Armed with Wings 2

Even though it suffers from several glitches, Armed with Wings 2 is still a little gem with stunning presentation and creative storyline. Some gamers might be frustrated by a less than optimal gameplay, but others will stay immersed by an adventure in a genuinely stylish world.

Story
The storyline is an important element of this game, with a real continuity, inventive background, and unexpected twists. It is told during cut scenes and by in game dialogs. Even the game ending is not as straightforward as you would expect.

You are Vandheer Lorde, the powerful warrior who defeated the rebellion army years ago. The rebel leader has somehow find a way to control resurrection powers and he brought back to life your ancient enemies. The attack takes you by surprise and your are forced to escape before you can find a way to reclaim the throne.

Design
The game is proposing a survival and a story mode with 3 difficulty levels. Survival is a simple extra mini game with not that much appeal. The main adventure kicks in right away with fast rhythm and in game instructions. You will have to reach the end of each linear level to defeat rebel generals raised from the dead.

You start each level from your home with access to a weapon inventory, and possibility to save your game progress, which is clearly recommended.

Each weapon has also got its own special power, with various effects.

Gameplay
You control the main character with the keyboard and you can use several attacks such as sword, kicks, grabbing and magical bolts. With such an arsenal you could expect some fantastic action, but average combat with soldiers is quite repetitive with little challenge.
Boss battles are more interesting with varied attack patterns and switching from periods during which you are forced to dodge and defend, followed by periods where they are vulnerable.
Character control is the main issue, even though the controls are quite responsive and fluid, glitches can cause problems to trigger the right action when you would like to. There is a weird inertia when the character is moving which can cause you to fall over a edge if you are not careful. Finally the game includes a fair amount of platforming, but jumping is poorly implemented and missing a platform because of this can be pretty frustrating.

A bug can also cause you to move off the limits of the landscape, in a situation where there is no way to recover except reloading the game.

Presentation
The presentation is clearly what sets this game apart. It starts with a beautiful introduction and game menu, backed with inspired music. Graphics are some sort of Chinese shades with background and landscape using a very creative style. Design is mostly based on black, and levels of gray, weird shaped elements. Some use of differential scrolling also provide a feeling of deepness.

Amazing animations are used for character motions, and beautiful move sequences during combat are coupled with gorgeous visual effects. Your magical powers, and those of bosses also generate great visual effects and are the only colored elements in the graphics increasing the feeling they are really exceptional.

Beautiful animated cut scenes tell you the story and some elements of background history, characters all have a distinct look and some strangely attractive design.

The music is also well above average, with different soundtracks for levels, background ambient sounds and appropriate sound effects for all actions.

Play Armed with Wings 2 on Armorgames