Games that are based on movies have for the most part been extreme disappointments. I have been subjected to awful movie based games such as the Matrix Franchise, Blade, Pirates of the Caribbean, X-Men Movies, and Ratatouille. The Star Wars and Lord of The Rings Franchises has a few great games, but they also had their share of some major stinkers.
As we kick off a new year of major cinematic blockbusters, I held out hope that finally, after so many years of crappily and hastily completed, buggy movie-based games, I would finally be wowed. Then came games based on the movies Jumper, the spiderwick chronicles, and Iron Man. all three were a complete waste of my precious time, with buggy and frustrating gameplay, repetitive actions, and quite possibly some of the worst design decisions known to the video gaming world.
Because SquareTV started after the release of these awful excuses for games, I wont sit down and eviscerate these previous games to the blogging world. Countless reviewers have already wasted their time and given their opinions on these awful games.
I was surprised to look on my favorite reviews site, metacritic.com to see that not one review has been posted about the new game based on the Chronicles of Narnia, Prince Caspian, so I figured id take the plunge, get the game, see the spoilers, and give the readers of SquareTV their first game review ever.
Before we begin, if you havent seen the movie, this game will spoil most of the events of the movie for you, so dont play it until you have seen the movie!
If you dont remember, the first game based on the Chronicles of Narnia was released on the Xbox 1 console in 2005 to mediocre reviews. I played the game, and agreed that while it integrated and added to the events of the movie very well, there were a few bugs and gameplay issues (dull hack and slash ending after a brilliantly executed combat system throughout the rest of the game? BAH!) kept it from true greatness.
Based on my previous experience with the franchise, I had high expectations for this second iteration of the Narnia series in the high definition greatness of the Xbox 360. The detailed game summary states that:
"Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, takes players throughout Narnia and includes a level, which is unique from both the novel and the film. The level, which is set between the events of "The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe" and Prince Caspian, takes place at the castle of Cair Paravel and tells the story of how Narnia fell to the Telmarine hordes. In Prince Caspian, Cair Paravel is seen only as abandoned ruins the Pevensies discover hundreds of years later. The action/adventure game offers gameplay for one or two players on the same system and drop-in/drop-out features, allowing either player to join the game and leave."
After playing through a good portion of the game, I seriously wished Prince Caspian had kept his lips off that horn to summon me back to Narnia. While the graphics and level of detail in certain areas have taken a worthy jump to the high definition world provided by the Xbox 360, the repetitive gameplay, lackluster puzzles, boring combat, awful camera angles and frustrating control schemes, make me want to leave Narnia to the Telemarines and a couple hours of my real life back.
First the good: the game looks fantastic. the lighting, shadows, and level of detail in the game are spectacular at some points, and only certain graphical glitches really needed more work (the rats...just you wait). Break a barrel, apples and critters come flying out. The characters are also extremely well rendered and the level of detail of the hair/fur on the characters are amazing.
The first level is also the secret level not seen in the movie or the book. It is a decent level and tells a little more of the story, but lacks the explanation or background for one to really feel immersed into the story. It is basically another gimmick to lure younger audiences into buying the game.
Unfortunately, thats about where the good points end. First of all, the games camera is just plain awful. More than once, I was unable to see what I was supposed to be doing, much less my character, due to the fact that the camera would only move to a certain point before stopping. This led to quite a few unnecessary deaths and a lot of time wasted running around looking for objectives.
Speaking of objectives, the ones given are completely mundane and boring, and there is almost no background as to why you are doing what you are doing. 'Get the horn' WHY?! the objectives are accomplished by equally boring puzzles; most of which are accomplished by choosing the right character abilities and shooting a target, finding a missing piece nearby and inserting it into the silhouetted area, and/or pressing 'B', followed by furiously tapping 'A' to unlock chests, open doors, pull levers and proceed with the game. You would think that the combinations would change to at least make it slightly interesting, but once you realize that it is the same combination over and over, you just die a little inside. Pressing 'Y' will change your characters and each character has special abilities, such as ranged attacks, grappling hooks, and just plain brute strength. That is where freedom of choice ends. The game automatically chooses which characters will complete each quest.
Speaking of chests, they are littered throughout the game and if you find enough keys, you can unlock bonus content. The annoying thing is that when you do unlock bonus content, you have no idea what it is! you have to go back to the main menu to view them. No messages saying what you unlocked or what effect it has on the current game. Argh.
The combat is the most tedious and annoying part of the game. Gone are the combat system of the first game. The developers have returned to the hack and slash method of a light and heavy attack button, and the use of the left bumper to aim ranged weapons, which doesnt help much at all when multiple enemies are on screen. 'Bosses' are easily killed with a few heavy attacks, and again, not much explanation is given as to why you are fighting or what is going on. There is no real Lock-On system with hand to hand combat, and you will find yourself sometimes doing no damage to an enemy after scoring a few direct hits.
Narnia is a dangerous place, and thanks to the camera control system and frustrating design decisions (do the cave level, and you will forever hate the lethal bats) make it a frustrating game to complete. If you die, and you will die often, you are simply transported back to the last checkpoint to start over with no penalty.
With regards to multiplayer, the game offers gameplay for one or two players on the same system and drop-in/drop-out features, allowing either player to join the game and leave. I was not able to find anyone to play with me (nor would i subject anyone to this), so this feature was untested, but im sure it works as advertised.
In terms of gameplay, it is mostly linear, although you are allowed to choose which order to complete objectives. You still have to complete the objectives to move on however, so I found myself just trying to choose the hardest and most annoying ones first. It really was painful to go from objective to objective, and at times, bugs and glitches forced me to start some of the missions over (took a few tries to get the girl's bow).
I would only recommend this game to the most die hard of fans, and even then, only as a weekend rental. The game is definitely geared towards the younger ones and if you dont give up due to the bugs and the broken camera control system, it should only take a few hours to beat. The 'extra' level is a gimmick and doesnt add much to the game, and the story and cut scenes are straight out of the movie.
For hardcore gamers, the recent and future release of games such as Grand Theft Auto IV, Gears of War 2, Ninja Gaiden 2 and Metal Gear Solid 4, you simply just dont want to waste your time with this future bargain binner.
FINAL SCORE: 4/10
- KEEEEOM!!!!!
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