Also available on: Xbox 360, DS
Genre: Action / Puzzler
Developer: Amaze Entertainment
Publisher: Majesco Entertainment
Release date: May 22, 2009

The path developers tread when creating movie tie-in video games is rarely an easy one. While impressive, the successful conversions are vastly outnumbered by the failures; of which there have been some absolute stinkers. Therefore, the odds were fairly stacked against Night At The Museum 2, which is based on the big budget sequel Night At The Museum: Battle Of The Smithsonian starring Ben Stiller. Unfortunately, the game does little to provide a classic gaming experience. Despite recreating the 'museum coming alive' feel fairly well and also offering some decent puzzles for a younger audience, its flimsy nature and quite insultingly short length make this one museum to avoid.

In the game, players take on the role of Stiller's character Larry Daley, the rather hapless museum night watchman who has to tame the forces of history for his minimum wage. Daley starts off in his old home of the American Museum of Natural History, which is being closed for upgrades, before transferring to the cavernous space of the Washington Smithsonian Institution. The story focuses on Pharaoh Ahkmenrah's dastardly and rather camp brother Kahmunrah who takes the pharaoh ingot from the mystical tablet in an effort to raise an evil army and take over the world, etc.

To help in his quest, the evil Egyptian has enlisted the help of legendary gangster Al Capone, tyrannous ruler Ivan The Terrible and French military genius Napoleon, who set about causing some mayhem in the museum. It's Daley's job to stop the apocalypse, clear up the mess and put them all back in their respective boxes. Helping him on the way will be the gutsy Amelia Earheart, as well as old friends Octavius (minus the voice of Steve Coogan), cowboy Jebediah and the energetic Rexy the T-Rex.

Stiller provides his voice and likeness (of sorts) for the role of Daley, after playing the character in the past two films. This means also providing most of the game's humour, which is mixed at best. The majority of his one-liners are pretty lame, even to younger ears, and the delivery is also a bit laboured. Overall, the script is occasionally charming, but mostly irritating. The visual presentation is so-so, but equally not exactly inspiring. The museum is nicely recreated and the character models are fair, but the whole package just feels a tad last generation.

One decent thing about the game, though, is that it genuinely does give the feeling of being in a museum after hours. The atmosphere is nicely created, with the noises of squeaky, polished floors rattling around big, echoing exhibit rooms. The addition of audio tours around both museums adds to this by giving small snippets of information about the exhibits. However, this nice idea is never really given enough depth for anyone with a true thirst for knowledge. Also, the mix of education and fantasy is occasionally a tad jarring, especially as players are being told real facts and then shown historical figures coming to life and acting very, very oddly.

Gameplay focuses primarily on Daley's two main tools; the key chain and the torch. On the Wii, the key chain is utilised with the Z button for basic grappling to reach higher places or snagging faraway objects. Accessed with the C button, the torch is a tad more complex. This is used with the tablet to perform different powers, such as fixing machines, finding hidden objects, making paintings come to life and training animals. At the start of the game, Daley must re-find the ingots in stages and then reunite them with the tablet in order to recoup these powers. The tools are pretty well realised, particularly the torch which works very well and feels good to use.

A younger audience will largely enjoy the puzzles, which are easily beatable but fun. These include using the animal ingot to get two massive Egyptian statues to move around circular blocks into the right pictorial order or taming a polar bear to move obelisks to free a lost rhino (a strange combination, to say the least). Vehicle sections with a plane, lunar module and riding Rexy also prove fun, but the controls are a bit fiddly and unsatisfying. There are also sections for fighting enemies, although the game does not feature combat so to speak. Rather, enemies wait patiently to be dispatched with sequenced moves, such as pulling over a fire extinguisher or triggering a painting of a boxer to come alive and knock them out. This works alright in the grand scheme of things but is not exactly inspiring.

Platforming sections - such as jumping between planes in an aircraft carrier or navigating a vending machine as Octavius - are even less fun thanks to some twitchy controls and poorly designed gameplay. The biggest problem with the game, though, is in its value for money. Even at a slightly cheaper price on the Wii, this game is still way too pricey considering the amount of playing value that it offers. Collectables are scattered all over the place and players can also fill up a trophy cabinet or play mini-games - such as the trilobites challenge - but this all feels like an attempt to add a bit more length to the flimsy package. There is probably only four to five hours of gameplay here, which is pretty terrible. Especially so because the movie it is based on is only slightly shorter in length and the price of a cinema ticket is considerably cheaper.

Overall, Night At The Museum 2 manages to re-create some of the atmosphere and energy of the film, while also offering a few puzzles to please a younger audience. The vehicle sections are okay and the story is reasonably engaging, but the tiny length and various shortcomings make the price simply way too much to swallow. There is also no motivation to replay the game and no multiplayer or other features to add extra value. The sad fact is that this game is not bad per se; it's just far too slight to be suitable for recommendation, especially at a time when everyone is feeling the pinch. Essentially, this is one museum where it is most definitely not worth spending the night.


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