SUMMONER 2 is an action role playing game and this time round you play as Maia, Queen of Halassar. A queen with many enemies.

The story starts when Maia is born and a priestess hails her as the reborn goddess Laharah, the creator of the world.

This starts a civil war between believers and non- believers and this is where the main game begins.

The side quests or mini games within the main game consist of the usual "fetch this item and take it there" and "solve this puzzle to earn some extra money" type quests.

Then theres the money managing part of the game. You need to spend wisely, invest in medicine, buy supplies, weapons etc. and generally keep the town folk happy, or you can also gamble on the outcome of a gladiator fight to increase your kitty.

These mini games can sidetrack you from the main story line but its up to you which way you play and what the outcome is.

The graphics are OK but not up to some other PS2 games standards. Whereas the voiceovers are very good, and the background music has a Middle Eastern/Indian feel to it and fits well in to the theme.

I havent played the first Summoner but I have read Summoner 2 is a big improvement on its predecessor. Its still got a long way to go to make it a top seller.

Graphics 2/5

Sound 2/5

Playability 2/5

Overall 2/5

Bev Mytom