Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon – PS2 – Review – PS2 – Review

I was skeptical sitting in the
movie theatre before the lights dimmed for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. 
Watching a foreign film with subtitles mixed with unrealistic martial art action
didn’t seem like the ideal activity for a Friday night.  But as the movie
went on, I realized that there was more to kung-fu movies than Jackie Chan and
the Karate kid.  The movie was innovative, inspirational, and totally fun. 
Unfortunately, I found none of these qualities present in this Ubi Soft title
based on the movie.

But let’s talk story.  You step
into the shoes of Li Mu Bai, legendary warrior wielding the great sword Green
Destiny who has now laid down his sword; Yu Shu Lien, one of the greatest
swordswoman of her day with a secret passion for Mu Bai; and Jen, a young girl
breaking free of the aristocratic world that has trapped her into marrying a man
she does not love.  Li Mu Bai has been after the notorious murderer, Jade Fox,
for years to avenge the death of his master.  However, Jen’s caretaker is
secretly Jade Fox and she teaches Jen the ways of the Wudan to become a great
swordswoman.  This mess continues as Mu Bai realizes the truth and works hard to
make Jen his student.  But of course, Jen and Jade Fox won’t allow this.  There
are also some romances between Yu and Mu Bai and Jen and her lover.  Oh
yes…there is also some battle scenes much similar to dancing with knives.

Now, back to the game.  If some
of you are wondering what took so long, about 3 years since the release of the
movie, so am I.  But even if this game came out along with the movie, it would
be just as disappointing.  You won’t see much of the story, there are a few cut
scenes from the movie, but most of the non-action info is given to you in
scrolling words.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
tries to make the fighting as artistic as the movies yet ended up turning into a
failed hack ‘n slash.   One thing I had a big
problem with is the control.  Though each character offers a few special moves
and special blocking system, most of the time you’re just smashing buttons.  One
thing that some of you may like is running up and down walls, lengthy jumps, and
other CTHD magical moves.  But pretty soon, even that gets old.  Tied with
meaningless tasks,  and following colored torches to figure out where
you are supposed to go, added to the mediocrity.

The graphics were also
mediocre, offering a problematic camera system and basic models that are nothing
to remember.  The sound offers slight improvement, but like I have said for
every game, if the sound is better than the game play, something is
seriously wrong.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
may be worth renting, but if you are looking for a top-notch video game to meet
the high standard of martial arts that the movie brought, you’re out of luck.

Gameplay: 5
Unfortunately, CTHD didn’t match up to my expectations at all.  I was
expecting to play art in a console, it just didn’t work out.

Graphics: 5.5
Simple but unimpressive.

Sound: 6.5
Similar music that you had to be immersed in while watching the movie. 
The sound FX may be limited, but true to the action.

Difficulty: Medium

Concept: 7.0
The idea was excellent.  If it would have been developed in time for
the release of the movie, it would carry enough hype to bring in a good fortune. 
But even after 3 years, the premise is still cool.

Overall: 5.5
If they dropped CTHD down to 20 bucks, I’d say go for it.  In any other
case, it’s a mediocre title with few bells and whistles.