Oh no run for your lives! No not the big hairy ape but the fact that we yet again have another movie to game tie-in. We all know the history that these types of game have, and it’s not pretty. A lot of recent of games are breaking the stereotype and are now giving solid gameplay experiences. This time around we have Peter Jackson’s King Kong by Ubisoft. Luckily for gamers, this game continues the recent trend of movie-based games that don’t let the movie itself down. Part of the reason for this success is that Peter Jackson is involved with the game. Having said that though there are still some issues

For the majority of the game, you will play as Jack Driscoll from a first-person perspective. You will also get to play parts of the game as King Kong. There are few weapons at your disposal , so you need to make the best of what you have. The main weapons are a gun, bones, and spears. Ammunition for the gun is got at the start and is hard to get from there on, so you will be using the bones and spears a lot.

The game is full of abnormal creatures that seem to have been forgotten by evolution. You will encounter things like giant bats, dinosaurs , giant centipedes, King Kong, and many more. You can use your weapons to kill the larger enemies, but sometimes it is wiser to distract them .

In King Kong, you will find a mixture of action/adventure and some light puzzle solving. The puzzles are easy to the mind. In some areas you may need to find a piece of wood to act as a lever to open wooden gates. At times, you will also need to use smaller creatures as bait in order to get past larger creatures that are blocking your path.
Although all of this, the most fun is had playing Kong. The King Kong parts of the game are shown mainly in a third-person perspective. Most of the time playing as King Kong will have you battling with the large creatures such as T-Rexes , and there is also the famous New York City scene. King Kong can interact with the environment more than the Jack. He can swing from branches, climb up walls and columns, and move objects that are in his way

The graphics, I must say, look nothing short of amazing on a high definition screen. From the flowing waterfalls to the big beast himself, everything is in high quality resolution. Ubisoft have even gone out on a limb and said that each hair on the big apes back and body is created individually and place on him one by one.

The game does not use a heads up display, so there are no meters to be seen on the screen. This helps to immerse the player more into the experience. Not even a health bar you ask? Well how do you know when you are about to die you ask? The screen will start flashing red as you begin to take a lot of damage. While the screen is flashing red, Jack’s breathing will become very heavy. If you can manage not to get hit too many times while the screen is flashing red, your health will get a little better and begin to rise. There is also no meter to show how much ammo you have left when using a gun either . Although with the press of a button, Jack will let you know how much ammo is left. I really like what they have done with the display, and it gives the game a more cinematic feel.

There is one problem with lighting if you are unfortunate enough to be playing off a standard definition television, and lets admit that that is most of us. Ubisoft recently released a statement saying that there are many lighting issues in some areas in the game if played on Standard Definition displays. They even went to the extent of saying that some sections were virtually unplayable because it had be created with high definition displays specifically in mind.

Ubisoft have really done the Box Office Blockbuster a lot of credit and have delivered the gaming community a solid gameplay experience that never fails to throw the gamer into situations only up to now thought possible in cinema. If you have seen and enjoyed the movie and want to experience it in first person then this is a definite game for you. If you are cautious and are a “try before you buy” person then head on over to you local retailer and check out the playable demo available. All in all King Kong is one hell of a movie licence and if others could follow in its footsteps in 2006, then we will be in for one hell of a year.


Gameplay: 8

Graphics: 9

Sound: 10

Longevity: 8

Overall: 9