Put the Pedal to the Metal and Make Your Getaway in PAKO 2
PAKO 2 ($1.99) by Tree Men Games is the sequel to the original PAKO that came out four years ago. If you were a fan of the first game, or like games such as Grand Theft Auto, then PAKO 2 is a must.
When I checked out PAKO when it first came out, I was intrigued. What drew me in was the low-poly art style, and what appeared to be a simple game mechanic that tests how long you can survive. It was a quick little arcade game that killed time, was insanely fun, and hard to put down once you got the hang of things. It became one of my favorite iOS games for a while, so I was incredibly excited to learn that there was a sequel. As a huge fan of the first game, I can say that PAKO 2 improves and builds upon the original title for a more immersive and engaging experience.
App Feels Like
App Feels Like
Visually, PAKO 2 is a unique blend of handcrafted, highly detailed environments with low-poly vehicles and explosions. The game is rendered in 3D and has an angled, top-down perspective so you can see everything happening on screen in a single glance. PAKO 2 has five huge areas to drive in, and they're all quite different from each other (the desert, downtown, snowy mountains, and more) but pack in a ton of fine details, such as lighting, shadows, and textures. The colors are a nice mix of muted earthy tones to bright, vibrant shades, so everything is visually appealing to the eye. Animations are super smooth and fluid, so there's no lag on my iPhone 8 Plus. The electro soundtrack is a delight to the ears, and the sound effects are fairly realistic, particularly those police sirens.
Like the original, PAKO 2 has only one game mode, but the gameplay is much more involved now. Previously, you'd just have the car and just outrun the cops as long as you can. The police would get more aggressive the longer you outrun them, making it harder to last.
But in PAKO 2, you must now drive to certain destinations on the huge map and pick up your crew members in the getaway car. They'll shoot down the cops chasing you while you head to the next destination, as indicated by the arrow, to drop them off. Once you drop them off, your car is basically refueled in terms of health, and you get money for your trouble.
Controls in PAKO 2 are the same as the first game. Since the car is always in motion, you're responsible for steering. Just tap on the left side of the screen to steer left, and the right half for turning right. In order to brake, just press both halves at the same time.
If you want to evade the cops and earn some dough, then you're going to have to do some sick moves with these simple controls to outwit them. Their numbers increase and they get more aggressive as time goes on, so make sure you outmaneuver them as well as have your crew take care of them with firepower. Oh, and watch out for their police choppers too.
The more crew members you escort to safety, the more money you earn. Eventually, you will get busted, or just fall down a pit and crash or something along those lines, since each car holds only a certain amount of hit points). The longer you manage to hold out, the better. You'll earn cash depending on your overall performance.
The dough you earn can be spent to purchase new getaway cars or maps. There's a huge plethora of vehicles to choose from, whether you want a sporty muscle car or a rugged pickup truck, to a fancy limo or even the classic Bonnie & Clyde car. No matter what you're looking for, you'll find it for sale in PAKO 2.
If you don't feel like buying a new vehicle just yet, you can spend that cash on new maps as well. These start off reasonably priced, but do get more expensive as you go. I suppose it's a way to prevent players from getting all areas too soon, but still. You'll have to work for the new maps, which are all pretty vast, so there's plenty to discover.
The car chase simulator returns with more action and more expansive locations.
The Good
PAKO 2 is an excellent sequel that fleshes out the simple gameplay mechanic into something much deeper. The graphics are a big step up from the previous game as well, though it still retains some low-poly elements in the proper places. The game also makes it easy to see where your destination is, but it's getting there that's a challenge. The variety of cars and areas to purchase mean the game has high replay value, and honestly, this game is just too fun to put down.
The Bad
While I love almost everything about PAKO 2, I wish that the areas weren't so expensive to unlock. I also noticed that sometimes it's hard to tell when your car flips over or gets reversed, and then you're moving in the opposite direction of where you want to go. It's a little annoying and just hard to see when that happens, so maybe that can be improved somehow.
The verdict
Overall, PAKO 2 is an incredible followup to an already great game. PAKO 2 also has even more polished graphics that are hard to not love, great music and sound, and simple yet effective controls. The new areas are packed with detail and are huge, so there's plenty of room, and the amount of cars you can get are crazy. This is definitely one that you'll be replaying over and over until you have them all.
PAKO 2 is available on the App Store as a universal download for your iPhone and iPad for just $1.99. There are no in-app purchases.
