The graphics in MediEvil II are quite nice, detailing the city of London and beyond in clean detail. There was almost no noticeable pop-up, even when the view was switched from the third-person perspective to first-person. Each enemy and Sir Daniel himself is animated cleanly, with nice character models that are easily distinguishable, although some of the smaller enemies are a bit similar. Each zone is pleasantly detailed, not detracting from the experience with lavishness, but not taking away from it with dullness either. The music in the game is capable, but forgettable; the tunes sort of blending into each other without causing much of a mental impact. Sound effects are adequate, with appropriate clangs and grunts and whatnot. I like Sir Daniel's sort of moaning and groaning a lot; for a dead guy, he's pretty expressive. The menu system is interesting, and the in-game cut-scenes are made with the same engine, making jumping between game and movie painless and easy.

The game, however, is neither painless nor easy. You play Sir Daniel Fortesque, back from the dead and thrown into the 19th century willy-nilly when some twit decides to bring dead things back to life and cause all sorts of havoc. The gameplay itself is very similar to the first game, although offering a bit more variety. As the game progresses, you can participate in a forgettable fight as Dan-kenstein and, much more coolly, stick your head on a little hand that roams around and explore secret areas. You've still got the sword-fighting, but along with it are pistols and whatnot, even your own arm. It's always fun to chuck your arm at an unsuspecting enemy.

The puzzles in ME2 are a good bit more challenging at times than in the first one, and the game as a whole offers a lot more originality than the first one did. But it's a sequel, and as such, does nothing to really add to the genre. In fact, you'll probably find yourself fighting with the camera more often than not, although having it controllable by the right analog pad is a godsend. The game is slightly buggy, however; I've managed to lock Fortesque in never-ending sword swipes by pumping the attack button a bit too much, although it clears up whenever you leave the room. And hit detection sometimes seems to be a bit off, not connecting when it seems like it should and connecting when you damn well know it shouldn't. But these are minor gripes.

Areas end with big bad boss fights, which will tax you as you try to figure out their weak spots and then do enough damage to them to get out. If you kill enough enemies in a given area, a Chalice of Souls will appear, allowing you to upgrade your stuff between battles. Very nice.

Sometimes this game is pleasantly difficult, sometimes it's absolutely fiendishly hard. This game is definitely a hell of a lot harder than the first one. Some of it may come from the on-again, off-again hit detection, but most of it comes from a generally more unforgiving level design. Be prepared to get the stuffing kicked out of you completely the first few times you try to beat any level, and then die a few times at each boss. Luckily, the game's fun enough so that you don't mind having to play the tough bits over again.

You can control Sir Daniel with either the d-pad or the left analog stick, and both of them are good for different areas -- the d-pad for precision control, the stick for general running about. The controls themselves are confusing at first (R1 and square to switch weapons? huh?), but after you've played it for a few minutes, they become easy enough to manage. Bugs and sometimes-insane difficulty aside, MediEvil II offers enough originality to at least equal the first game in the series in fun, and perhaps surpass it. Definitely rent it, and if its fiendish blend of fighting and humor appeal to you, pick it up.