With the exception of The Chronicles of Riddick, movie-based games almost universally stink. So when Ubisoft announced King Kong, it had an uphill perception battle from the get-go. But then Peter Jackson, who?s directing the film, asked to be personally involved in the development process. And the creator of Beyond Good and Evil took the creative reins. And the men decided that the game and movie would share digital assets. It was at that point that a funny thing happened: people began to think ?hey, maybe this King Kong game won?t be so bad after all.?
Having played a few levels recently, I can say that, sure enough, King Kong isn?t going to be bad, and it may even turn out rather entertaining. The cinematic feel of King Kong is perfect for a movie-based game, and its mix of action-adventure and brawling gameplay seems just the right combination for a game of this type. Combine that with some great audio and visuals, and you?ve got a promising prospect.
King Kong has gamers playing predominantly as Jack, the aspiring moviemaker, so the majority of the game is an action-adventure. In these levels, King Kong borrows heavily from its PC adventure-game predecessors, making the gameplay feel almost retro in nature. One level, for example, puts players in a dark, rainy jungle where their first objective is to get their party out of harm?s way from an attacking dinosaur. To do this, Jack must buy his comrades some time while they pry open a door. And to buy that time, Jack needs to draw the dinosaur?s bloodthirsty attention.
Players have several options to distract the dinosaur, all of which underscore the game?s surprisingly open gameplay. The first option is to use a gun to shoot into it?s the dinosaur?s hide, a sure-fire distraction for even the nastiest of beasts. The only potential problem with that is actually finding the gun in the first place; King Kong?s HUD-free nature has no ?pick up this item? indicators. If you happen to miss the gun, as we did on our first play through, you can instead pick up spears and throw them at the dinosaur. The third option, regardless of your projectile, is to avoid shooting the dinosaur and instead shoot the nearby pterodactyls, which fall from the sky and provide nice little appetizers for Mr. Dino and buy your crew the time it needs.
The game rears its ?retro? head during the next part of the level, when Jack and Co. need to rescue the story?s heroine. To make their way to camp, Jack and his friends must open another door, one that happens to be missing one a lever. As if playing a PC adventure game of yore, gamers must traverse the level looking for the missing lever, wandering in the dark back to where they began. Upon finding the lever, players soon discover that it?s lodged behind a thorny bush, at which point it?s time to brush off the old puzzle-solving skills. Players need to find a spear, set it aflame on a bonfire, walk back to the thorny brush and set the bush on fire to free the lever. Talk about an old-school puzzle.
While walking around the level, it?s easy to find yourself feeling as though you?re actually in the game. That?s because King Kong has absolutely no heads-up display. There?s no health meter, no stamina meter, no ammo counter, nothing. Deteriorating health is indicated by a red aura pulsing on the screen. Ammo is indicated by the gun itself or by Jack mumbling that he needs bullets. In essence, the game mimics the movie upon which it?s based, because it feels like you?re moving a camera through the levels, much like Jack does in the film.
Graphically, King Kong is shaping up very nicely, with great heat distortion, incredible texturing and lighting that changes when lightning flashes or comrades point a torch in your direction. There were several times fighting the dinosaur, in fact, that it felt like we were watching Jurassic Park, simply because the character model was so detailed.
Will King Kong break from the tradition of bad movie-based games? So far, all signs are positive. The HUD-free design and adventure-based gameplay may turn some people off, but gamers looking for an immersive, cinematic experience will definitely want to take note when the game releases later this year alongside the movie.
— Jonas Allen
