Viewtiful Joe 2 E3 2004 Hands-On Impressions

Capcom let us try out the next installment in its impressive new Viewtiful Joe action franchise, Viewtiful Joe 2, on the PlayStation 2 at a press event prior to E3 to see how the sophomore effort is coming together. The game is the second installment in the series, which began on the GameCube, and it is now slated for release on GC and the PlayStation 2. The game once again follows the exploits of Joe, a regular guy who has a heroic alter ego, Viewtiful Joe, complete with all sorts of nifty powers. The recently announced sequel finds our hero back to combat evil again in a variety of new locales that come close to its loosely based movie theme. This time out Joe is joined by his lady love Sylvia, a normal gal who can power up into a pom-pom waving, gun-wielding heroine.

The level we played in the demo was set in Dino Park, a not entirely veiled reference to Jurassic Park. The jungle area featured a volcano in the distance that you ended up interacting with via Joe's and Sylvia's VFX powers. The flashy superpowers are based on movie special effects-- the powers let either one of the pair speed up or slow down and then zoom in on the action. As you progress through the park you'll find obstacles that you'll only be able to take down by triggering your slow powers to build up enough pressure in the volcano to have it launch the boulder resting atop it your way to hit massive stone buttons. Once that's done and the way is cleared for you, you can uppercut the massive boulder so it winds up back on top of the volcano. Along the way you'll face off against the same kind of low-level grunts you encountered in the early part of the original game. Eventually, you'll encounter a boss that will require you to use your powers to avoid their attacks and turn the tables on them by slowing down bullets they fire and sending them flying back at them. As before, you'll earn keys, that will unlock the path ahead of you, by defeating enemies.

While the early part of the level was fairly straightforward, the second half lets you use a new VFX power, replay, that's being introduced into the game. The move essentially lets you record an action and, if you manage to time it properly, dole out three times the damage from it against an enemy. While this sounds good in theory, there is a pretty nasty catch. When you trigger the power you see a VCR-style record button on the screen to let you know to do your thing. However, if you're hit while trying to smack an enemy you'll take three times the damage, which can be pretty devastating depending on the enemy and the attack.

The level allows you to play as Joe or Sylvia, who now handle differently from the original game where Sylvia was an unlockable character. Sylvia's gun lets you start hacking away at an enemy's life bar before getting close enough to be whaled on. However, Joe's still enough of a powerhouse to where you can get into a fracas and smack up your opponent.

The graphics in the game are surprisingly true to the vividly colored and stylishly toon-shaded original GameCube game. There doesn't appear to be a tremendous increase in the game's graphical quality and there are only a few subtle differences in the filters used when Joe and Sylvia return to their normal human forms if they exhaust their VFX meter during combat. However, there doesn't appear to be any dramatic downgrades from the Cube game either. As before, the game runs smoothly and features a 2.5D presentation that's equal parts old-school side-scroller and modern action game.

The audio in the game is still coming together, but Joe and Sylvia are pretty vocal during combat, as sound samples and grunts are peppered throughout the action. Music in the demo was close to the peppy spirit of the original game and suited the action perfectly.

From what we've seen so far, Viewtiful Joe 2 is shaping up to be strong follow-up to the original game and an excellent PlayStation 2 game. While the demo we played featured the new VFX power, it did feel like another level from the original, which is both good and bad. We're hoping that as the game comes together it will feature gameplay and design that will give it its own unique personality like its predecessor. Viewtiful Joe 2 is currently scheduled to ship this fall for the PlayStation 2 and GameCube.