The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor – WII – Review

This has been a wild summer movie
season, with so many Triple-A titles being released. Like all good things,
summer must come to an end – but not before a few more titles get released. One
of the last movies being released is The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. As
with almost all summer movies, a game with the same name has been released for
the Nintendo Wii.

The story for this game follows the
same plot of the movie. The father and son duo, Rick and Alex O’Connell, try to
stop an ancient evil from taking over the world. Players will take on the role
of both characters as the game switches between the two at different points in
the story. This makes the game monotonous since there is no real difference
between them (other than the character models). It would have been a nice option
for the characters to have some distinction and have the ability to switch
between the two characters at will, but alas, that feature is not present.

The gameplay for this game is sorely
lacking and almost broken. Players will be doing one of three things throughout
the entire game. The first is completing various platforming challenges. This is
in itself a challenge because many times this becomes a game of trial and error.
There is almost never a discernable path to take. Another problem is that the
game is severely linear, with no real way to branch out or find new ways to
accomplish the particular objective. This could have been forgiven, but players
will also be under constant attack by ancient booby traps. There are bat
attacks, saws, and many others traps (Chinese engineers are to be applauded for
making booby traps that will last for thousands of years and still work) that
will cause players to start over from the beginning. It is a frustrating way to
keep us occupied and an all-around anticipation-crusher.

The next major gameplay segment is
the myriads of puzzles that gamers will have to solve. The main problem with the
puzzles is that they are incredibly simple. Most of the time it is pick up the
shiny object across the hall, and other times it requires some simple gestures,
which the game tells you the ones to do. This is the only time motion controls
are used in this game.  It’s a good thing too because the motion is not very
accurate. Again this will cause the frustration levels to rise even higher–when
optimism is almost destroyed.

The last major part of this game is
the combat. Throughout the course of the game, players will be constantly
attacked by mindless drones throwing knifes, shooting guns, or going for the old
fashioned one-on-one fist fight. Thankfully there are plenty of weapons to
choose from to take the enemies out, including shotguns, pistols, and even
machineguns. The main problem is that the computer AI is not very intelligent so
there is no variety in the way the enemy attacks the player. It is all very
repetitive. To compound matters the targeting is not great.  So many times
players will be trying to attack a target but can never lock on that particular
enemy. They will only be able to take them out after annihilating other enemies
in the room. This completes the frustration level, and players will have many
“throw the controller at the TV” moments while fighting the enemy.

The graphics for this game are
decent but they are nothing to get excited over. The developers did a good job
of replicating each actor’s likeness in this game. Another thing that players
will like is the game’s use of lighting effects. This helps make the game “pop
out” during certain moments. The texture work for this game is redundant, but it
is overall palatable. The biggest annoyance players will have with the graphics
is the poor animations.  These look odd and out of place.

One of the more positive things
about this game is that the developers were able to use the same music that was
in the movie. Using the same orchestra goes a long way in making this game a lot
more fun and “authentic” to play. Another feature that fans of the movie will
like is that the actors reprised their roles and lent their voices to their
on-screen counterparts. The voice actors are really good. The only problem with
this is the developers didn’t give them enough lines – especially while they are
in combat. Players will get extremely sick of hearing the same handful of lines
over and over again throughout the course of the game.

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon
Emperor is rated Teen.

Gameplay: 3.1
Everything in The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon
Emperor is half-baked. The controls are sloppy, which makes combat and the
platforming elements a chore to even attempt. The motion controls are a joke and
make the game more painful to play. The lack of camera control also hurts this
game.

Graphics: 5.1
Overall the graphics are decent, and it helps that the developers got the
actors’ likenesses in the game. There is nice texture work as well as lighting
effects, but the Nintendo Wii is capable of much more than this game has to
offer.

Sound: 7.1
Players will be happy to learn that the actors from the movie reprised
their role for the game.

Difficulty: Medium
This game is frustrating due to sloppy controls and poor platforming
segments.

Concept: 2.3
The only concept players will wish for is a bug-free and playable game.

Overall: 3.8
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor is a game that is obviously
rushed to be released the same day as the movie. While the game has a decent
foundation it is lacking the polish that would have made this game at least fun.
Avoid this game at all costs.