Thepwnboss and I decided to team up for our epic game of Stick ‘Em Up 2: Paper Adventures. Along the way we meet terrorists, pirates, ninjas and a whole shower of shooting stars. With our various weapons and vehicles we conquered everything that opposed us.

So what is Stick ‘Em Up?, you ask. Stick ‘Em Up is a platform game where you play as stick figures. I’ve only played the trial version of the first one now, so I don’t have a full experience of the entire series. The second greatly improves the graphics of the first (which were really just stick figures) and turns everything into a paper form. The game now looks beautiful. With multiple landscapes to battle through, Stick ‘Em Up stays fresh to the very end. The game can be played with up to four players locally (although this time it was just me and the pwnboss). It also features some sort of deathmatch mode for up to four players.

Again, I will say that Stick ‘Em Up 2 looks amazing. It’s a beautifully designed world and a joy to play. The soundtrack is well done and goes along with the atmosphere. The game itself is solid and the controls work well. Right trigger to fire and left trigger to jump allow you to aim well and efficiently. There is also a lot of diversity with all the unique areas and weapons given to you at each level. Running across the moon is something you don’t do every day, any more than fighting pirates or throwing shurikens in feudal Japan. Not to mention, you can do all of this with three other people.

Unfortunately the game is short, very short. The game features six levels, all of which can be completed in around three minutes or less. In those six levels there is almost too much variety. The first level, which is also the tutorial and test level, features an assault rifle and a rocket launcher. This is the only modern level in the game, after that you’ll never see your rifle again and the only time you’ll get another rocket launcher is for shooting shooting stars. Sure deflecting bullets with your sword is fun, but it’s also fun to carry guns. There are challenges to complete that can give a bit more replay value along with some difficulty modes. From my playthrough to testing the first game, I saw that there were bonus effects that you could activate after finding secrets. I have not found anything similar in the second. The one on one I had with Thepwnboss wasn’t anything special either, but it’s there if you’re interested.

This game has just enough quality and polish to be an Xbox Live arcade title. I just think it’s too short. The game sells for 240 microsoft points ($3). I read that they may add more content to the game later. This would make the game a much more worthwhile purchase.

Until then, Stick ‘Em Up 2 gets 3/4.