered to cinematic masterpieces. In fact, it is best to watch these scenes minimized because the cutscenes look terrible in full-screen mode. The rest of the graphics have been remastered, so you’re looking at vibrant scenes from ancient Rome clashing with inspiration gained from Las Vegas (hence the name Las Vegum). Whilst the graphics are pretty decent and rather detailed in places, the game does look cartoony and stays true to the norm of Asterix & Obelix games.
The in-game UI isn’t much. On the top left you’ll find some hearts, and occasionally shields, showing you the remaining health and protection. During the fighting scenes, you won’t be glancing at these much though. On the top right, you’ll find the number of in-game currency. You can also find a bonus popping up, either at the top right or bottom left but we haven’t been focusing on those. It’s a very simplistic UI really but it does the job.
Sound
Not many gamers will play a game without sound, but after hearing the same tunes for a few hours, the instrumental Celtic-sort of melodies with odd faster-paced beats that seem to go on an infinite loop can be exhausting for anybody. The songs didn’t even seem to blend in well with each other, so sometimes it seemed like it was cut off before starting a new song.
The other frustrating part about the sound design is the fighting sounds. They don’t sound like fights at all, nor do they seem to fade after hearing them all the time as it does with any Mario game. The odd choice of a soundtrack with the ambiance plings and plongs was frustrating to hear after a while, so we can’t recommend listening to it for the entire game. There are some voice-overs that break the irritating sounds, and overall these voice-overs are decent enough to appreciate them.
Gameplay
Asterix & Obelix XXL 2 is the HD remaster of PlayStation 2 title Asterix & Obelix XXL 2: Mission: Las Vegum and thus it is an action-adventure game with plenty of Romans to fight. Finding your way around the controls is easy; punch them with square, grab them with triangle and kick them with the circle. You can jump over hurdles with the cross button. There are two other buttons that you will be using often. The L1 button will allow Dogmatix to attack enemies, whilst the R1 button will allow you to swap heroes. And you’ll be swapping them plenty of times, as the swapping mechanic is the main part of solving the puzzles in Las Vegum.
Aside from the horrid sound design, another flaw this game has is the camera control. It is outdated and oftentimes you’ll be cursing as a wall is blocking the camera and you can’t see the corners well enough. It only adds up to the already rising frustration levels, as does the obvious pattern in the gameplay experience; solve a puzzle, access an area and fight a certain amount of Roman guards before solving yet another puzzle, gain access to yet another area and fight a certain amount of Roman guards once more. There are certain areas where the Roman guards will simply keep spawning, especially in the areas you will need to throw them to the targets, and you’ll need to keep your wits to solve the puzzle whilst having an army trailing you. The puzzles are good for children, but they are not challenging for adults.
Although you can switch between characters, they share something that resembles a skill tree where there are five types of skills: life, fury, passive, combos and techniques. In total there are ten passive techniques, seven of which can be upgraded. You can unlock the first four skill types by buying them from shops scattered throughout Las Vegum. These shops sell a variation of items, including boar legs for health, shields of fulliautomatix and collectible figurines.
The game has several Easter Eggs, and some will be harder to spot than others but here’s a small sample; Centurion Larry Croft (obviously an ode to Lara Croft) and the Roman spy Sam Shieffer (a reference to Sam Fisher). Certain Roman guards bear similarities with famous characters such as Pac-Man, Crash Bandicoot, and Mario; whilst you can find icons of Rayman around Las Vegum. Although seasoned gamers will be able to notice the references, albeit they don’t add anything but oddly-placed comedy to the game, the younger audience wouldn’t be able to make the connection and thus the comedy would get lost of them.
Conclusion
Asterix & Obelix XXL 2: Mission Las Vegum was not the best game on PlayStation 2 and the remake only confirms that once again. The combination of a horrid soundtrack, with outdated camera controls and the repetitive gameplay, is enough to see that Asterix & Obelix XXL 2 is nothing more than a ported game of medium quality – if not terrible, even if the controls are very responsive and the visual design decent for an HD remaster.
Asterix & Obelix XXL 2 – Review,
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