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Rizek, the once great king, sits alone. Many years have passed since he was betrayed by Kalen, the evil wizard. Klaen has long since fled but for Rizek, the memories of those dark times remain. The beast... the beast is never forgotten.

Long before Rizek's reign, a conquering army invaded the lands to the North. The inhabitants had no answer to their powerful weaponry, as the marauders were the custodians of the Armour of the Gods... items blessed with the power of the sun and the ability to fly. They swept aside all who stood in their way until, with one final desperate act of defiance, the people fought back and defeated the hordes.

Now rumours have surfaced that Kalen has returned... and worse still, that he knows the locations of that legendary and long-lost Armour of the Gods. If this is true and Kalen finds these lost weapons, he will become all-powerful and there will be no hope for Rizek and his people.

Realising that this fight belongs to him alone, Rizek summons his horse and rides once more unto the breach. The time has come to rid these lands of an evil that has lain hidden for far too long. The time has come for Rizek to finally free himself from the beast... and destroy Kalen, once and for all.

Everyone seems to have fond memories of Antiriad even though it was really short, and Soulless 2 certainly aims to play on them. The health and ammo refills appear frequently enough to stave off annoyance and cartograhers will salivate at the extensive maps to explore, no beating this in ten minutes!

However, once you have the armour gun towards the end of level two, there's sadly very little reason to exit the suit unless opening chests - I was hoping for some further sections where you had to proceed on foot, thus losing some sense of the wonder and danger that the first level provided you, even if it overstays its welcome slightly by employing copious amounts of backtracking!

I really enjoyed playing this, but it lacked a little something to push it towards greatness.

I confess I never played Soulless 1, but that means I can review this in its own right without comparison, annnd... Soulless 2 stands on its own "two" feet.

I adore the atmospheric medieval intro sequence which also succinctly deals with the backstory, and the addition of details like the "you enter the forest" Pawn-like graphic were appreciated.

As to the gameplay, there's too much backtracking early on, and the music feels a little soulless (or is it just medieval), but once you get your armour and start flying around, things really... well, fly!

Add to that the creepy baddies, immersive environments, and the temptation to play the whole game again just to improve on the number of crowns you found, and Soulless 2 is a game with soul that's worthy of a crown.

Soulless 2's story may continue where the original left off, but the gameplay has evolved a touch. There's still plenty of running and jumping, but the searching element has been mostly ditched, making for a faster paced game.

Unfortunately, until you find the armour it's slightly too difficult and you don't get to do much of the fun stuff. I can see people getting frustrated by this and maybe giving up which would be a shame as there's a lot to like here if you persevere. This is a tough one to judge after playing the highly enjoyable Soulless Special Edition: it's a more ambitious game, but that first area is just a bit too fiddly and it soured my opinion slightly.

Presentation 83%
Useful continue game option after each level, great intro sequence and choice of music/FX.

Graphics 79%
Superb armour sequence and a distinct theme for each level.

Sound 74%
Downbeat music that lacks some of the original soundtrack's atmosphere.

Hookability 75%
A tricky first level with lots of backtracking could dampen enthusiasm.

Lastability 84%
An epic quest across four huge levels, for those that persevere.

Overall 80%
A worthy and challenging sequel, inspired by a classic.