We should probably start this review with an apology in advance to all One Piece fans. Chances are, if you're a big fan of the show, this review may read like it's been written by someone who knows almost literally nothing about the series - and with good reason. It has been.
While it may not be the most familiar of shows to readers in the UK, thanks at least in part to its rather limited availability on TV, the Anime/Manga One Piece is one of the many things that's incredibly big in Japan. With over 280 million copies of the Manga series sold in 2012 in Japan alone, it's potentially quite hard to grasp just how popular the series is. Telling the tale of the Straw Hat pirates, a group of misfits who sail around on a boat that has a giant smiling lion's face tacked on the front, while being led by a boy named Monkey D. Luffy, who can stretch his limbs as though they were made of rubber, it's about as oddball and weird as you'd expect - and that makes it perfect fodder for a game adaptation.
One Piece: Pirate Warriors 2, the latest in a long line of gaming spin-offs, is essentially a gigantic beat 'em up - but rather than a strictly one on one affair, things here are on a much larger scale. The tale begins when the Straw Hat Pirates happen across a load of magical snail/seashells known as dials that can be used as transponders. Unfortunately for them, rather than being the discovery of the century, the dials soon start to pump out a noxious gas that brainwashes Luffy's crew into working against him. Not willing to let his crewmates serve an unknown power, it's up to you to scour the world to find, and free your shipmates from the influence of the dials; which, in the context of the game, basically means beating loads of people up.
And we mean, loads of people
At its heart, each level follows a fairly similar pattern - after choosing your character, you'll be plonked at one end of a level, with your objective being to fight your way through thousands and thousands of enemies in a struggle for control of various areas of the map. Divided into strongholds, you'll start out with the odds stacked against you, and an enemy team that's in control of practically every one - but as you beat people up in a specific stronghold, you'll start weakening their grip. Beat enough up, and you'll weaken them enough that their commander will suddenly appear, in order to mount one last offensive against you. Beat him up, and the stronghold will be yours. While there's nothing phenomenally complex at work here - you don't have to build a chain of strongholds from your base to the enemy base, or anything similar - taking control of the strongholds will usually make your job that much easier later on.
While your overall goal is to capture the enemy's main base on the other side of the map, you'll usually have to do a few specific things along the way in order to get them to open the doors and lower their defences, whether it's finding an object that's been hidden in a nearby spooky forest, defeating a particular general that's causing trouble on the map, or simply defending one of your strongholds from attack. Similarly, while losing control of most strongholds won't affect things too much, you'll usually have an AI controlled character somewhere in the level with you, who you'll have to rush off and defend should they get into trouble. While it may sound complex, and there undoubtedly is a lot to keep an eye on, actually effecting your decisions is simple - all you have to do is beat people up.
Every character has their own special power - like transforming into a car for maximum smashing.
Hammering a combination of square and triangle, even if you don't really know what you're doing, you'll soon find yourself pulling off all manner of fancy combos that'll make mincemeat of your enemies. With attacks that'll send dozens of enemies flying with each stroke of your weapon, and each enemy only taking a few hits to defeat, while you may have friendly forces on your side, it's clear that you're the real difference maker in any battle, as you rack up your combo, and slice through the opposing forces. It's not unusual to have defeated a thousand enemies in a single level - and if you want to help keep your strongholds safe, you'll have to, as you switch between completing certain mission objectives, leading the assault on the enemy base, and defending your own.
Luckily, things are made that much easier thanks to the handy co-op mode, which lets a second player jump into the shoes of another of the Straw Hat Pirates to watch your back - or at the very least, keep an eye on your bases. With so many characters to choose from, each with their own diverse fighting styles, there's certainly plenty of options to form some pretty interesting partnerships, too. Whether you're playing as the grizzled military veteran Smoker, who chomps on two cigars while conjuring giant tornados of - you guessed it - smoke to whip his enemies with; the cute part-deer, part-bear Chopper, who can seemingly inflate to become a giant sausage (all the better for whacking enemies with, you see), or the aforementioned Luffy, who can turn his arms into giant cannonballs before flinging them at enemies, it's got as elaborate a cast as characters as you could ever hope for - and everyone should be able to find a favourite.
That said, it is somewhat tricky to switch between characters once you get going, thanks to the game's levelling system. The more enemies you beat, the more experience you earn, and the stronger your character will get, netting you more health and letting you dish out more damage - but should you choose to switch to a character you've just unlocked, they'll be starting from level one. While you can go back and replay earlier levels at any time, it's a bit of a trudge if you have to do that every time you find a new character you fancy trying out.
The little health bar at the side shows how many enemies you have to defeat to make the enemy boss appear. Here, it's still full - so you've got quite the fight on your hand.
On the plus side, there's certainly plenty of incentive to go back and replay earlier levels if you're that way inclined. While we think the LEGO games have a lot of unlockables, One Piece almost puts them to shame, with hundreds upon hundreds of things to collect, level-up and combine to unlock new powers. For starters, there are the various coins you'll find scattered around the world that come in two varieties. While most are bog standard normal ones, that can be placed on a bingo style grid to unlock new powers, or can be equipped to give you a boost in the levels, if you achieve certain bonus objectives in each level, a special, secret coin will appear in a chest somewhere, waiting to be collected. Meanwhile, with a shop packed with hundreds of items to buy, and dozens of characters to unlock, if it grabs you, this is a game you can easily invest weeks in.
But then, that's probably the catch. Although there's tonnes to do, it is all very samey - if you're not immediately taken by the idea of leading a two man army against the thousands, with a sprinkling of strategy laid on top, then you're unlikely to find too much else here that'll change your mind. On the other hand, if you're a fan of similar games, like the Samurai Warriors/Dynasty Warriors series, of even hack and slash role playing games like Diablo, this could be well worth a look.
Format Reviewed: Playstation 3
