I remember the first time I saw King Kong on TV and thought “wow, look at the size of that monster”, well, like all good things, Hollywood have decided to do a remake of this classic film with award winning filmmaker Peter Jackson at the helm and as such the usual merchandise accompanies it – books, t-shirts and of course the computer game of the film. Like most film games, the developers try to base the game as close to the film as possible but usually fall short because either the graphics are poor or the game play sucks, will this be any better…..read on.

Gameplay

The game starts with the beginning of the film trailer where you see Jack Black’s character Carl Denham saying that they need a new leading lady to star in his film, pan straight to Ann Darrow thieving an apple and then walking up the gangplank to the Venture, where she is met by our hero – Jack Driscoll. After watching the Venture nearly crash into Skull Island, you are than giving control of Jack Driscoll from a first person perspective with only his hands in view. What comes next is a basic tutorial on how to control Jack before you are thrust into a battle of survival whist exploring the island and solving many of the puzzles that present themselves to you. Sounds simple enough but there’s a twist because along the way you will also get to experience what it feels like to be Kong from a third-person view where you must battle some of the ferocious creatures that are trying to eat Ann Darrow, the beauty to your beast.

The game plays smoothly with a very linear course allowing you never to stray from the correct path, some would say this will make the game easy but could you imagine being allowed to go off-course considering you are supposed to journey through all the key movie moments. The game is split into chapters with a nice map showing your trail through the island. You have no health bar or obvious checkpoints to keep an eye on, instead, when you are attacked the screen goes kind of fuzzy imitating the feeling of trying to recover after being hit. If you are hit enough times or swallowed up whole, then you die and restart back at the beginning of that chapter. Defending yourself and your fellow travellers consists of two types of weapons – A Firearm (Shotgun, Pistol and Rifle) or a Spear (sharpened bones or splintered wood) with the firearm restricted by the amount of ammo you have in your possession but you are able to pick up supplies on the way which have been left for you by the seaplane owned by the Venture. Puzzles and battles are in abundance taking you through the depths of Skull Island to the concrete jungle of New York City.

Graphics

Attention to detail is superb with a true likeness of the main actors – Jack Black and Naomi Watts. Of course you can’t see Adrien Brody, as you play him from the first person view. The scenery has been beautifully recreated which enhances the atmosphere but on closer inspection, one wonders if the immediate areas that you explore were not rushed as they do seem very blocky. The creatures of Skull Island are animated extremely well and Kong is fantastic.

Sound

All the major characters have had their voices recreated by the actual actors making this a true adaptation of the film. The jungle noises are what you would expect with water flowing and animal creatures sounding spot on. The soundtrack I can only presume comes from the film as I have not seen it yet.

Longevity

This is the real let down. The game has many chapters but considering you have an unlimited number of lives, you can easily finish this game within a few hours. The game does try to extend its life by incorporating a points system for certain chapters which in turn unlock more artwork once you have completed the game once. To be perfectly honest, this doesn’t last very long as you can accumulate the points very easily to unlock everything.

Overall

King Kong is a superb game to rent but the longevity of it should stop you from buying the game.It's fun the first play through but could you play the same game over and over?

Pros:

• True Likeness of actors.
  
• Great animation of Kong.
  

  Cons:
  

  • Once completed, not a lot to return back for.
    
  • Graphics look blocky in some places.