Peter Jackson's King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie
Score: 90% ESRB: Teen Publisher: Ubisoft Entertainment Developer: Ubisoft Montreal Media: DVD/1 Players: 1 Genre: Action/ Adventure/ Survival Horror
Graphics & Sound: Visually, Peter Jackson’s King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie (phew!) is stunning. Everything about the game’s presentation screams polish – from the giant creatures you’ll come across at every turn to the even more massive environments they inhabit. Overall the presentation really captures the scope of Skull Island and immerses you. Of course, you couldn’t go on talking about the visuals without mentioning how well the art team was able to recreate the movie’s cast. The digital Jack Black is every bit as expressive as his real life counter-part as the digital Naomi Watts is beautiful. As good as the graphics are, audio is probably what makes the game really shine. All of the film’s cast provide dialogue for their respective characters and absolutely nail their parts. This probably doesn’t sound like that big a deal at first, but when you consider the number of phoned-in performances heard in other licensed games, you have to appreciate the extra effort. A good deal of the game’s background noise is comprised of ambient jungle sounds, though an orchestral score (which may or may not be from the movie – but I haven’t seen it yet, so your guess is a good as mine) pipes in at all the right moments.
Gameplay: King Kong (sorry, there’s no way I’m not going through that paragraph of a title again) follows the plot of the upcoming movie with filmmaker Carl Denham searching for something to convince the studio to not can his latest project. In his desperation, he cobbles together a crew – including actress Ann Darrow and screenwriter Jack Driscoll – and sets out to investigate a mysterious island called Skull Island, which is supposedly home to a lost civilization. Carl and crew soon discover that the island is home to something even bigger (literally)… namely a giant gorilla named Kong. Gameplay is split up into two decidedly different styles: a first-person adventure through the eyes of Jack and a third-person romp as Kong. Of the two, the Jack sequences are the most immersive and frankly, the more enjoyable. Though these sequences are presented through the lens of a FPS view, puzzle-solving and quick thinking is what will get you out of tight scrapes, not an itchy trigger finger. In fact, it is rare that you’ll even have a gun at times, and when you do, ammo is scarce, adding a tinge of survival horror to the game’s mix of genres. One of the more striking aspects of King Kong is how well many of the puzzles are thought out. Many of the puzzles still revolve around the basic, “Find item X to and stick it into Tab X” premise; still, most are done in such a well thought out way that you’ll sometimes not even realize you’re performing the same basic puzzle multiple times. For example, one puzzle requires that you bring fire to burn some underbrush. The problem is that you have to go under a waterfall to get to the nearest fire. However, there’s a small opening nearby that would allow the fire to get past the water without going under it. Of course, you can’t fit through the hole, but if a spear were to be lit on fire, it could be easily tossed through the opening… Playing as Kong presents a completely different experience and mostly requires that you lay the smack down on the island’s inhabitants, namely a group of V-Rexes and those pesky natives. Playing as Kong isn’t as mentally stimulating as when you’re playing as Jack. These areas, while fun, feel stifled and at times feels more like you’re playing through an interactive cut scene than a game. Still, it does allow for you to get out some aggression, which is always good and who doesn’t like breaking a dinosaur’s jaw? Whether playing as Jack or Kong, there’s so much to do in the game that you’ll never want it to end. But, like all good things it must… perhaps too soon. You’re likely to only squeeze about seven or eight hours at the most from King Kong, and once you’re done there’s little incentive to go back and play again.
Difficulty: Perhaps the most innovative, and jarring for that matter, aspect of King Kong is the lack of a HUD. That’s right, you have not health or ammo meter, nor do you have a map. Everything is measured in a more realistic way. As you take damage, you’ll hear Jack breathe a little heavier until the screen becomes red – signaling that you’re about to die if you don’t get to safety fast. The system isn’t unlike the one found in Call of Duty 2, so it shouldn’t take much getting used to if you’ve played that one as well. Gauging how much ammo you have left is handled in a similar manner, with Jack announcing how much is left after reloading (or when pressing a button). Both take some getting used to, but in the end only help make the experience that much more entertaining. The enemies you encounter on Skull Island are tough and rather smart. These aren’t your typical “bum rush and attack” variety of animals. Instead they’ve got big brains to go with their oversized, mutated bodies. They’ll hide, strike at opportune times and seem to always have friends with them. Raptors, in particular, seem to be the brightest of the bunch. This isn’t to say that the game is impossible, because remember that even though they’re smart, they’re still animals and fall victim to innate instincts – the chief of which is hunger. Another of King Kong’s excellent puzzle-solving aspects comes in the form of a food chain system. All of the animals on Skull Island are hungry and will eat anything – including their own kind. This primal instinct can be exploited (and frankly, needs to be in some areas) in order to survive. Most, if not all, of the animals on the island are fast, so letting loose a few shots and hoping one hits isn’t smart – especially given your limited ammo. Instead, you can set bait for animals and pick them off (or sneak past) as they eat. Sure, it’s not the most sporting of methods, but it works.
Game Mechanics: Combat is responsive and always fulfilling, whether you’re using guns and spears as Jack or pummeling things as Kong. Weapons have a nice feel to them and feel right. The shotgun feels like a shotgun, while a pistol feels like a pistol. Also, weapon drops feel very natural and make logical sense. You don’t just happen to find a rifle on the island, instead they’re all dropped from the boat’s captain who is already circling the island in his plane. In addition, Jack can only carry so many weapons at a time (usually one), so you don’t feel like you’re a walking arsenal. Even melee weapons, which serve as your primary weapons throughout much of the game, aren’t prefect and can break. Playing as Kong is everything you could want and more. Combat plays out more like a fighting game with Kong throwing punches and tossing hapless animals all over. Rapidly pressing the “Y” button will cause Kong to enter Fury mode – which is more or less a version of bullet time where Kong can truly show why he’s the boss. Larger animals can also be taken down by using finishing moves. Without question, King Kong is one of the better movie-to-game conversions I’ve played in awhile. It is something original in a field that is typically composed of mindless shooters and half-assed platformers. If you’re looking for a truly great gaming experience, look no further than King Kong.
-Starscream, GameVortex Communications AKA Ricky Tucker
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