Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief – NDS – Review

Percy Jackson and
the Olympians: The Lightning Thief did not get the console movie-to-game
treatment that children/teen movies usually get. Instead,
all it got was a Nintendo DS release. And like most movie tie-in games, it falls
a bit short of success.

Percy Jackson tells the story of kids that are born as Demigods, or half human
and half gods. Percy himself is the son of Poseidon, and
he is accused by Zeus to be the thief of his famous lightning bolt.

The game itself is strictly all turn-based combat. The player picks a spot on a
map, usually marked with a star, indicating the next objective. Then the
characters exchange words, of which there is a lot for a kids game, and move
onto the battle. Anyone familiar with any Japanese role-playing game
will feel right at home.

The player controls
a party of up to three people, giving orders every turn. They can attack, heal,
and use team–based offensive moves. Added in is the use
of the touch screen whenever a critical hit is landed by doing quick strokes, or
touching the screen right before being attacked to lower the damage.

Overall the battle
system is fun, and does require some thought, when it comes to picking whether
to use a turn to attack, or rather boost up the teams morale for a chance to use
a team–based attack. Experience points are earned after
every battle, allowing the player to upgrade any character from the party. The
only problem with this system is that it doesn’t know what type of crowd it
wants to appeal to.

Many young kids will
feel that the combat is too slow, since the game is strictly turn-based combat.
The omission of any sort of platforming might disappoint some as well. On the
other hand, older players will feel like the game is too easy and too childish,
and won’t offer any real challenge. Percy Jackson pigeonholes its
audience and may have a hard time drawing a large audience that accepts its
niche gameplay.

The visuals are adequate for the demographics it’s trying to appeal to.
However, it’s a little disappointing,
that there are few animations for each character, which means you will be seeing
a lot of repeated animations, even though you are using different skills. The
story is presented as static cutscenes that feature cel-shaded caricatures of
each person, though hardly resembling their on screen counterpart.

The music is done fairly well and fits the situation you’re in. The
battle music is appropriately fast and tense. On the other hand, the grunts and
yells during battle are extremely poor. Percy sounds like he’s 30, and many of
the women sound like men, attempting to sound like women.

Percy Jackson is a nice little diversion. Though it doesn’t offer in-depth
gameplay, the battle system is entertaining enough to give it a shot.

Gameplay: 6
Being a strictly turn-based combat game will put off a lot of people who are
looking for more fast-paced action.

Graphics: 6
The game looks decent considering the handheld’s limitations.

Sound: 5
The music sounds good, but the grunts and yells sound horrible.

Difficulty: Easy

Concept: 6
Offering only turn-based combat is a bold move. If the game had exceptionally
great combat it would have been an above average title.

Overall: 6
Percy Jackson might not make a splash when it comes to movie tie-in games, but
fans of turn–based combat might find some redeeming
qualities in this otherwise bare-bones game.