Metacritic Games

Blinx 2: Masters of Time & Space (Xbox)

Blinx 2: Masters of Time & Space is the world's first 5-D game, giving players control over both Time and Space. Using customized characters, gamers can play Battle Mode either on one Xbox or over Xbox Live. Players take on the persona of a heroic cat bravely taking control of time in order to face tough battles and puzzling challenges. Just like using a VCR remote control, players' customized cats have the power to slow down the action, pause, review, fast-forward, record and even combine them in challenging situations. As the story unfolds, players will need to step into the role of the enemy pigs to gain control of the space continuum in a variety of stealth missions. Players who create their own customized pigs will feel like they have control over black holes and worm holes. The game allows gamers to enlist their friends to play in various multiplayer modes. Players can grab a friend and play through the story in two-player cooperative mode, compete in multiplayer Battle Mode with up to eight players via Xbox Live, or on one Xbox with four players. Gamers can choose to lead a squad of cats using time control powers or command a team of enemy pigs using space control powers. Blinx 2 allows players to fully customize their cats and pigs by designing the character's face, body and clothing. Additionally, gamers can customize their Xbox Live teams to reflect their unique style by designing uniforms, flags, emblems and even weapons. [Microsoft]

Microsoft
Action, Platform
Players: 8
E (Everyone)
Developer: Artoon
Released November 16, 2004

Overall Metascore

This is a weighted, normalized average of all individual scores given by critics, on a scale of 0 (worst) to 100 (best).

68 / 100

Critic Reviews

91 Play Magazine
This is just masterful game making, pure and simple. [Dec 2004, p.66]
90 GamePro
While the Time Sweeper platformer aspect of the game is tight, the Tom Tom pig gameplay is where Blinx 2 really shines.
85 TotalGames.net
It's not a must-have classic but it's certainly one of the best fluffy platformers on the Xbox. The sheer polish of the game should also help broaden Blinx's appeal even further.
85 GamingTrend
The camera angles are much improved and it's much easier since you don't have to micromanage the order of the time crystals that are vacuumed up. However, the difficulty of the game can be a bit frustrating at times.
84 Game Chronicles
The original gameplay has been polished to near-perfection and the added elements of combat, stealth, and action, combined with traditional platform puzzles and collectibles certainly make this one of the best of the few platform titles actually available for the Xbox.
82 Next Level Gaming
But to add some of the game elements that Artoon did such as oh, almost a whole second game with the Tom Tom Gang, and weaving it into the story, not to mention the 2 player co-op mode, does add make for nice improvements over the original game.
82 GameZone
It's certainly a solid game, and no, the time controls aren't impressive as they were a while back, but they're still fun and make the game unique.
80 VGPub
I'm also surprised at how well the audio came out here. The music, in particular, does a fantastic job at getting across the overall vibe of the area you're in, and/or, the side you"re playing on.
80 Computer and Video Games
Blinx 2 is on par with the original, but the fact is that there are better alternatives out there that don't muddy the platform fun with complicated game mechanics and dull level design. [Official UK Xbox Magazine]
79 IGN
This should be a quick pick-up-play game, but it's not. At times it's tedious and intrusive. At other times it's clever and engaging.
78 DailyGame
Controls are a bit complex for kids and too unoriginal for adults.
78 PGNx Media
The game has solid gameplay mechanics, multiplayer support, visuals and sound, although the lack of a likeable cast and somewhat uncomplicated style of play keep it from being a true gem.
77 Gaming Target
Despite some problems with the iffy lock on system, lack lustre presentation and the average story, Blinx 2 is still an overall fun title.
76 Official Xbox Magazine
A merely pleasant romp that has very little spunk or spine. [Jan 2005, p.76]
75 3DAvenue
While the gameplay is well supplemented with the ability to control time and space in certain aspects, the problem is these aspects are too scripted, and even when the game isn't telling you exactly what to do and how to do it, it is still too obvious what works where, basically creating predictable and unimaginative gameplay.
75 GameBiz
A seasoned gamer may just feel that it is a little bit too easy for them, but its worth a look with outstanding graphics and decent sound.
75 1UP
You can't help but feel like Artoon underachieved with Blinx 2 (especially with the boring, offline-only multiplayer mode), but you'll forgive them long enough to play through the game once.
75 eToychest
While Blinx 2 is nothing new, and definitely not brilliant, it is something that may be worth a rental for a few hours' worth of fun, if only to watch some of the FMVs and chuckle at the cats and their vacuum cleaners.
75 PALGN
Custom soundtracks and Xbox Live support (any form of it) would have bumped this score up to an eighty, but as it stands we feel that Microsoft may have rushed this out a bit to soon.
74 TeamXbox
If Blinx 2 were a house, it would be considered "cozy." By that I mean it is a relatively nice and well put together home, but it isn't quite what most people would want in that it may fall a bit short at accommodating for ones needs as well as desires.
72 Games Radar UK (Pre-2006)
It's an improvement on the original but still far from offering you the time of your life. [GamesMaster]
70 GameShark
The game has been simplified to give more casual and younger players an easier play experience, but hardcore gamers may find the gameplay too simple for their tastes.
70 DarkStation
The one part of Blinx I disliked the most is how repetitive and downright boring the game got.
70 GamerFeed
The constant shift between action and stealth gameplay keeps things fresh and exciting, and the constant chatter between your character and the operator means that you'll rarely get lost.
70 Game Informer
The game is the worst type of Renasissance man - Jack of all trades, master of none. [Jan 2005, p.133]
70 Boomtown
It never even gets close to matching the presentation and gameplay of the PS2’s Sly Raccoon and Jak and Daxter and even Voodoo Vince, the other Xbox exclusive platformer, knocks Blinx 2 for six half the time.
70 Xbox Nation Magazine
Simply an unassuming, solid, and well-executed platformer. [Jan 2005, p.91]
70 games(TM)
Cross-breeds cats and pigs with great success... The whole experience is one that at no point takes itself seriously and the gorgeous cartoon world of the first game returns shinier than ever, complete with similarly insane bouncy tunes. [Jan 2005, p.102]
70 GMR Magazine
It's a shame Artoon didn't have enough faith in the gamer to really let this kitty off the leash. [Feb 2005, p.97]
70 Xbox World Australia
Suffers from a real distinctive lack of style. Nothing about it stands out, even the fancy hard disk recording Time Control mechanism.
69 Worth Playing
Even if you only slightly enjoyed the first game, you will find enough in its sequel that you should probably pick this one up, especially with the inclusion of a co-op multiplayer mode. If you hated Blinx before, Blinx 2 is basically more of the same.
67 Electronic Gaming Monthly
The original was an infamous flop, but the sequel is unexpectedly well crafted, nicely executed, and fun. [Jan 2005, p.137]
65 Armchair Empire
I really did not like Blinx 2 in the least. What could have been a redemptive game that just needed to retool a predecessor that really wasn't that far off from being a very good game turned into a disaster.
63 Jolt Online Gaming UK
Sure the kiddies might like it, but big kids should avoid this one unless you have a good reason to make your brain go numb.
63 Gamer's Hell
The bottom line is that the game really just isn't much fun.
63 GameSpot
The additions made to the game seem largely perfunctory when you consider that the underlying gameplay is still quite dull, and that the game simply lacks an engaging storyline or characters worth caring about. The fundamentals needed to make a quality platformer just aren't here.
62 Gamers' Temple
A very run of the mill platform game. You'll probably want to fast-forward past this one.
60 Gamezilla!
I think the graphics in this game were best summed up by one of my friends, who said that these graphics couldn't be more annoying if they tried.
60 Extreme Gamer
There really isn't much mojo to be found in Blinx 2. Although you can do some cool things like dodging bullets, and freezing time the fact that you're a cat really takes away from it. The music, graphics, lack of monsters, bad story, bad voice acting, cartoony feel, and boring gameplay also help make this a fairly mojo deprived game.
60 My Gamer
In the end, his sassiness may save the day, but perhaps Blinx realizes that he, like the rest of us, is just along for this ridiculous ride. If Microsoft was looking for a system mascot to equal the likes of Crash, Mario, or Sonic, then they'll have to keep looking.
60 Eurogamer
Completely harmless and sure to get a giggle from younger gamers.
60 Cheat Code Central
A perplexing amalgam of moves, gadgets, puzzles, characters and situations that don't blend. Imagine if you could hear every individual voice in a choir instead of one, massive, aural wave.
54 Xequted
Blinx 2: Masters of Time and Space had the makings of a good game, but poor storyline, painful acting, and lobotomy-level difficulty turned it into a sub-par platformer.
50 Detroit Free Press
This bizarre tale of time-sweeping cats battling a gang of greedy rival pigs for control of time and space -- topped off with ho-hum dialogue and freaky angelic entities -- is just weird.
50 Edge Magazine
Given the power at the player’s fingertips to rewind, pause, fast forward and even record time, the scope for creating some genuinely engaging and ingenious situations is still as immense as it ever was. But, in actuality, everything is blandly obvious and ironically one-dimensional, and the use of the rewind function is still as chronological as it ever was. [Jan 2005, p.91]
50 Sydney Morning Herald
The swine stealth offers welcome variety but skulking is not as much fun as manipulating time, and a wayward camera becomes annoying.
50 RewiredMind
Nothing terrible, nothing amazing.
50 Gaming Maxx
The game itself is long, but without an interesting story, fun characters, or even challenging puzzles, this version of Blinx just misses the opportunity to make up for the first outing.
50 Game Revolution
The combination of an indecipherable plot, throwaway character design, 90% standard platformer gameplay and the world's most irritating music counteract what should have been some interesting additions to an old genre.
50 GameSpy
All we get here is more of the potential and less of the execution, when it would be better off the other way around.
42 Gaming Age
Just mediocre. It's not entirely devoid of creativity as the aspect of time control lends itself to clever puzzles, but the flawed hint system destroys any sense of challenge in solving those puzzles.
40 G4 TV
Avoid this one; it’s a hairball that’s not worth coughing up the cash to play.
40 Gamer.tv
A very run-of-the-mill platform adventure...It's all spoon-fed to you.

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