Review: Deathrun 2 by Erikwesley96

It's been a good amount of time since my last actual game review but here we are once again to look at the finally released sequel to Erikwesley96's ROBLOX de-make of the source mod of the same name, Deathrun 2. Unfortunately, the first game has been removed from existence and replaced with this one which is a waste of a few nice maps. But oh well, let's get on with the actual review.

UPDATE: Deathrun 1 is not gone forever, it's just being updated and fixed to be up to more of the standards of Deathrun 2.

Gameplay

Deathrun 2 is more or less the same game, but with a lot more polish and work put into it. As someone who played the first game on and off this can be seen just from the lobby's much more extravagant design and higher quality well... everything but I'll touch more on this later.

For those that have never played Deathrun or just may have a bad memory, the premise is very simple; there are two teams, Runners and the Killer(s). Runners have to advance through the course without being killed by the various traps spread throughout each map and (hopefully) getting to the end and being able to "kill the killer". Killers are the ones who set off the traps and their goal is to wipe all of the Runners off the map with correctly timed traps and clever thinking.

As far as the interface goes it actually works and is more organized unlike the one from the first, so that's a plus I assume. Without dragging this part on, I'll just make this brief, the interface contains the following, *ahem*. News, Stats, Shop, Coin Counter, Medals, Configurations, and Spectate. They all do exactly as the name says in that exact order, the shop contains some fancy death effects, and some weapons which will replace the default sword you use when you go to kill the killer at the end but have not been implemented yet, hooray.

The only real tips or tricks I can give to people playing on either team is to try to outsmart each other, Runners, outsmart the killer by zooming in to check their position on the map or try to fake them out on certain traps. Learn the layout of each map as well, very important. Killers, watch for opportunities when to strike with your next trap, don't just waste them or you will not have enough to dispose of the remaining runners. Learn what they do, and put it to good use. That's about all I can say in terms of "strategy".

Building

Now comes the fun part, we've already praised the lobby design and improved quality of the game overall, now for pretty much the most important part, talking about the maps. Deathrun 2 launched with about 4 maps, around the same as the original Deathrun, two of which playable in the Deathrun 2 "beta". Oh, right, I should probably note all of these have a "4" or "3" out of 5 star difficulty rating, which doesn't exactly make sense but oh well.

Death Mountain (Slight Return)

Death mountain, one of the easiest maps from the original game is back and even if my memory isn't the greatest ever I'm pretty sure most of the traps are recycled from the older version of the map so it's basically an "HD" remake of this bar a few unique traps like the platforms at the end that slide out from underneath you and the rotating rocks in the lava that killers can make go into a "hyperspeed" mode. Best part is probably the random lava spheres flying out of the volcano in the center of the map, dunno if they can kill, though.

Poisoned Sky Ruins 

Officially, the first unique map in Deathrun 2. Pointless facts aside what I like about this map is the traps actually make sense. They mesh into the environment and just aren't there as a dead giveaway as to what's coming next. From falling pillars to collapsing ceilings this map has a good amount of variety, along with some older stuff like walls that slide out and knock you into a pit of poison. Though, the main gripe with the map is that monkey trap at the end, I honestly think they need to get a small speed reduction so I'm not stuck jumping at the teleporter to the killer and get mauled to death by monkeys in the process.

Seasonal Island

This map tries a lot of new things, which are to honestly say, a bit hit and miss. Problem with this map mainly is a lot of the traps are very sporadic and never have a consistent point where they will strike, this is especially the downfall of the "lightning cloud" trap and er, water spout trap along an early section of the map? It's a bit hard to explain where half of the traps on this map even fit in. I give points for effort, but if the trap isn't exactly effective then I dunno what to say. Things like the sled section are cool, though.

Surface Escape 

By far my favorite of the current maps in the game, the thumbnail does it no justice at all. It, quite literally, opens with a bang as a section of the wall explodes outward in a chaotic motion killing anyone around, or in front of it. Other clever traps like minecarts that run along rails, flooding water, and a treacherous range of high-rise platforms just ready to sweep you down to your death. Yeah, as you can tell I like this map. Heck, the creator of it even added little drawings for what each of the switches do, pretty cool if you ask me.

Deathrun 2's map line-up thus far is either original and fun to play through, or just gimmicky with many traps that just don't work right. I will say all of these maps are more difficult than some in the original, though. I also forgot to mention each of them has bonus coins you can get if you're willing to go off the beaten path for some extra loot. I don't see the benefit in it but heck, added replayability never hurt anyone.

Creativity 

I don't even know why I bother to add this category anymore, but a Deathrun game on ROBLOX isn't the most creative concept ever but this is probably the best one to date.

Overall

While it isn't a "magnum opus" or one of the best games to come out this year, Deathrun 2 is a fun little time waster and I'm glad to see it brought back up to date instead of just rotting in outdated and broken condition. Erikwesley96 has learned a few things from the first game it would seem too, all things that can be bought in the shop are now purely cosmetic and cannot give players and unfair advantage.

Most, not all, but most problems from the first game have been worked out. GUIs all seem to work fine at this present time at least. A proper spectate mode has been added, but there's still one problem left.. but what could it possibly be? Map design, I know that most of the maps in this game were made by other users besides Erik, but I do think that playtesting new maps before they are added would be a good idea before they're added to the game so they can be edited accordingly. None of the maps in the game are exactly "bad", per say, but Seasonal Island in particular I think needs a revamp, at least in the traps department.

Deathrun 2 isn't about innovation, it's about taking the old and making something higher quality and more polished than the "before" product. While there are new things they can be seen as minor if I'm honest since they don't directly impact gameplay but are rather there to increase longevity.

Apparently you can be killed by
lava boulders on Death Mountain.

If there's anything I can really suggest it's to add more maps to the game, but make sure they're up to a certain standard before adding them in, I'd rather not see another Pyramid of Doom. I wouldn't mind certain maps allowing two killers, just like in the original since it seemed to up the tension since you had to deal with two people, instead of just one. Another concern but I doubt this can be fixed, make players able to walk through each-other so we don't have it to where I try to jump on a platform and the person in front makes it, but I hit them and plummet to my death due to collision.

I'd love to keep rambling on about this game but I'm pretty sure you just want me to say the obvious, Deathrun 2 I would say is a worthy successor to the original. It doesn't have the most replay value right now, but hopefully that changes if they keep updates consistent to keep the game on the front page and people interested. Expect separate posts, or updates to this post regarding new maps as soon as they are added. So, yeah, go play it. (Before you ask going over the game passes, they really aren't anything special).

Another game down, and with no idea of when the next review will be, I'll just say the usual; good day, and thank you for reading another one of my probably monotonous "reviews" about games.

Oh, right, happy holidays!