PS3 Review: KUNG FU PANDA 2 Lacks Anything Like A Punch
Kung Fu Panda 2 game was released to. Question is: could it transcend it and be good in its own right? Well, no. Sadly, it doesn't. But I had to get you over this jump somehow didn't I? 
But that's where the reasonable aspects of this review end, because the execution is downright awful throughout. Kung Fu Panda 2 is essentially a combat-biased third personer, with some puzzle elements added for good measure (though they are so mind-numblingly simple its a joke), with most of the action happening on the face buttons, with light and heavy attack options as well as the usual jump and dodge functions. Sadly, there's no finesse to the battle scenes at all, because the enemies you encounter - even towards the end of the game - aren't challenging at all, and you can defeat any foe with continued use of the light attack, which somewhat devalues the additional attack features of Special Attacks (that you learn), and the Furious Five quick attacks you can build up to. If this were the XBox36 version and there were an Achievement to avoid damage for the entire game, I wouldn't even sneeze at it - there's just no sense of urgency to the battles at all, and everything gets painfully repetitive once you've between five of any of the enemy foot-soldier types. The overriding experience for me when playing Kung Fu Panda 2 was that it was aimed at a far, far younger demographic than the one I belong to. Then I came to my senses - because while it might be aimed there, it won't find any fans, because it is obviously rushed and never quite feels like a finished article. The gameplay is only entertaining to a very limited extent, and the tendency for cut-scenes to interrupt the action is a far too frequent occurence for the player to be immersed very much. During the three and a little bit hours it took me to complete the game (in multiple sittings I have to say - the game has little immediate longevity), there must have been the same amount of cut-scenes as there were actually interactive ones. And for a film franchise that is so beautiful to look at to be so cruelly undermined by this insipid, technically flawed sibling is a terrible thing. While the films are lush, extrvaagantly painted wonders, with depth and obvious dedication in the creation of characters and background, the game is clunky looking and awkward. At one point while playing, my girlfriend asked me if the PS3 was broken, because she couldn't believe I was playing a newly released game from what she was witnessing over my shoulder. The animation is terribly jumpy, and the mechanics of some of the character movement and scene interaction are reminiscent of pre-PS1 games from the lowest end of the quality spectrum. And the question of replayability? Well, for Kung Fu Panda 2 it's more a question of playability. I said it took me multiple sittings to get through it, and that is no dramatic exaggeration - the game packs no lasting legacy, so it won't be one that anyone who gets through to the end ever returns to realistically. 
There's predictably no changeable Difficulty levels, and sadly the default option seems to be Ridiculously Easy. What's even worse is that if you try to explore the scenery, destroying interactable details to collect items (a half-engaging element of every scene) while engaged in a puzzle of any sort, Po seemingly gets impatient, and starts handing out the most ridiculously simple clues as to how to solve the already very easy puzzles. As if anyone is actually stuck! Aside from the huge glaring issues, there are also some little flaws that look like the result of the rushed production, which makes the overall experience even more off-putting. Anyone planning on putting out a tie-in game should go and play Toy Story 2 on the PS1, a wonderful, engaging game that did everything right in the simplest of manners. That way they might think twice about rushing out uninspiring dross like this that won't appeal to even younger gamers for more than the first hour (or however long it takes for the reality of how bad it is to dawn on the gamer). 
Kung Fu Panda 2 is available to buy now. I'm afraid to say you should probably just ignore that fact.
rating: 1
It might sound like I'd written the game off before I'd even started, but I pledged an oath to objectivity when I came on board this wonderful site, and I was willing to give it a more than fair shot. The story even vaguely appealed to me - rather than simply regurgitate the events of the film, the plot takes up after the events of the film, and introduces a brand new story that does feel quite appropriate next to the two films. Basically we follow Po, voiced again by Jack Black, alongside the Furious Five as they try and uncover the secrets behind a siege, by punching and kicking their way through legions of Komodo Dragons, Wolves and Gorillas. Sounds pretty fun, right? But that's where the reasonable aspects of this review end, because the execution is downright awful throughout. Kung Fu Panda 2 is essentially a combat-biased third personer, with some puzzle elements added for good measure (though they are so mind-numblingly simple its a joke), with most of the action happening on the face buttons, with light and heavy attack options as well as the usual jump and dodge functions. Sadly, there's no finesse to the battle scenes at all, because the enemies you encounter - even towards the end of the game - aren't challenging at all, and you can defeat any foe with continued use of the light attack, which somewhat devalues the additional attack features of Special Attacks (that you learn), and the Furious Five quick attacks you can build up to. If this were the XBox36 version and there were an Achievement to avoid damage for the entire game, I wouldn't even sneeze at it - there's just no sense of urgency to the battles at all, and everything gets painfully repetitive once you've between five of any of the enemy foot-soldier types. The overriding experience for me when playing Kung Fu Panda 2 was that it was aimed at a far, far younger demographic than the one I belong to. Then I came to my senses - because while it might be aimed there, it won't find any fans, because it is obviously rushed and never quite feels like a finished article. The gameplay is only entertaining to a very limited extent, and the tendency for cut-scenes to interrupt the action is a far too frequent occurence for the player to be immersed very much. During the three and a little bit hours it took me to complete the game (in multiple sittings I have to say - the game has little immediate longevity), there must have been the same amount of cut-scenes as there were actually interactive ones. And for a film franchise that is so beautiful to look at to be so cruelly undermined by this insipid, technically flawed sibling is a terrible thing. While the films are lush, extrvaagantly painted wonders, with depth and obvious dedication in the creation of characters and background, the game is clunky looking and awkward. At one point while playing, my girlfriend asked me if the PS3 was broken, because she couldn't believe I was playing a newly released game from what she was witnessing over my shoulder. The animation is terribly jumpy, and the mechanics of some of the character movement and scene interaction are reminiscent of pre-PS1 games from the lowest end of the quality spectrum. And the question of replayability? Well, for Kung Fu Panda 2 it's more a question of playability. I said it took me multiple sittings to get through it, and that is no dramatic exaggeration - the game packs no lasting legacy, so it won't be one that anyone who gets through to the end ever returns to realistically. There's predictably no changeable Difficulty levels, and sadly the default option seems to be Ridiculously Easy. What's even worse is that if you try to explore the scenery, destroying interactable details to collect items (a half-engaging element of every scene) while engaged in a puzzle of any sort, Po seemingly gets impatient, and starts handing out the most ridiculously simple clues as to how to solve the already very easy puzzles. As if anyone is actually stuck! Aside from the huge glaring issues, there are also some little flaws that look like the result of the rushed production, which makes the overall experience even more off-putting. Anyone planning on putting out a tie-in game should go and play Toy Story 2 on the PS1, a wonderful, engaging game that did everything right in the simplest of manners. That way they might think twice about rushing out uninspiring dross like this that won't appeal to even younger gamers for more than the first hour (or however long it takes for the reality of how bad it is to dawn on the gamer). Kung Fu Panda 2 is available to buy now. I'm afraid to say you should probably just ignore that fact.