Photo gallery: EyeToy: Play 2Sony's EyeToy: Play 2 won't really surprise anyone who's played the original Play title -- it's a solid sequel that adds new game play ideas and a somewhat reworked visual style, but at the end of the day it's all about letting go of your personal dignity (it's not as though you were doing anything with it anyway) in front of as large a crowd as possible.
Like other EyeToy specific titles, you can either buy EyeToy: Play 2 in a bundle with an EyeToy camera (AU$99.95) or on its own (AU$59.95) if you're already equipped with an EyeToy -- and with the massed numbers that purchased one last year, that's probably most of you. Where the largest improvements have been made are in the mini-games that live in-between the main games -- while some are better than others, by sheer force of quantity they make for an impressive package.
The twelve main games that make up the EyeToy: Play 2 package -- there must be something about the number twelve, as that's identical to the number of main games in the other main EyeToy game this year, Sega Superstars -- are Kung 2, Secret Agent, Bubble Pop, Mr Chef, Monkey Bars, D.I.Y, Knockout, Home Run, Goal Attack, Table Tennis, Air Guitar and Drummin'. That's a wide swathe of game types, even for a game control system that basically devolves down to waggling your extremities as rapidly and/or as accurately as possible. Like its predecessor (and like Sega Superstars) this isn't a title that's really intended for solo play -- get yourself a crowd of mates around, suitable cold beverages and snacks and let the silliness begin.
As with Sega Superstars, there are good games and bad games in the EyeToy: Play 2 package. Some of that is down to the control mechanisms used -- Monkey Bars, for example, has a rather unusual structure by which you make a mechanical ape descend buildings -- but I suspect the hit rate of most of the games will come down to the preferences of the group you're playing with. In our play testing, we found Kung 2 to be good -- just as it was in the original, really -- along with Goal Attack and Mr Chef -- but you could just as easily find enough silly fun in Bubble Pop or Secret Agent, or any of the other games, depending on the prevailing mood. Most of the games on offer have interstitial bonus sub-games, although here the quality tends to veer more towards the dull side of the spectrum -- and some of the sub-games are so short and so badly explained that you'll often fail before you have a chance to actually work out what's meant to be going on.
Aside from the main games and mini-games, EyeToy: Play 2 also offers a group of diversions. Returning from last year's title is the option to create Video Mails and save them to your memory card, although I've still got no idea whatsoever why you'd want to do that. The playroom that made such a fine party screensaver from the first title is also present in Play 2, and there's a small amount of mostly repetitive fun on offer here. Potentially more useful is SpyToy. SpyToy blanks out the screen entirely, and waits until it detects motion in front of it, at which point you can record the actions of passers-by. Before you get all excited about its potential to be a home security system, bear in mind that any intruder will still be able to see the bright blue light of the EyeToy camera itself. It's good for silly fun, though.
One thing that has been tightened up considerably from the original EyeToy: Play title is the in-game menu selection. Where before you could be waggling away for ages to get a selection to click in, the response rate has been sped up to just the right degree. EyeToy: Play 2 also benefits from some generally speedy loading time, whether you're entering a new game or exiting back to the main menu.
Like every other EyeToy game, EyeToy: Play 2 isn't a title you'll play for an extended period of time, and it's not a title that really sells itself that way in any case. What you will get out of it is some great short-term party fun, especially given the huge range of games, sub-games and mini-games it has to offer.
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