Joe Danger 2: The Movie

Joe Danger 2 brings new scenarios and vehicles for the titular stuntman character.

Joe Danger 2: The Movie is a pseudo-sequel to its predecessor. In it stuntman Joe Danger has gained favor with a movie director in Hollywood and is brought on to perform all the stunts on set.[1] The fictional movie sequences consist entirely of cliche action stunts and so he must perform chase scenes on mini carts, skis, and police bikes.[1] This spans 25 stages across five acts, with a director's cut unlocking once all stages are complete. This gives alternative stages and scenarios to play.[2] Secondary objectives can be completed in each stage. Each level has collectable letters spelling D-A-N-G-E-R, similar to the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater games and the collection of the letters S-K-A-T-E. Other secondary objects are themed according to the stage and what the scene for the movie requires.[3]

The game features a level editor which allows players to create their own scenarios. Local multiplayer is also available for up to four players. The PlayStation 3 version also features additional Gaiden stages, which are additional motorcycle-based challenges that are a "throwback to when [Hello Games] made the original Joe Danger", according to Sean Murray.[4][5] Players can unlock various helmets and racing suits, and Joe's main racing suit and helmet are available as avatar awards on the Xbox 360.[6] A downloadable content pack was released entitled Undead Movie, which featured several Halloween and horror themed environments and characters such as zombies, werewolves, and a suit for Joe akin to Marvel Comics' Ghost Rider. In total it adds 15 stages and six new characters to the game.[7]

Following the commercial success of Joe Danger, Hello Games began to run job adverts on their website, indicating work on a new project.[8] They began to hire and moved offices towards the end of the year.[9][10] After an announcement on Hello Games' website the week before, Joe Danger: The Movie, as it was then known, was presented for the first time at Gamescom in Cologne in August 2011.[11] The game has similar gameplay, but takes place on the set of a film about the daredevil;[12] players complete objectives unique to each level set by a "mysterious director".[13] IGN noted that the premise is a "good excuse" to parody famous scenes from certain films.[14]

Sean Murray told Matt Miller of Game Informer that the game is "kind of" a sequel to Joe Danger, but that he envisioned the game as big enough to dwarf the original.[15] He indicated the game involves "a load of vehicles" in a variety of locales.[16] At the Penny Arcade Expo, the game was presented on both Microsoft Windows and Xbox 360, which Stephen Totilo of Kotaku interpreted as a broadening of scope for the studio;[12] a promotional image released with the announcement indicated Hello were unsure of how it would be released. The game was released on for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on 14 September 2012.[17][18] It released on Microsoft Windows on 14 June 2023, followed by Mac OS X and Linux on 7 January 2014.[19][20] This release features Team Fortress 2 characters and Minecraft-themed levels.[21] A PlayStation Vita release followed in January 2015, featuring Sackboy and Tearway, characters from the PlayStation Littlebigplanet franchise.[22]

Joe Danger 2: The Movie received generally favorable reviews. On review aggregator Metacritic it holds a score of 78/100, 79/100, 82/100 and 82/100 for PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, Microsoft Windows and Xbox 360, respectively.[23][24][25][26]