Kingdom Hearts II

If you've not played the four-year-old Kingdom Hearts or the two-year-old sequel Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories then you may initially find yourself a little lost in this Square Enix action RPG title, which brings together characters from Final Fantasy

Fortunately Kingdom Hearts II offers you guidance in the form of Jiminy Crickett's Journal, offering character information, plot lines, maps and more all in one handy menu.

The camera control has switched from shoulder buttons to right analogue stick, making the game much easier to play. There's still the occasional problem when battling fast opponents, but it is a big improvement.

The long wait for this title is a bit of a let down. The storyline is faultless, the graphics are beautiful and the presentation is perfect, but unfortunately the battle scenes are too easy. There's no increase in strength or power of enemies the further you progress, so there's no incentive to use anything other than the X button to hack and slash your way through.

There's some new worlds to explore in Kingdom Hearts II. The Timeless River level from Steamboat Willie takes you back into a 1930's black and white scene with characters drawn to mimic the original Disney sketches. The Gummi ship returns to transport you between worlds and offers gamers as welcome relief in the form of a shoot 'em up where you kill off enemy targets and collect objects to add to your ship and increase your firepower.

Kingdom Hearts fans will have already ignored my comments and have purchased this title anyway, but new players are advised to maybe rent it out before committing to buy.

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