The first MDK was a game that quite stoked the interest of the digital game communities with its odd character designs, out-of-this-world plot, often whimsically-themed weapons and of course, its mysterious title, which until now lacks an official elaboration.
(A clue that would be the closest to being such an elaboration is the mention of the name of the protagonists' mission within the manual of the first MDK.)
MDK 2 sets out to continue the trademarks of the first, often with results that warrant, at the very least, a loud snicker.
The backstory has not changed much since then. Despite having assassinated a major figure of the alien invasion, the persistent aliens (who seemingly have nothing else to do) that have invaded Earth in the first game are apparently still trying to strip-mine Earth for all it is worth. There was one last mine-crawler (the gigantic mining vehicles that the aliens used in the first game) to be scuttled, but little do the protagonists know that the aliens' plans have changed from a mere harvesting routine to complete annihilation of Earth.
One more dive and assault mission for the main protagonist of the first game, who is the janitor-turned-commando Kurt Hectic, turns awry. Eventually, the other two protagonists, who did not do much heavy lifting in the first game, are forced to mount a rescue attempt of their own - an attempt that would soon involve infiltrating the aliens' own home turf.
The exposition of the story is done via comic-book cutscenes, which also appear in loading screens. While not exactly original, this design decision is very much in-line with the themes of the game.
The game promises three different styles of gameplay, courtesy of three protagonists who look very different from each other and have their own amusing antics, animations and lines.
The game starts off with Kurt Hectic. As would be familiar to anyone who has played the first game, Kurt has a virtually thermonuclear-proof suit that allows him to withstand tremendous punishment from alien munitions that would otherwise kill him outright. However, it has to be pointed out that this suit does not prevent him from being knocked down - and there are many alien ordnance that can do so. Fortunately, Kurt has somewhat learned to get back on his feet quickly, so the player would not have to worry about being caught in a helpless knocked-down animation loop.
His suit has retained the parachuting-capable ribbons that it had in the first game. The freedom of movement that he has while using the parachutes has pretty much remained the same: he can fire his weapons while aloft and gusts of air send him shooting upwards. There does not appear to be any spanking new innovation, but the parachute design here is satisfactorily adequate for Kurt's section of gameplay (a sizable portion of which concerns platforming action).
Kurt's main gun is an automatic weapon that can never run out of ammo. (The reason for this was alluded to in the manual for the first game.) It also has practically little recoil, so its primary mode of fire (the Chaingun) is very reliable in short-to-medium ranges. For faraway targets and certain puzzles, Kurt will have to rely on his gun's secondary ability, which is Sniping mode. In this mode, his rate of fire reduces tremendously, in exchange for enhanced accuracy and damage (per round). In addition, he now has a third-person camera-view panel in a corner in Sniping mode that shows his person moving about, which helps the player retain a modicum of situational awareness while using Sniping mode's restricted field of vision.
This mode also allows him to make use of an assortment of more special - and limited - ammunition, such as Homing Bullets, Mortar Rounds and Grenade rounds, which had been in the first game and are still very effective at what they do. The new types of rounds include the Bouncing Bullet and Sniper Shield.
The Bouncing Bullet, while having functional ricocheting physics, does not seem to be very reliable enough in a battle, unfortunately, largely due to its unpredictable path and the sniper scope's tunnel vision. For most players, it would likely only see use for the puzzles that require them. Even so, these puzzles tend to have visual clues that makes using them all too easy.
The Sniper Shield, once activated, is an invulnerability buff, but one Kurt can only benefit from while still in Sniping mode; breaking out of the mode wastes the buff. It eventually dissipates in time, or after it has absorbed a large amount of damage that Kurt would have otherwise incurred. This shield happens to be useful for Kurt's boss battles, which can have the battlefield inundated with an uncomfortable amount of hostile fire.
(It has to be pointed out that the game does not seem to have animations or graphical effects for Kurt's gun fusing to the hood of his suit when he uses Sniping mode, as has been described in the canon for the game. While this is a disappointment, this absence does not affect gameplay howsoever.)
Kurt also retains the option of picking up power-ups for his primary mode of fire, though, like in the first game, doing so automatically converts his Chaingun to that of the power-up, which can be a minor annoyance. The Super Chaingun is back, with a new power-up being the Laser Chaingun, which fulfills the need for a weapon that is more specialized against large, tough and slow enemies (a need that was not satisfied in the first game).
To summarize Kurt's gameplay, it does not appear to be much different from that in the previous game. It's plenty functional though, and is still quite a load of fun.
Max, who is the six-limbed android dog from the first game, is introduced as a playable character. It would appear that Max's appearance from the first game had been drastically altered: Max is bigger, smokes a cigar and actually talks (and does so in a gruff manner too). (Max in the previous game is more diminutive and resorts to sign language for communication.) It would be a jarring change for one who has played the first game, but this re-design fulfills the goal of emphasizing Max's style of gameplay.
Contrary to the other two characters, who require the player to be more methodical when advancing through levels, Max can be used in a very straight-forward manner. His levels mostly concern heavy-duty platforming, made more interesting with a jetpack that he would soon have on his back for the rest of the game. His default jetpack requires fuel to use, and there are segments in his levels that require sparingly used bursts of his jetpack to conserve enough fuel to cross a long divide. Fortunately, Max does not appear to suffer much fall damage, compared to the other two protagonists. There is also an upgrade of sorts to the jetpack later that requires better timing to use effectively, with the trade-off being the convenience of a self-recharging battery.
This relative simplicity in Max's gameplay also translates to all of his weapons, which work splendidly as long as the player can keep a bead on enemies. A few guns, such as the Ray Gun, do however require the player to have some finesse at gauging where their shots would land. It is therefore fortunate that the developers had thought of the possible need for different keybinds for firing each of the four guns that Max can have out at a time and had included options to do so accordingly. There is even the option to bind a key to fire all of Max's weapons at once.
If it is not apparent already, playing as Max requires a lot of running and gunning, regular retrieval of new guns whenever older guns run out of ammo and frequent jumping and jetting to dodge enemy fire, along with an occasional picking up of health-replenishing items. To assist the player, the developers have included some auto-aim capability to Max's gunfire and assigned the highest maximum health to Max.
Max's segments can be best described as quite upbeat and loud. They may however appear somewhat monotonous to certain players.
Dr. Fluke Hawkins is the third character that the player can play as. Normally a (self-proclaimed) pacifistic man-of-science, dangerous circumstances eventually force his hand in taking up arms (of sorts), though he appears to gleefully do so - in the name of science, of course. He is definitely a very wacky person.
As befitting his frail form, he has the least amount of health, though presumably he has an indestructible lab-coat or some harm-mitigating gadget on his person (or he is just inexplicably tougher than he looks, as is often the case with cartoonish and goofy characters). He starts the game completely unarmed and resorts to cobbling together otherwise useless doohickeys to deal with enemies early in the game, but later gains a more permanent weapon in the form of an Atomic Toaster (of all things). With it, he can collect ammunition in the form of breads and mash them into the Toaster to be ejected out as fissile ordnance, such as bouncing sticky bombs from an inexhaustible loaf of bleached bread and missile-like projectiles from baguettes.
(Inexplicably enough, these breads can be found just about anywhere, even in isolated nooks and crannies on alien worlds.)
These weapons are, of course, practically the same in function as those that Max and Kurt have. On the other hand, all of them pack heftier punches, which is welcome as Dr. Hawkins is simply terrible at surviving battles, due to his terrible movement speed and health.
Much of his non-combat gameplay involves cobbling together items that he sometimes finds in improbable places, but which are often near the place where he needs to use the resulting combined item. This portion of gameplay does feel a little like a contrivance, but the player is often rewarded with humorous animations, cutscenes and even brief mini-games that are quite fun to complete.
Unlike the other two characters, Dr. Hawkins actually has the wisdom to store health-replenishing items for later (and comically animated) use. There is his favorite soda drink, which restores health, and there is Liquid Plutonium, which he also dunks down just as enthusiastically. The latter turns him into a hulking melee monster with tremendous (& refilled) health, often for scenarios where such brute force would be an expedient solution to the problem at hand.
The conveniently strategic placement of Liquid Plutonium also appears to be a mere contrivance, but like the puzzles which Dr. Hawkins solves in a non-violent manner, the resolution offered by its use is a glee to behold.
Enemies in the game are as varied as the protagonists. Certain enemies appear to be uniquely confronted by certain protagonists, especially enemies that only Kurt can most efficiently defeat. Nevertheless, they do appear in the other protagonists' levels. The game does a good job of giving visual hints of how certain enemies can be defeated and often introduces them in the levels for protagonists that are best equipped to handle them, though as long as the player remembers how to, the other protagonists can also defeat them handily.
As varied as they are, the enemies in the game have in common a goofy design. If they had not been alerted to the protagonist's presence, they are often found slacking off, indulging in some hilarious habits or engaged in generally incomprehensible banter with each other. They also resort to taunting in the middle of battle, giving the player a chance to retaliate in a fatal manner. This is perhaps a good design choice, because some enemies can be terribly difficult to handle if they had been relentless.
The bosses, or variations of the same boss character, are just as wacky as the regular enemies and are often designed to suit the current protagonist's gameplay. Kurt's bosses often require the use of Sniping mode and his parachute to get to vantage points, while Max's require relentless shooting (for they often have shields that would regenerate in time) and jetting around. Dr. Hawkins' bosses, however, do come off as disappointing, as Dr. Hawkins either needs to spam explosive breads or use Liquid Plutonium.
The graphics in the game are clearly tuned for large, expansive environments. Some of them do look bland, as they are often devoid of animated objects and there tends to be only a handful of enemies on-screen. However, the developers have made certain that there are clear visual contrasts among the backdrop, in-game models and objects/locations of interest, such that the player should not have much trouble knowing where to go next.
Speaking of in-game models, every model has its own unique look; there are next to no reused-&-recycled models, though enemy types do repeat regularly. Most models are well-animated, yet many of them, particularly the protagonists', lack facial animation. Given the zany nature of the rest of the game, this is a very disappointing omission.
Sound-wise, the game does not hold back on the explosions, zings of plasma and lasers, the muffled discharges of sniper rounds and the whining of machinery. There is plenty of entertaining voice-over in the game, as befitting its light-hearted themes: the banter among the protagonists and the cool-cat threats and warnings of a recurring boss are some of the highlights. However, the sounds and voice-over for the very last battle can be an aural assault for some players.
The soundtracks in the game are tailor-designed for the situation at hand; Max's gun-heavy sequences often have heavy bass guitar, while Dr. Hawkins' accompanying music is suitably oddball as he is, for example.
In conclusion, while MDK2 may have been more talkative and somewhat loopier than its predecessor, it is just as fun to play, if not more, thanks to a few updates to the gameplay in the first, the inclusion of two newly playable protagonists and more exposition on the backstory.