We'd be surprised if there's anyone with a child under the age of 10 that hasn't heard of Ben 10 yet - or at the very least, seen some of the merchandise in stores. Cartoon Network's award-winning show, which follows the tale of Ben Tennyson, a normal young boy who discovers an unusual watch-like device which grants him the power to transform into a whole variety of alien forms, has become something of a hit on TVs - and just so happens to be perfect TV-to-game fodder.
With some seven titles under it's belt already, it seems 2013 will continue young Ben's assault on the console world with the follow up to last year's Ben 10: Omniverse, the cunningly named Ben 10: Omniverse 2 due out later this year. Much like the previous game, which followed Ben and his partner Rook through time to defeat the nefarious Malware before he can destroy the world (as always), this new entry will vaguely follow the plot of the currently-airing TV series, which can mean only one thing - new bad guys to bash.
Last year's Ben 10: Omniverse was a mix of simple puzzles and beating up enemies, much like most kids games. You can expect Omniverse 2 to take a similar path.
This time round, Ben and his partner Rook are taking on the technologically-advanced, war-obsessed toad-like Incurseans, who are (presumably) also plotting the world's demise. The game promises a much more action-packed adventure, with plenty of enemies to beat up as you make your way around the levels, and even suggests there may be some sort of timed element to the proceedings, as "players will have to make every action count as they race Ben against the clock", perhaps implying there's some sort of urgency to infiltrate and escape from the Incurseans' space ship. So far no new aliens have been revealed, although we have been promised the familiar faces of Gravattack and Four Arms at least, and with the inclusion of Rook too it sounds like the co-op is still intact as well.
Set for release on almost every console bar the PS Vita (Wii, Wii U, 3DS, Xbox 360 and PS3), Ben 10 Omniverse 2 will be landing in stores some time this autumn - although we have no exact date as of yet. Going by the traditional games industry release schedules though, we'd expect it around October/November time, along with everything else under the sun.
