There's no denying that Drawn to Life offers a very interesting and unusual concept. Taking platform games beyond the usual boundaries, THQ have produced a sequel that allows you to continue the creative adventures of the original Drawn to Life and let your imagination run wild.

Drawn to Life is essentially a platform game but with one key difference: you draw many of the objects that you interact with or see in your surroundings. And of course you also draw your daring hero (though mine was definitely more comical than courageous!). The good thing about Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter is that even if you aren't a particularly good artist or skilled with the Wii remote, it is still straightforward to create items that are easy to interact with.

The charm of seeing your own drawings and creations scattered around the screen cannot be understated and actually using your own character to interact with these objects is great fun. It's a concept that will ensure that the game engages all who play it and also offers a slightly different play experience for each individual.

The storyline is quite straightforward. You play the Creator and it is your role to watch over the Raposa people. However, mysterious thefts have been plaguing the village and therefore the Creation Hero is summoned to help solve the mystery. Throughout the game you must ensure that you recover “Items of Power” before irreversible damage is done to the world and indeed to yourself as Creator.

Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter involves playing through various levels in order to pursue the missing items but also to complete other smaller challenges for the Raposa people, including collecting plants for the farmer and ingredients for the cook. Additionally there are 'Raposa Games' to be played: competitive mini-gamesss which can be played by one or two players and include 'Rapo-Kick', 'Rapo-Net' and 'Rapo-Puck'.

Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter is rated for 3+. There's no doubt that it would be utterly enthralling for a very young child to see drawings moving about on the screen but I suspect the game is a little too fiddly for very small children. Slightly older children, particularly 7+, will probably find this absolutely wonderful. It's a fun game even without the added bonus of the creative aspects: being able to personalise it in your own way would surely thrill any child.

Overall, this is an extremely enjoyable title with much to recommend it. I had a ball playing it, even though most of my drawn objects were sadly unrecognisable. My lack of drawing ability didn't hamper the game or my own enjoyment of it, however.  Indeed, it only made it all the more amusing and entertaining. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it.

**Review by Donna Haw**