Rengoku II: The Stairway to H.E.A.V.E.N. (PSP)

GameSpot editors' review

• CNET editors' rating: 3.0 stars Good
  Detailed editors' rating
  Overall score: 6.4 (3.0 stars)

• Reviewed by:
  Ryan Davis
• Reviewed on: 09/29/2006
• Released on: 09/12/2006
• Originally published on GameSpot: Rengoku II: The Stairway to H.E.A.V.E.N. (PSP) Review

Rengoku II: The Stairway to H.E.A.V.E.N. doesn't completely compensate for the murky pool of tedium that was the original Rengoku, but Hudson and Konami have undoubtedly started taking its concept of grim robot gladiatorial combat in the right direction. The tight focus on robot death and robot customization remains the same, but it's done more thoughtfully here, with a greater selection of weapons, more-interesting arenas, and better overall pacing. It's not hard to spend hours tweaking your android and then testing your configuration in battle, but even as the gear gets better, the action never really changes, and it can become a bit of a chore after a while.

Like its predecessor, Rengoku II puts you in the role of an A.D.A.M., a type of highly advanced battle android that proved so powerful in a past war that they ended all war as we know it. With no more wars to fight, the A.D.A.M.s have been sealed away inside a gigantic tower and used for gladiatorial entertainment. The plot revolves around the mystery of your A.D.A.M.'s past, which is intertwined with that of a scientist named Beatrice and involves a dead squad of human soldiers that have been imbued with the same "elixir skin" technology that powers the A.D.A.M.s. The story takes a long time to gain momentum or start making much sense, due partially to the fact that it's all conveyed through text that seems to oscillate between overly ornate and badly translated, but there's something kind of cool about the way your character slowly learns his true nature.

The drama definitely takes a backseat to the action, though. You start off on floor zero in your tower with the ultimate objective of fighting your way up to the top level, and each area is littered with antagonistic androids. While you don't need to destroy each and every robot to advance to the next floor, hidden in each floor is a series of sub-bosses that you'll need to ferret out before you're given access to that floor's main boss. Before you enter combat, you'll want to hit your current floor's terminal, where you can upgrade a suite of character stats and choose which weapons you want to equip. All of the gear you'll use in Rengoku II comes off of fallen enemies, and unlike in the original game, there's a great variety of weapons for you to find from the very first floor. You'll start off with simple blade and melee weapons, but it's not long before you're strapped with crazy energy weapons and heavy munitions. Your robotic chassis is divvied up into five sections--head, torso, left arm, right arm, and legs. Each piece of gear will work only on certain sections--though there's a lot of overlap between the head, arms, and torso--and there's also a limited number of uses and a heat rating to consider.

If one of your weapons runs out of energy while you're in combat, you have a few options. You can hoof it back to the terminal to recharge, you can find one of the several teleporters on each floor to get to the terminal instantly, or, to postpone the issue for a while, you can equip yourself with gear that will replenish your weapon energy a few times without going back to the terminal. Heat is also a big issue for your android, and high-impact weapons tend to overheat quickly. To make your choices even tougher, weapons improve with use, so you'll regularly have to decide whether you want to continue with your older, more experienced weapon, or move on to something weaker that has more future potential.

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