The new version of The World, the faux-MMO .hack takes place in, looks much less drab, and much more varied, than the version destroyed at the end of the last game. The Japanese temple level we visited was full of detail in its sloping roofs and rough-hewn floorboards - touches you'd never see in the original game. Nor was there much to do in the first game but run through dungeons, opening the occasional chest and battling monsters. This time around, you'll have to contend with traps like heated floor pads, and puzzles involving Chim-Chims, a Pokemon-esque life-form that inhabits the game. Don't worry; you don't have to capture and battle them - you just kick the crap out of them and store 'em for later use in quests. You might also encounter other players in the dungeons, and if you join their battles and rescue them, they might even give you bonus items - which is a nice little reward as well as ramming home the "virtual world" concept of .hack a little bit more realistically.
May 9, 2006
