Temple Run 2 is now available in the United Kingdom for iPhone and iPad.
Featuring suped up graphics and a new enemy, the Temple Run game still keeps its basic elements: run away from overgrown ape-demons and collect golden coins as you do.
Those damned, dirty apes.
The graphics are a step up from Temple Run with some quite nice sunsets (if you’re into that kind of thing) and the game features new feats such as sliding down ropes and spiked wheels of death. The makers have increased their monetising opportunities, with more options to purchase gems or coins such as by offering the ability to ‘save’ after death by purchasing gems from the store (or the much more arduous collecting them while running for your life), which can slow the game down when you die as much as I do.
Other changes include the ability to purchase upgrades in-game, rather than via the store, using collected coins. These upgrades can be applied to Abilities, such as increasing a coin magnets attraction percentage, or to Powerups, such as prolonging a shield’s effect, just like in Temple Run, and as per the first game, you can unlock different characters with enough dough. However thanks to the boost to the graphics, these characters now appear in full profile, so if you wanted to get the low down about whether ‘Scarlett Fox’ has any tattoos, now’s your chance. Perhaps due to this, there are less available unlockable characters.
My favourite flock of monkey protagonists, however, have been replaced with a lumbering Nemesis-style great ape/anteater hybrid who shakes you vigorously when caught before a fade to black, rather than gleefully feasting on your prostrate form (how I miss those lil guys). What I especially liked about Temple Run was the various weird and wonderful comments when you died – “Tastes like bacon” and for when you hit a tree, “Tree hugger!”
The comments are still there, but appear to be less bizarre and thus, less enjoyable – “It’s lucky I have a hard head!” for when you smash into a wall and “I eat explorers like you for breakfast” when the anteater-death-monkey gets you. Do you, ant-monkey? Do you?
At any rate, the mechanics appear much the same – tilt to angle your running, swipe to turn or jump, run away from Satan in monkey form – including stats after every mishap and the ability to share with (mocking) friends. Given that I’ve seen a girl rip out Temple Run while sitting in the pits at the Globe during Hamlet’s intermission, the fact that Temple Run 2 is now the second most popular free game on the Apps Store chart is no big surprise and for Android users, good news: reports are that the Android version will be available next week.
