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King
Kong
Score: 8.3 / 10
Ubisoft’s Michael Ancel has carved out a
name for himself in being one of the most creative directors in all of
video gaming. After the goofy Rayman series, Ancel created the
imaginative cult classic Beyond Good and Evil, which unfortunately
failed to find much of an audience. So then Ubisoft got the video game
rights for Peter Jackson’s King Kong remake, and put him at the helm.
Given his talent, it seems rather astonishing that Ancel had been
relegated to a mere first person shooter, based on a blockbuster
Hollywood property no less. Thankfully, the man knows what he’s doing –
King Kong is a thoroughly refreshing take on the genre, and pretty far
from a generic shoot ‘em up that you’d first expect.
Through most of King Kong, you inhabit the body of Jack, Adrian Brody’s
character in the movie. While the game opens with a quick montage of
scenes from the film, you’re quickly tossed on a rowboat heading towards
the mysterious Skull Island .
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the shining young starlet; and Hayes, (Evan Parke) the crewman who’s
eager to help everyone escape with their lives. The character models all
look remarkably like their real-life counterparts, but only when they’re
standing still. Their movements feel too stilted to feel realistic
(especially compared to Half Life 2), although the voice-overs featuring
the actual cast members do help the illusion that you’re really fighting
along side these people.
During the time you play as Jack, there’s never a time that you leave
his eyes. Stranded on the island, you and your party make their way
through the dank jungles and caves, fighting off gigantic creatures and
disgruntled natives. There’s no HUD at all, leaving a completely clear
and uncluttered screen. Jack announces how much ammo he has when he
reloads, and reminds you out loud when you need to switch cartridges
(you can activate an onscreen ammo gauge, but it’s entirely
unnecessary.) There’s no life meter, per se – whenever you get hit, the
view flashes red and everything slows down, leaving you vulnerable to
further attack. If you manage to avoid enemy attack for a period of time
– usually about five to ten seconds – then you’ll completely recover. If
you take a hit during this time, you’ll be sent down for the count. It’s
an interesting variation on the Halo-style life meter that we see so
often in console games, while giving it a slightly more intense feel.
Sometimes your leg will be snared by the jaws of a raptor, leaving you
struggling on the ground and only a swift blast with a shotgun will save
you. Sometimes a tyrannosaurus will snap out, and the only thing you see
is in the inside of its mouth before you die. There are plenty of “Oh
crap!” moments of tension that force you to react before you meet your
doom, though checkpoints are common enough that you never have to replay
too many segments.
Even though it may feel like a straight-up action game, you’re forced to
rely on your wits more often that you’d expect. While there are plenty
of guns and ammunition to be found, it’s still in a limited supply. More
often that not, it’s smarter to grab a nearby spear to fend off giant
bats or dinosaurs rather than waste precious shotgun shells. Sometimes
it’s easier to just stab a grub, then toss it off into the distance,
distracting your foes so you can run by unharmed. If there’s a torch
nearby, you can set the grass on fire, a quick way to dispose of the
huge army of monsters you’ll contend against. Amidst all of this,
there’s some light puzzle solving, although nothing brain taxing, and
the few fetch quests are rarely annoying. All of the stages are
extremely linear, but you’ll never need to worry about straying off the
path and getting lost. As a result, it’s a splendidly paced game.
Since you’re not traveling alone, you need to be mindful of your
companions. Sometimes they’re smart enough to defend themselves – other
times they aren’t. There are plenty of times where you need to cover
them as swim across a river filled with crocodiles – it gets scary when
it’s your turn, as you rush defenselessly through danger, trusting your
fate to some computer controlled characters. Thankfully, most of the
time, it works. Unfortunately, there are a few occasions where you’ll
run into some annoying AI glitches – characters will either be stuck
perpetually running into invisible walls, or sometimes just sit and
stare off into space. Sometimes you can goad them out of their trances –
sometimes you can’t, and you’ll need to restart the level.
The first person segments make up a majority of the game, but at certain
segments through the game, you’ll take control of Kong in a third person
view. When you first see the gigantic ape move, it’s a thing of wonder.
The way the majestic creature looks and moves is incredible, as he
swings effortlessly among the trees and runs along cliffs like a three
ton Prince of Persia. This is the sort of stuff Ray Harryhausen only
dreamed of, and you’re in control of it. But then you realize how
simplistic it all is – you pretty much just run forward and press the
necessary buttons, and you’re off. They’re only barely platforming
segments, because there are only a few scant points where you can
actually fail. Amidst these, there are also plenty of times where you’ll
need to fight off dinosaurs and other vicious wildlife. Kong’s controls
are naturally quite sluggish, and the combat plays off like a jungle
version of WWE, except instead of pinning your opponents, you grab their
jaws and pound buttons until you twist their necks with a satisfying
snap. There are a few times where Kong is accompanied by Ann, and you
need to let her down in order to open up the passage to the next area.
It seems like the designers were going for a Ico-like emotional bond
between Kong and Ann, although these scenes are too sparse and
uninvolved to properly express this. The final chapter, where Kong runs
through the streets of New York , running on buildings and smashing
cars, is oddly disappointing, not only in its sloppiness, but its
brevity. You’re given a linear path to run on, constantly overwhelmed by
policeman or 1930's-era missile launchers or whatever they’re shooting
at you. There aren’t enough people to grab, cars to smash, or buildings
to scale. It all feels rushed - even as you get to the Empire State
Building , the crowd blocking the way is literally made of cardboard
cut-out people. It doesn’t help that the frame rate can dip considerably
during some of the later segments.
You’ll probably reach the end of the game pretty quickly – only five or
six hours to beat. You’re given the option to replay various levels of
the game to score points and open up an alternate ending, but it feels
like a cheesy way to extend its life. Thankfully, the game doesn’t
overstay its welcome since 95% of the game takes place on the island,
the environments do begin to feel a little bit repetitive by the time
you get to the end.
Even though it’s short, and the Kong segments are a little shallow, King
Kong still manages to be an extremely immersive experience. For years,
game developers have hawked video game tie-ins as the ability to control
the character’s actions for themselves, to be part of the action. In
King Kong, you experience everything as the cast experiences them,
because you see it through their eyes. When you’re being chased by a
T-Rex down a river, hastily hurtling spears at it in an attempt to slow
it down so it won’t bite down on your crunchy little body - well, it’s a
lot more exciting than merely watching other people fend for their
lives. I admittedly had little interest in seeing the movie before
playing this. Now I’m really eager, but I get the feeling that it might
end up being a little bit redundant.
- Kurt Kalata
(December 15, 2005) |
