The Xbox game Phantom Crash has always been one of those titles that I've almost bought several times, yet for some reason I haven't been able to fully convince myself that it's worth playing because of its lukewarm reception by the gaming public. However, the first game's lack of success hasn't stopped a sequel from being made, and now that Konami's at the helm and the platform's been changed to Sony's PS2, this series may garner a lot more respect.

While the game features several new additions to the gameplay, the concept from the first Phantom Crash remains intact. Set in the future (2071 to be exact), humans wage war in a post apocalyptic world where robot fighting has become the most popular sport. First, you customize your mech, and it's here where the game first gets interesting because Konami's boasting that there are well over one million possible variations, which is very appealing when compared to Custom Robo's paltry offerings. The customization is not only great for gamers that love to tinker, but also important because it leaves everyone looking rather unique.

After designing your robot, you then enter several battle arenas and basically destroy each other. There are numerous arenas, and you'll travel all over the place, including London, New York City, and Las Vegas. The game features a first and third person view, and all robots have the ability to become invisible for select periods of time, which allows for some stealthy kills among the chaos, and while the game comes with a two player versus mode, Phantom Crash's main selling point is its online play. Up to eight players (four on each team) can duke it out over Sony's online network, and when one dies, another gamer can immediately take his or her place, which should make for some long lasting battles, though how either side can win with new players continuously jumping into the fray remains a mystery.

Based on what I saw at E3, the game definitely looks promising. Graphically, it's very sharp, and the explosions looked nice. In fact, my only major problem with it was the whacky camera that had the energy of a caffeine-driven five year old. It was just all over the place to the point where it was obnoxious.

Phantom Crash doesn't release until 2005, so there's still plenty of time left for the developers to tweak the camera. However, what they had at E3 looked solid, and if they polish it just a bit, it'll be an excellent addition to Sony's ever growing online library.