Eye Toy – Play 2
This is more of what the Eye Toy should have launched with
Tags: Eye Toy - Play 2 Categories: PS2 Reviews, Reviews
Posted by Daniel "monk" Pelfrey on Aug 14th, 2005
| Title | Players | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Eye Toy - Play 2 (title page) | 1 - 4 | ||
| Developer | Publisher | Genre | Online |
| Arcade | No | ||
 |
Sony’s Eye Toy arrived with few games to accompany the peripheral. Unfortunately, there have been more original games for the PSP than there have been total Eye Toy game. That said, Sony’s launch title Eye Toy: Play felt like a technical demonstration of what the Eye Toy can do rather than a full blown game. There came shortly (and not so shortly) afterwards a few titles that took advantage of the peripheral, but the possibilities seemed to stagnate.
Enter Eye Toy: Play 2 – the sequel to, well, Play. This entry in the Eye Toy family features more mini games, many of which are designed to enthrall the younger set of gamers. As a matte of fact, just by looking at the cover one can see nothing but pre-teens seemingly hyped up on various sugary treats attempting to control their appendages as they play various sports oriented virtual games.
 |
 |
There is more for the kids here this time around, or so it would seem. The whole of the Eye Toy “family” of games is rather “family friendly” to begin with. What makes Play 2 that much better than the original is the ability for multiple players to play together simultaneously.
 |
There are 12 different games, each with multiplayer versions along with variations. This is what Play should have been in the first place – Eye Toy: Play 2 feels much more complete than its predecessor. There are such things as Bubble Pop (go ahead, try to figure out the objective on that one, I dare you), Goal Attack (defending a soccer goal), Table Tennis (another self explanatory game) and more. Returning is Kung Foo, which this time is renamed Kung 2, but really, the various games are all fine in their own way as there is something here for virtually everybody. Not all off the games are as enjoyable as the rest, but ultimately it comes down to personal taste. If you already have an Eye Toy, then the change that you will find many of the games here enjoyable is extremely high. If you have yet to buy one but enjoy games such as Mario Party, then this is the game you have been waiting for to “take the plunge” (to coin a phrase).
New to Play 2 is the video messaging – which is something that should have been included in the original Eye Toy package. “Players” can record a massage (using the camera, naturally) and save it to a memory card. This message can then, as one would expect, be played back. There are time limitations because of the memory required to store video files, but overall this is a neat feature.
 |
 |
Another neat feature (and another one that should have come with the Eye Toy in the first place) is a Spy Toy – turning the game device into a security camera. Take time lapse images, capture stills when there is motion and other nifty bits make this a peripheral that could really extend the natural life of what has become at this point little more than a gimmick.
 |
There aren’t a lot of Eye Toy specific games out there (Play, SEGA SuperStars, AntiGrav, Groove, DDR Extreme, Play 2) and this isn’t the best of the bunch. It is, however damn good if you already have an eye Toy. If you are considering getting one, this is a good place to start – Skip Play, get this, SEGA SuperStars and DDR Extreme.
| What Works | Score |
|---|---|
|
+ Eye Toy fun + Multiplayer + Longer/deeper, more fulfilling games + Messaging and Spy Toy |
8.3 |
| What Doesn't | |
|
- Still comes up a bit short (there could have been some of Eye Toy Groove's stuff included) - Technical glitches that appear randomly |
|
| Under the Shrink-wrap | |
| A required purchase of Eye Toy owners and a good way to introduce newcomers. | |
[ Post the first comment | View related posts ]
Tags: Eye Toy - Play 2
Posted by Daniel "monk" Pelfrey on Aug 14th, 2005 and is filed under PS2 Reviews, Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can post a comment, or trackback from your own site.
