Peter Jackson's King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie
Score: 98% ESRB: Teen Publisher: Ubisoft Entertainment Developer: Ubisoft Entertainment Media: DVD/1 Players: 1 - 2 Genre: Action/ Survival Horror
Graphics & Sound: You don't really notice the Xbox 360's graphical capabilities until you look at how a game that is cross-platform compares on the different systems. It wasn't until I got a chance to see Peter Jackson's King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie on both the 360 and the PS2 that I was truly impressed with the 360's visual prowess. In its current generation format, this game is a sight to behold. Every creature on Skull Island, as well as the environments, are breathtaking. When you throw it onto a system as powerful as the 360, the sheer amount of details you can see make the game stunning. Early in the game, you find yourself in a bone-littered cave. On the PS2, the surface texture isn't really something you notice and you just think it is rock. But when you play the game on the 360, you can make out the hundreds of little bones embedded in the floor and walls of the room. Other features like the amount of detail in the dinosaurs and Kong himself do even more to put you in awe. Peter Jackson's King Kong doesn't skimp in the audio department either. You will be faced with heart-pounding, energizing music when you're facing rexes as Kong or dodging brontosaurus legs as Jack Driscoll. And when you are sneaking around the jungle floor and snaking your way through old ruins, the music quiets down and adds to the survival horror feel of the game.
Gameplay: Peter Jackson's King Kong roughly follows the story line of the movie. Though it doesn't follow the film scene for scene, the general idea and overall outline of the movie is present. Carl Denham (Jack Black's character) is a floundering film director who has dragged a scriptwriter (your character) and a young actress named Ann Darrow to an ancient island. You will run from one end of the island to the other, killing dinosaurs and bugs, lighting things on fire and running from even bigger dinos as you try to rescue Ann from the grip of the mighty King Kong. The game is presented in a first-person perspective, but tends to have more of a survival horror feel than FPS. Guns are rare, and when they do appear, you have very little ammo. Instead, most of the game, you will find yourself using spears, bones and sticks to keep enemies at bay. The game comes in two parts. Most of King Kong has you controlling Jack. Here you will use the food chain to herd other monsters away from you. By killing other enemies, the live ones still in the area will go after the fresh kills, if they haven't already caught wind of you. You will also have to use fire to clear away thorns and scare (or kill) dinosaurs and scorpions. The other parts of the game let you control Kong in a third-person situation that feels more like a fighter. Here you will use many of the moves that Kong shows off in the movie to pummel V-Rexes, raptors and pterodactyls. Though these missions are fun, they tend to be short and infrequent, but a definite joy when playing.
Difficulty: Peter Jackson's King Kong doesn't feel like a hard game and it never gets frustrating, but you never find yourself flying through levels either. Though it might take a few tries to get past the obstacles that the game presents, you never get aggravated. Even in missions that will require you to run across think planks that collapse under you or other somewhat cheap tricks that will annoy in other games, I never found myself wanting to put the game down and take a break. The few times that I was having trouble getting past an area, I found a change in strategy usually helped. Can't get past a large group of enemies? Try using the food chain to clear a path or bring the monsters closer and in your sights. In general, you shouldn't have much trouble making steady headway in the game.
Game Mechanics: Peter Jackson's King Kong follows a trend found in some newer games - it gets rid of the HUD. Like Call of Duty 2, there is no health meter. Instead, the more damage you take, the more red creeps in around the edges of the screen. If you take a second and find a safe place to hide, then the red will drain away from your vision and you will be healed. This method is used when you are both Jack and Kong. This method makes sense when you are Jack since that part of the game is in first-person perspective, but it seems a bit odd in the third-person view of Kong. Either way, it still frees up screen space and helps to pull you into the game just a little bit more. You can also turn on and off the ammo information. If you like the completely clean and HUD-free screen, then just turn off the gun info. But you aren't totally in the dark when you are trying to figure out how many shots you have left. As you fire your weapon, Jack will shout out how many magazines or rounds he has. This is a nice touch, but can get a bit repetitive after a while, especially if you are trying to gun down some big raptor or a swarm of pterodactyls. Peter Jackson's King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie is a must buy. If you don't have a 360, or can't afford the price of this version, then definitely pick it up on another console. If you do get it for the 360 (which I highly recommend), then you won't be disappointed, and the graphical enhancements are worth the few extra bucks.
-J.R. Nip, GameVortex Communications AKA Chris Meyer
Smackdown! Vs. Raw 2006 DragonBall Z: Super Sonic Warriors 2