In the past,
gamers have been plagued with movie-based video games that fail to meet
expectations. The blame can be pointed to many things including lack of time,
resources, and talent to develop the games when the film releases. Luckily,
King Kong does not follow the same path, harnessing the great talent of
Peter Jackson, his eye for quality and detail. And although the game is quite
short and lacks in certain areas, King Kong is an immersive and
exciting adventure never before seen in a film-based title.
Peter
Jackson’s King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie (hence forth to be
called King Kong because typing it all out is just torture) starts you
out on a ship in the 1930s. Filmmaker Carl Denham, a failed director in
desperate need of creating a movie hit, and his screenwriter Jack Driscoll are
in search of a leading lady for their latest project. They find a little
known actress, Ann Darrow, and head to a mysterious island believed to be home
to a dangerous civilization. Lovingly known as Skull Island, the film crew
soon realizes that the land is inhabited with more than just the cast of
Gilligan’s Island. Huge creatures including bats the size of Volkswagens,
prehistoric dinosaurs, and the big ape himself keep Jack and Co. on their toes
at all times. This does, in someway, detract from enjoying the lush
environments on the island that vary from sandy beaches with rocky cliffs to
wet and muddy jungles.
Through the
game, you will play as both Jack (seen in first-person) and King Kong (seen in
third-person). When you play as Jack, more time will be spent moving around
than actually fighting. In fact, calling it fighting is a lot like calling a
kickboxing round between Chuck “Iceman” Liddell and Stephen Hawking a fair
match. Everything Jack does to survive consists of shooting
less-than-effective guns and throwing bones and spears to merely buy him more
time. Although this may sound less like a game and more like old school
memories trying to run away from wedgy-delivering bullies, it works pretty
well and adds a huge amount of suspense.
All creatures
will attack you and when you are eventually hurt, the screen flashes red. There is no health bar, but as long as you don’t get multiple hits when
damaged you wont need to keep tabs on the status of your health (of course,
larger beasts like the T-Rex will kill you in one bite and you can watch as he
swallows you whole). While playing, you will immediately notice the lack of a
cross-hair which feels awkward at first but adds to the realism of life
(although it’s debatable if one would ever encounter a living Tyrannosaurus
Rex in the near future). The weapons that Jack is capable of using are
scarcely available throughout the levels. Although ammunition is dropped from
a sea plane in crates, bones and spears can be found all around the island.
King Kong also features a few puzzle elements to the game including
searching for wood logs to open large rotating doors and lighting bushes on
fire to clear a path.
Though the
majority of the game will be played through the eyes of Jack, the coolest
parts of the game are when Kong and T-Rex battle. The fights between the
massive beasts get extremely intense when Kong is outnumbered, even though
battles consist of button smashing and a few camera problems when in its
cinematic view. Besides fighting, jumping around the island really feels like
a 38-ton gorilla (I googled it) is flying through the vines and cliffs
carrying a 100 pound blond in your arms. It really is a shame that more time
wasn’t put into developing gameplay for Kong, because the game is pretty short
even for a movie-based game. I just received the game and was amazed I played
through it so fast (about 6-7 hours). This leaves the replay value almost
non-existent.
Where the game
really pulls through is the graphics.
The designers have created a
dreary atmospheric tension on the island that I haven’t seen in games for a
long time, adding a level of suspense and doom that many games neglect to
include. I don’t know about the rest of you, but breaking away from the
"super-soldier" mentality that developers are fond of (where heroes can take
dozens of bullets to the chest and then shake it off) is like a breath of
fresh air. In King Kong, you know
death is just one wrong step away. And although some character and weapon
models are lacking, for the most part the environments and lighting effects on
Skull Island (New York City looks as if it was thrown together rather quickly)
are top notch on the Xbox. All of the main actors from the film cast their
voices for the game. Jack Black who plays Carl definitely hogs most of the
voiceover scripting, which is good considering Adrien Brody who plays Jack is
pretty much mute in the game. King Kong and the other creatures sound better
than they look with the ferocious roars and chest beating. Adding to the
sound is the visual blurring effect any time a beast roars in your direction
(Are those goosebumps? Oh, yes they are). The game also features an
outstanding soundtrack.
Altogether,
Peter Jackson helped this game in a big way by making you feel apart of the
movie. King Kong is too short to enjoy for more than a couple of
weeks. But if you are looking for something different than just a typical
first-person shooter, this is definitely one of the best film-to-game
translations ever released and worth renting.
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Gameplay: 8.3
Besides being way
too short for comfort, the gameplay features suspense at every turn. I also
liked the simplicity of the game such as the exclusion of a cross-hair and
health bar
Graphics: 8.4
The creature and
weapon models aren’t very detailed but the lush environments and effects help
make up for it
Sound: 8.7
T-Rex’s never
sounded so good since Jurassic Park (Number I, not II, and especially
not III). The entire
King Kong soundtrack is composed of
original music scores written and orchestrated by award-winning composer
Chance Thomas, who previously worked on Vivendi-Universal’s
Lord of the Rings series as musical
director.
Difficulty: Medium
Concept: 8.5
People thought
Peter Jackson was crazy making Lord of the Rings into a movie. Looks
like the crazy man is at it again!
Overall: 8.4
For any of you
that are looking for a new experience for your Xbox console, Peter
Jackson’s King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie is something you
should check out. Although it’s only worth renting because of its briefness,
Peter Jackson has made sure his game is one hell of an adventure (Did I
mention he lost weight? It’s probably from all the hard work he spent on this
title).
