Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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27 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great Game for the Action Game Lover, November 25, 2005
Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars
This game is clearly associated with the 2005 movie. How can we tell? The full name of the game is Peter Jackson's King Kong - The Official Game of the Movie. Subtle!
The game was made with complete cooperation of Peter Jackson - he let the gaming team have access to the CGI and sets from the movie, and the game was made at the exact same time.
The game plays very much like being in a movie, with smooth slides between cinematic scenes and action sections. That being said, the game of course is FAR more action-oriented than any movie would be. In a movie you might fight off a group of creatures for a short period of time. In the game, of course, the hordes come in numerous, almost endless, waves.
This is more than just a beast-slaying game, though. There's a bit of thought involved. For example, if a gigantic dinosaur comes running at you, you don't have to try to slay it in straight-out combat. You can instead kill another random creature that is nearby, and the dinosaur will decide to go munch on it.
There are a few levels that you can play as Kong, but really for most of the game you are playing as a normal human in a band of friends. The various friends around you can either be helpful or REALLY annoying, depending on their mood. There are many times that I was tempted to snipe at my "friends" instead of the Giant Centipede or whatever the monster of the moment was.
The graphics are of course awesome. From the ocean waves to the murky dark caves, from the detail on the faces to the detail on the monsters' teeth, you get immersed in a high quality version of the movie. Again, this is to be expected, as the game designers got direct feeds of the movie graphic files.
The sound is also well done, with the sounds and feel of the movie. You get an immersive experience, drawing around you what the movie is all about. Danger, gloom, crashing waves and thunderous primal screams.
I have to admit that I found some of the puzzles a little tedious. Walking around and around a post to open a door was silly enough the first time, but for me to have to do it repeatedly was a bit much. Also, there were a few times that monsters seemed to get "stuck" in an area and I had to in essence go and prod them a few times for them to come out and properly attack me. I suppose not all monsters are highly intelligent :)
The game is definitely one that targets adrenaline-rush types. The sounds are loud and pounding - from bellows to cries of panic to screeches. The video is always jumping between dark caves to dark stairs to fiery bushes and things swooping down at you. You're kept off balance and rarely get a moment to breathe.
I did like how the game is set up like a movie. There aren't on screen health bars, ammo counters or anything else. You hit a button to hear a verbal check of your ammo. You talk to your friends to find out how they are. When you get hurt, your screen starts to go red and fuzzy, and you even hear "angels sing".
If I'm going to have any complaint about this game, it's really a personal one - I like games with a balance between hyped-up tension and more calm puzzle/investigating. There was really no break here, it was just non-stop thundering noise and attacking monsters. I'm sure most people thrive on that :)
Well recommended for those seeking a high action fix!
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16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great rental, December 10, 2005
Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars
As has been discussed since the game King Kong was announced, Peter Jackson approached Michel Ancel to create this game due to his work on one of my favorite games, Beyond Good and Evil. When I heard the Michel Ancel was working on a high profile game, I jumped at the chance to play it. This was one of the first Xbox 360 games I purchased and the second I beat.
One thing Michel Ancel is extraodinarily good at doing is creating a living world, populated with rich characters and terrific scenery. He proved this in Beyond Good and Evil, giving various different gameplay functions to mess around with, as well as terrific characters that could bring a smile to your face. King Kong continues this and gives us a fully realized Skull Island as our playground. Ancel took away any hint of an interface. There's no life, ammo, or aiming device. Its all natural and you have to rely on vocal cues about the ammo, realize that one or two bites from a T-rex is going to kill you and estimate on how you throw your spears.
At first I was worried about the lack of aiming target, but the game compensates for this by being pretty open. Hitting a target really isn't too difficult as long as you are aiming in the general area. Playing in first person really helps get you in the shoes of the protagonist, and hearing the terrifying roar of a T-rex (or V-Rex as they are called in this game, to which I say, WTF?) behind you and knowing that he's there but knowing also that if you stop to look you will be dead really helps sink in this feeling. Its a survival of the fittest and you had better keep your wits about you.
Graphically, the game is beautiful. The textures in the land really help present an island teeming with life. The enemies are done pretty well over-all. One of the problems with the current form of normal mapping is that sometimes things can look shiny or slimy. This is duly noticeable in the hair of people. Naomi Watt's character's hair looks shiny and slimy instead of natural. The art direction is stunning too which helps cover-up any graphical short-comings there maybe.
The audio is stunning as well. The voice actors from the movie reprise their roles and unlike some movie video games, it doesn't sound like the actors are just talking into a mic to get paid. The screams, the bit of dialogue there is, it all fits into a nice package surrounded by terrific dinosaur sounds, ambient music and a terrific score. The only part of the audio that became annoying to me was when you are seriously injured. Hearing the angels choir became annoying after awhile.
Playing as Kong is a delight, mostly. Instead of making it difficult, the game-developers wanted to give players a sense of strength and reckless abandon that you don't have playing as a human. And they succeed. Kong is vicious, you don't have to worry about timing anything or about hiding. Charge in there, destroy things, climb on walls, jump from ledge to ledge, break T-Rex's mouths open. Its all there, easy to pull off, and makes playing as Kong a joy instead of a chore.
Once you get off Skull Island is where the game lost a little. It felt as if New York wasn't as developed as it could be and it was over in about 10 minutes. Pretty much a let down but I'm sure that it was done this way to keep any surprises from the movie leaking out.
Now, as great as this game is, there is a major problem. Its damn short. It took me about 5-6 hours to play it. Since its an incredibly linear video game with no room for exploration, you pretty much have no choice but play it quickly. It is a visually stimulating and exciting journey, but a very quick one. In fact, I don't know if I can justify the $60 price tag. Its a game that begs to be played and you can get it down in one weekend without realizing it.
Michel Ancel succeeds in creating another exciting game. If it weren't in such a hurry to get out before the movie, maybe it could have been a bit more flushed out. As it is, the game is a terrific way to spend 6 hours of your life. But, as to the $60 out of your pocket, that's debatable.
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14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent Game!, November 22, 2005
A Kid's Review
Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars
I played this game on my friends brand spankin new XBOX 360 and its absolutly unbelievable! The graphics are superb, it looks like youre playing the movie! You get to play as one of the main characters in the movie (can't remember his name) OR as King Kong him self! This game is so intense... when you are playing as a person, you do not have any health bar, or any ammo information, you must entirely rely on the other characters that are with you to let you know when you are dying or need to re-load. When you wish to distract a menacing T-Rex, you can shoot down a flying dinosaur and he will actually go over and eat the bird, buying you time to run for your life! While playing as Kong, you can smack the hell out of your enemies and throw them around untill they are left lifeless. Its an excellent game that is sure to please all! Can't wait until the movie!!!!!
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