If there's one thing you can't deny about ExZeus 2, it's the game's ambition. It sets out to create an action-packed mech shooting and fighting extravaganza by regularly switching-up its gameplay. One moment you're flying around the city blasting aircraft like a stage of Space Harrier, the next you're getting down and dirty at ground level in a 3D shoot-and-brawl section. You'll even find yourself in charge of a motorcycle attempting to avoid obstacles and take out enemies with your lethal drift. The problem is that the dev appears to have put so much energy into providing variety, it didn't have the time to fine-tune all these individual elements.

The controls vary depending on the situation. There's the option to use tilt controls for the flying sections, and an on-screen d-pad and buttons for the fighting and bike sections. Alternatively, you can just use a d-pad setup throughout.

The flying segments work well enough, To fire your gun you touch the right side of the screen, with the left side locking on with missiles. The fighting controls are a little more stiff and awkward, with the d-pad controlling both movement and camera. Each directional command can be double-tapped for a boost in that direction, but turning is always cumbersome.Things get worse in the motorbike sections, with the drifts not always turning in the direction you're travelling.

Out of all of these sections, the flying is the most intuitive. But by far the most enjoyable is the combat. One reason for this is the satisfying impact of the weapons and melee attacks. Boosting up to a warmech and punching it into oblivion is one of those little joys that only videogames can provide. The guns don't exactly have weight behind them, but that is counterbalanced by the explosions that they ignite in your metallic foes. This makes the brawling section enjoyable despite the clunky movement.

Unfortunately, this sense of gratification doesn't extend to the other sections. There is simply too much going on in the flying segments to fully enjoy soaring around the skies, with your shields and health gradually whittling away, often without being able to identify the source.

The game apparently supports the iCade peripheral, which might help with the brawling and motorbike sections. Whichever controls method you use, however, it still feels like more time went into creating variety set pieces, rather than fine-tuning the mechanics. Fans of mech combat might get some enjoyment out of Exzeus 2, but until it can work on its problems (hopefully in a future patch), it's hard to justify the relatively high purchase price.