Peter Jackson's King Kong - The Official Game of the Movie

King Kong creates a truly immersive experience

Review By Donkey Kong

So many movies these days are getting the old remake treatment. The big name this time is King Kong. Peter Jackson, the man behind Lord of the Rings, has prepped the remake of the classic King Kong film. No big name movie can go without a video game tie-in, but does the King Kong game live up to the King Kong name?

GRAPHICS: The graphics of King Kong take place mostly on the Island of Skulls. That means that you should really get familiar with the jungle. The island is filled with trees, caves, rivers, and other environment types, creating a very authentic world to explore. The blurring effect helps give the distance shots some great looks and the overall lighting is extremely well done. 

Character animations are okay, though do look a little rough. The stunning enemies are awe-inspiring, from aggressive flying creatures to a tremendous T-rex. The viewpoints of the game takes place in two parts: Jack and Kong. During Jack's gameplay, you play in a first-person view, but with no inventory, health, or any obstructions from viewing the lush environment around you. During Kong's adventures, you play in third-person as the giant gorilla himself. The attack animations from both are excellent, especially Kong who has some slick finishing moves. With all these great things to say, what could possibly be wrong? Sadly, the game suffers from a constantly inconsistent frame rate, and when the action really starts to pick up, the game can stutter to horrific levels. Also, there is paper-thin pixelation. Overall, the graphics do the job well, despite some inconsistency in the technical prowess.

SOUND: The audio in King Kong is excellent. All of the voice actors for the film are present and do a good job of creating their characters' personalities and advancing the story. My personal favorite, Jack Black, does an excellent job as Denham. Each character will sound off during gameplay, keeping the voice from being limited by cutscenes. The cinematic scores arrive in battle, providing some action-packed music to listen to during a fight. The jungle world forces the player to rely on sound as well as sight, as a rustle in the grass or rippling water can alert you to danger. When playing as Jack, you can press the circle button anytime to have Jack sound off to see how much ammo you have, a very interesting tactic and effective to keeping the cinematic no-obstruction vibe. 

Enemies are extremely well done, as the roar of a T-rex or the hiss of a millipede will keep you on edge every time. Kong himself is well done as well, as his triumphant roar sounds appropriate and really brings the epic feel of playing as Kong to life. The whole audio set is set to immersion, as anything you do can have an effect. See how much ammo you have, and Jack's voice can alert other enemies of your location. The only problems would have to be a small lack of enemy types and a few more scores in the background. Overall, the audio of King Kong is sheer immersion. Excellent.

GAMEPLAY: King Kong takes place in two different types of gameplay. The first, as Jack, is a first person shooter style. Using the left analog stick to move, and the right analog stick to aim, the controls are standard to FPS. Surprisingly, that's where the similarities end. Jack doesn't hold his weapon out all the time. By pressing L2, you prep your weapon and fire with R2. By pressing R2 alone, you perform a melee move. By pressing X near an ally, you can talk to them or trade weapons. Circle is used to get Jack to sound off and say how much ammo he has. By pressing R2 near certain objects, you can switch off weapons. You can grab a bone to throw or a spear to light on fire. There are no crosshairs on the guns, as the game chooses cinematic gameplay over solid action, but quickly can be learned. By pressing R3, the normal scope button, with a spear in hand, Jack instead raises his hand to aim. All of these controls, combined with the lack of any inventory, health, or screens, the game feels like you're playing through the movie instead of a movie game.

The second, as Kong, involves you playing as the colossal king of the canopy. You play in third-person with, like Jack's gameplay, no screens to obstruct gameplay. X is used to attack, circle to grab, and square to jump, swing, and run on vine walls. Kong's massive size is demonstrated by his powerful attacks and suitable movement style. At certain times, contact-sensitive actions will appear, like moving a pillar or dash attacking an enemy. Kong's adventures are very fun, but suffer from static camera angles, so you may not know where you're going or where the enemies are coming from. At one point, I forgot I was playing thanks to a constant widescreen image and an annoying static camera. Kong's sequences are fun once you get used to them.

The story of Denham's movie hunt and the exploration of the island is the same, but using so much cinematic power truly makes you feel like you're playing the movie. Throughout, you'll come face to face with Kong himself, and experience some truly epic battles. As Jack, you will explore caves, grasses, and other environments and they all feel perfectly designed. Jack's sequences are linear, but they constantly throw new challenges at you, forcing you to never let down your guard. The storytelling is also executed during gameplay, making the game never have to slow down by lengthy cutscenes (the few cutscenes are montages of movie clips and are quite enjoyable).

Kong's experiences are mostly in the jungle, although some are in the city. Kong's environments are also linear, but you do feel an immense freedom when swinging on branches and beating up dinosaurs as Kong. Kong does fight some truly massive enemies, and defeating these bosses do involve some skill. After knocking the beasts down, you must execute a finishing move, which are beautifully animated and great to watch. Playing as Kong is a blast and one of the best parts of the game.

Both types of gameplay involve some ally protection. Jack cannot have his team die, and Kong cannot have Anne die. This does have some frustration, but in the end, only adds some tension to the game. And that is one reason King Kong succeeds: pure tension. Exploring the jungle as Jack and coming across a huge T-rex will make your heart sink. As Kong, fighting other smaller beasts while having Anne stare down a T-rex, will create an immense sense of tension, keeping you on the edge of your seat and your hand on the controller. The game never lets you relax, while constantly throwing new challenges at you. This is why King Kong creates a fun gaming experience.

King Kong's problems are few, but do get in the way a bit. Kong's sequences of static camera angles do get annoying, especially in the city levels. Also, after fighting a colossal T-rex and swinging through the jungle as Kong, going back to playing as Jack can be a bit of a letdown, and considering that there aren't as many Kong levels really can be an annoyance. But overall, King Kong sets a new bar for movie games. This is a stellar movie game that creates an amazing world, a high-tension gaming environment, and some excellent presentation to play through.

REPLAYABLE: The game is far too short, and doesn't have enough extras to constitute some serious longevity. As thrilling and excellent the story mode is, the extras are letdowns and there just isn't enough for a solid purchase unless you're a die-hard fan of King Kong.

OVERALL: Though it is painfully short and has some technical issues, King Kong is one of the best movie-based games to come out in a long time. Blending tight FPS sequences, Kong's killer adventure sequences, and an extremely cinematic world to explore, the game truly feels like you're playing through the movie instead of a quick cash-in. King Kong is the result of cinematic gold, great game design, and most importantly, true devotion to the movie. King Kong redefines the movie game on every level and, although it isn't perfect, is an epic adventure that must be played to be believed.

NAME: PETER JACKSON'S KING KONG - THE OFFICIAL GAME TO THE MOVIE

SYSTEM: PlayStation 2, XBOX, Nintendo Game Cube, XBOX 360, PlayStation Portable, Nintendo DS, Game Boy Advance