I had high hopes for the latest game based on the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles CGI film especially considering the development team of Ubisoft Montreal; who were the ones responsible for the acrobatic sword swinging action seen in their more respected Prince of Persia games. Sadly the game does fall short on almost all aspects, while it’s nice that the game follows a comic book art style, which is more evident in the cutscenes (very similar to that of X-Men: The Official Game) which helps capture the look and feel of the movie somewhat. Once the game starts and you take control of Leonardo for the first time it’s at this moment you realise it is a direct port of the last generation version, while it should look the best given its in high-definition however there appears to be little or no improvement to make this stand out as an Xbox 360 title. I think what will disappoint TMNT fans the most is that seeing the game being based on the four turtle heroes; Leo, Donny, Raph and Mikey; it features no cooperative play, that’s no co-op offline or online. Whilst the combat in the game does become very repetitive, we can’t help but think that if co-op play was included, it would certainly have added some replay value to what is essentially an average title.

Gameplay

The main course of gameplay is very simple through out; you start a level run and jump your way across rooftops, inside buildings, sewers etc and then you are stopped by some enemies who you must defeat to progress further. The basics of the combat are that the Y button performs only one move, a split-legged kick and then B which will become your basic form of attack as you constantly run towards your foes and keep tapping B which will make the character perform a combo. Holding down the B button will put the character into a fighting stance, once released he will charge and usually kill every enemy on screen with one hit – no doubt the latter will be the way that most people will use to end the fights as quickly as possible, as these get repetitive very fast.

At certain times during the course of gameplay you have access to all four turtles but only by switching characters during gameplay. For example you can mix things up so that if there is a big jump you need to perform but perhaps are unsure if you will make it, then you can double jump across and then hit the X button to call upon one of your turtle buddies to give you a hand across. You will also get the opportunity to perform tag team moves which add some variety but again these take time and as the combat is very repetitive most people will likely avoid this. The best thing about the gameplay has to be just the basic plat forming; running around rooftops, running along side walls, doing flips off poles etc, this all works really well, until of course the camera looks in an odd direction and then you are unsure which way to turn – there are however coins which you can collect to unlock items from the main menu, these coins essentially guide you in the right direction, there isn’t necessarily anywhere else you could go but noticing a coin on your screen when you become stumped for a moment will lead you in the right direction. The most disappointing thing as mentioned earlier is that there is no cooperative mode; I mean seriously what is a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game without co-op? Even the classic 1989 arcade game has co-op play. This is even more annoying as your rat companion Master Splinter mentions working as a team on several occasions during the game’s comic book style cut-scenes. You would have thought co-op play would have been the top priority for any developer making a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game.

Graphics

The graphics are by no means the game’s strongest point, they are certainly the weakest, and basically what you are getting visually is a game that would even put the original Xbox to shame. The best looking things about the visuals are the cinematics, but even then it’s not moving imagery; so we’re left with just a camera pan over a comic book. There are some moments where things look rather nice such as jumping off a rooftop to land on balloons or toys etc (think parade).

Sound

The audio in the game is rather well balanced, sound effects and voice-overs by the shelled heroes themselves which all have a more positive impact on the experience. The Turtles often come out with catchphrases; they seem to have about two or three each which seems fine but for some reason one of Raphael’s is really annoying, regularly he’ll just randomly shout “Here’s Johnny!!” as you are attacking enemies or running along walls etc. That might sound like complaining over nothing but it certainly irritated me enough to at least mention it. Music wise there seems to be a few basic tracks which play throughout the gameplay, these seem rather good, nothing too outstanding but they fit the purpose well and give the plat forming action a good pace.

Longevity

From start to finish it took me about 4 hours to complete the story (play) mode, there doesn’t seem to be much in the way of replay value either; there are items which you can unlock by collecting coins during the game though which may give some players an incentive to replay through the game. I’ll bring it up again… co-op, this game should have had it, given its current state it might not have benefited from it but I’m sure the team at Ubisoft Montreal could have come up with something much more enjoyable if they designed the game with co-op in mind.

Overall

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is not a terrible game but it’s obviously aimed more towards children which would explain its lack of difficulty, there isn’t even any difficulty setting to choose from should veteran gamers desire a challenge. The basic running across rooftops and overall acrobatic movements seem well thought out. There is also Challenge mode which you can play, these are essentially blank levels which you must progress through quickly – and are unlocked by completing missions. What may interest some gamers is that this game is probably the easiest game to get the full 1000 gamer score from, (just a little bit of useful info there for those gamer score whores among you). If you’re a fan of the Turtles (TMNT) then this may be worth picking up especially considering it’s relatively cheaper being priced at £29.99 in most places, other than that then I’d recommend a rental at most for the easiest gamer points you can ever get.