Customer Reviews

The Golden Compass

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

NOTICE: Before you say "Oh, well, she's obviously just a hater because she's the only negative review", make sure you see that one of the five star reviews this game boasts is merely for the SELLER'S MERITS. She even ADMITS that her daughter became quickly bored with this game and put it aside. And who could blame her? It's so awful I won't even trade it because no one else deserves to give up a decent, or ever mediocre, game for this piece of rubbish.

Graphics: 7/10
The graphics are fine, I guess. During the game, the graphics aren't spectacular but they aren't the pixilated mess common to the GBA and early-DS games. When characters are talking, they show still pictures. Very GOOD still pictures, but still pictures none the less. The pictures don't show mood, really, but they're not bad.

Sound/Audio: 0/10
I played with the volume off. I found any sound coming from this game irritating to the extreme and, as it wasn't needed, preferred the click clack of the buttons or my ipod. Keep a music player close, if you DO get this game.

Plot: 7/10
The plot mirrors that of both the book and the movie, with differences that are EXPLAINED, WITH BACKSTORY, which makes it more than acceptable, in my opinion. HOWEVER, it's still as dry as the books were. You follow the path of a little girl, her daemon, and a polar bear. Keep that in mind. A polar bear.

Game controls: 4/10
I found it tiresome to switch between the notebook with the codes I needed and the alethiometer. Futhermore, Pan's controls, while not complicated, were irritating and messy. The whole thing was messy.

Ease of playing: 3/10
The game COULD be played fairly easily, though the controls are messy and annoying, if not for the almost random, and completely unwanted, advice of your daemon, Pan, at the most irritating times and the fact that very little is EXPLAINED, except at the very start of each level. You are expected to figure everything out. Pan sometimes gives little hints. Emphasis on the LITTLE. They're not helpful, telling you what you already know but not telling you HOW to do it.

Minigame (alethiometer): 5/10
This game isn't fun, per se, but more fascinating. You want to see which symbols will be pointed out, want to find your fate. You can even play with friends with only one card needed between you. Technically. But, honestly, it usually craps out in a few minutes, if you even get that far. If it actually worked consistently, this may have gotten a SLIGHTLY higher rating. But don't hold your breath for an exciting mini game. It's really not.

Playing level: 2/10
I'm not saying it's HARD, it's not. It's just that the level isn't at a good one. It's not in the balance of challenge and passibility. This game is SLOW and FRUSTRATING. They tried to make it interesting with little things like finding new forms for Pan and collected sky iron-neither of which are fulfilling enough to warrant the absolute WASTE of time!-but it simply falls short. Parts are SO incredibly slow, you just want to skip the whole level! And other parts are so easy you could do it with your eyes closed. Or, perhaps, with your toes? Maybe that would make it a better challenge.

Replay factor: 4/10
In a way, this game has a decent replay factor. I, myself, have gone back to many levels, which I loathed, in hopes of getting more of Pan's forms. However, I don't think that anyone would play over from the start once they were completely done, as I've done with the Eragon game- both on DS and on the Play Station 2.

Overall: 3/10
This game is simply too sloppily done, slow, and frustrating. The characters are flat and predictable, though the latter is easy to understand due to the books and the movie. But they became LIFELESS! Furthermore, the plot was dull and colorless, the sounds were irritating, and the whole thing is a complete waste of money.

Thank you for your time.

The supplier met the commitment and the product was great for the value paid. In fact I only paid a cent so basically the product was free. The game though is not so good. My daughter just tried it for couple of times and stopped playing since she did not like it much.

my 7 yr old loves this game, it show part from the movie which I thought was cool! it does hold their hand a little(Navigation). But she loves it!! and so I am Happy.

The Compass is a great game. It starts in the Arctic at the beginning (which for those of you who do not know it's halfway through the book.) Then you go to before the book starts so that is confusing. That is the only bad thing about the game except the item switching. When you hit the select button your inventory pops up and you use the stylus to move the items to the a button. The a button is the ONLY button that uses items which kind of stinks. But other than that stuff it's really fun and can keep you playing for hours.

This game is so much fun! i played it for one week straight, and didn't even sleep! I would recommend this to anybody that likes GREAT games