The highly anticipated sequel to the famed Temple Run was released this week. In its first week on the App Store, Temple Run 2 hit 20 million downloads. If that’s not huge, I don’t know what is. Free games as good as Temple Run and Temple Run 2 cannot be left on the shelf.
Temple Run 2 is basically the same game as Temple Run, but with several improvements and slight changes. To see how to play, click the link above to read the review of the first installment. Most noticeably, the graphics on Temple Run 2 are extremely sharp and very nice. As far as gameplay goes, the same simple swipe and tilt controls are back, although there are some new trails and new obstacles. For example, you can jump onto ropes and over rotating blades. Paths through forest areas are hilly and hard to visualize where the next turn will be, not to mention that there are plenty of streams. A completely new area, the mine, also adds a cool twist. When you come to this point, you’ll automatically hop into a mine car and must rely solely on tilting to chose the open paths and to cling onto broken tracks. For these reasons, it seems to me that Temple Run 2 is a bit harder than its predecessor.
Temple Run 2 also adds in the experience of completing missions to level up (earning you coins and a new currency, gems). These can be used to upgrade the power-ups that we’re used to from the first game. A new feature with power-ups is that, in addition to grabbing them as you run along, you can activate a power-up by filling the coin meter. You must unlock which power-up you want to use for this special bonus.
There are four characters thus far in Temple Run 2. Guy Dangerous is the default, with the other three being carry-overs. I would assume that further updates will add in more characters to purchase via coins. Overall, Temple Run 2 adds a bit of new flavor to the original Temple Run, however it is largely the same exact game. I enjoy playing it, but it feels almost identical to the other one. I could see them creating new power-ups, or a new staff of characters, maybe even a different type of control, but all of this is the same. For this, 8/10.
-TheAppEmperor signing out
The App Empire 