“This is the run where I make real progress,” I told myself. “Last time I was careless, but this time it will be different.” With that confidence, I entered the cave of Spelunky 2 for the eleventh time. Skillfully mastering the traps and whips, spiders and snakes before they could rob me of my health, I passed the first level with ease. My confidence increased when I picked up a crossbow from the shopkeeper. Everything was going according to plan when all of a sudden a horned lizard lunged at me, knocking me back and causing an amazing chain reaction with skeletons, arrow traps, and finally, a the sharp hole that caused my death. I’m frustrated that my best plans break down so quickly, but as soon as the option to start a new run appears, I can’t pick it up fast enough.
Despite the many times I yelled at my character’s body bouncing around like a ball in situations like these, Spelunky 2 didn’t stop being hilarious. Keeping the same formula as its predecessor, the engaging rogue-like action platform plunges you into a process-generated system of caves and ensures you’ll go further than last time. The compelling difficulty and randomness of the world combine effectively with that desire to do better, creating the impetus to take another round. As you dig deeper into the caves, you’ll discover new biomes, like an aquatic themed area filled with killer fish and octopuses, all ready for an end. your run. While starting over at levels 1-1 can make the experience tedious, multiple visits to deeper areas instead gives you the ability to start your run at that point . The procedural generation offers nearly endless levels to play through, and separate worlds introduce new elements and challenges to keep the experience fresh as you progress deeper into the caves.
During this time, you can chart your path depending on the challenges you want to face. After completing the first area of the cave, do you venture into a lush jungle overrun with monkeys and man-eating plants? Or do you want to brave the volcanic foundry full of explosive robots and fire-breathing ladybugs? I love deciding which worlds to settle in when I get to these new areas, and I’m constantly struck by how different each biome feels compared to the others.
In addition to being able to choose your path through caves, Spelunky 2 adds new secret areas that you can head to to find treasures, challenges, and even new characters to rescue and play. add to your community at the base. It’s nice to see the people you save show up at your camp, but these passages all too often lead nowhere, making me sometimes overlook them because they’re often a waste of time. This further highlights the main pitfall of procedural generation: While skill obviously plays a big part in your overall success, luck is also a factor as some runs are easier. significantly compared to other times. However, no run is impossible, as Spelunky 2 ensures there is a clear path leading to the exit of each level, so I tried to make sure I took advantage of the opportunities that my luck gave me. favor yourself.
While going down to the cave alone is a blast, you can enlist help in the form of NPCs, who are often so aggressive that the best you can hope for is that they knock out a few. Enemies on the way cause their own doom. You can also discover useful mounts such as a turkey that can headbutt enemies and glide, a fire-breathing dog or a bubble-breathing lizard. However, the better company to maintain comes from multiplayer, which can now be played locally or online. As you might expect, chaos reigns supreme as you add more players to the mix; Don’t expect better progress with your friends, but it sure is fun.
Spelunky 2 is as addictive an experience as I’ve been playing this year. A two-minute run turns into hours of continuous gameplay, and “just one more try” easily turns into an afternoon of exploration, dying, and trying again. Spelunky 2 is at once engaging, tense, and exciting, and even now, I can’t wait to once again test my mettle within the ever-changing walls of the cave.
