Ghost Rider [PS2]

This spring, we'll be blessed with a new game featuring great chained weapons, impressive combos, monstrous bosses, and a variety of action. That game is God of War II. This game, unfortunately, is Ghost Rider. And while not a bad game per se -- it's competent and occasionally fun -- anyone who's played either of Sony's great Kratos adventures will see right through Ghost Rider and recognize it as merely a pale imitation.

This is a licensed game, however, not to mention a licensed game for a film bad enough that it's barely being screened for critics. So we should be happy to get any measure of quality at all. Fortunately, the game storyline follows the film's, rather than copying it, so fans will feel like they're getting a new dose of action featuring Johnny Blaze, cycle stuntman turned vengeful demon.

Appropriately for a title focused around a motorcycle-riding daredevil hero, Ghost Rider is divided between time spent on foot and while riding the Hellcycle. The first style is obviously where the God of War comparisons come in, as the fiery Johnny Blaze stalks through third-person gameplay wielding chains with which he dispatches hellish enemies. (There are also a shotgun used for occasional blasts and several special attacks.)

Unlike God of War, however, Ghost Rider seems to tip its hand quite early. You'll unlock many moves within the first couple hours of play, and most of the levels feature one room after another filled with the same handful of creatures attacking the same way. It's a button-mashing extravaganza with little long-term reward and no sense of wonder. An occasionally frustrating one at that, as demons with ranged attacks will persistently attack from offscreen.

A couple variations on typical action game tropes seek to differentiate this take on third-person action. There's the Vengeance meter, which fills as you successfully land attacks. Think of it like the ranking system in Devil May Cry, though here each level has a vaguely 'demonic' word associated with it, so instead of simple alphabetic rankings you'll earn first Damned, then Condemned, Brutal and so on. Keep the Vengeance meter filled through to the end of the level and you'll get a bonus; you'll also earn more souls and power for defeating enemies while holding a Vengeance ranking.

The only reason this feature is worth more than a passing mention is that an enemy will occasionally arrive wearing a vengeance shield. The shield might be marked with the word 'brutal', meaning that you'll do no damage to the creature until the shield is shattered by hitting it while the Vengeance meter stands at Brutal.