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Though the full title actually is Peter Jackson's King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie. The game, as you can undoubtedly tell from the title, is based on the upcoming King Kong movie which is a remake of the 1933 film by Peter Jackson, the director of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. It blends some first-person elements with a very solid third-person beat-em-up element to make for a very satisfying adventure. The only caveat with the game is its length, which runs rather short.
The story of the game mirrors that of the movie. This is a bit problematic in King Kong’s case since it is available a few weeks before the movie. If you were waiting to see Jackson’s take on it in film, the story will likely get spoiled for you by playing the game first. That said, we can’t say with absolute certainty since we aren’t privy to watching the movie either. Moving along, the game centers on filmmaker Carl Denham, screenwriter Jack Driscoll, and actress Ann Darrow, as they try to save a film from being cancelled by a movie studio. This causes them to go Skull Island, and well, you can probably tell where this is leading.
The game begins when you reach the island and plays through the eyes of Jack. You’ll be able to explore a lot of the environments and you’ll want to since they look so pretty. One of the more controversial aspects of the game is that it doesn’t include any heads-up-display, which typically shows the character’s health, ammo and other key statistics. Instead, the game gives you visual cues like flashing the screen if you’re low on health and verbal cues from Jack that tells you if you have enough ammo or should restock. It does a pretty good job of keeping you in the loop and really helps immerse you in the experience.
This same attention to detail carries over to the combat. The game places weapons and ammo in realistic locations further making you forget that you’re playing a videogame. You’re only able to carry one gun at a time and you have a limited supply of ammo, but with tactical planning you’ll be able to eliminate the threats without feeling too overwhelmed. The enemies in the game – made up of huge, disturbing versions of bats, scorpions, dinosaurs and millipedes, among other vile things – are quite fierce in their action. They attack in groups and force you to take cover as you struggle to keep them off your back. Some of the enemies don’t die so you’re forced to keep them at bay for as long as possible as you try to run away. It makes for a very gripping experience. The takeaway from all of this is that combat in the game feels great.
Aside from the pure combat, there are some puzzles in the game. They are generally pretty thought-free, though. You’ll occasionally need to find some handles to place somewhere or clear a path but for the most part the game is pretty linear. The other, more substantial gameplay in the game is when you get to play as King Kong whose parts make up around 20-30 percent of the game time. The game switches to a third person view and you’re able to more easily destroy the enemies that the game throws at you. Though King Kong doesn’t have the most varied move set, the moves that he has are quite pure and powerful, which is really all you need. In some parts, you’ll be holding Ann, so you can place her on a platform to have her help you destroy the enemies.
The game’s visuals are impressive, regardless of the platform. The different environments in the game are very detailed, even the smallest details are accounted for, making sure that you fit right at home with the game. The geometry is impressive with a lot going on at any given time. The jungle has a very atmospheric feel to it and it certainly helps tie back with the whole immersion thing that the game shoots for. The New York City bits aren’t quite as detailed but look good nonetheless. The enemies in the game are huge in size and once again very detailed. The lighting is superb and really helps bring everything together.
King Kong is available for a number of platforms though this review focuses on the current-generation consoles, Xbox 360, and PC. The game looks very similar for all three current-generation consoles, with the Xbox version having somewhat better lighting and sharper textures. The PC version is a higher resolution version of the Xbox and looks good by its own merits. All four versions have some framerate drops when things get too intense, though this doesn’t affect the game much. The Xbox 360 version of the game is definitely the best looking one. Though we were expecting something along the lines of the PC build – a higher resolution version of the Xbox port, like some other Xbox 360 launch titles – we were surprised to find that the graphics improved dramatically. The lighting is a lot better, the levels are more detailed with more complex geometry, the particle and fire effects look amazing, the enemies and character models are more detailed, and the textures are noticeably sharper. The Xbox 360 version even lacks a lot of the framerate problems that the other versions have.
The game’s audio is equally impressive. The background music, made up of a wonderfully composed orchestral score, sounds like something you would expect from an epic film. The sound effects are excellent; you’ll hear everything in the game (especially well if you have surround sound) but the pounding on King Kong’s chest and the roar he gives out is simply amazing. The voice acting is great with Jack Black, Naomi Watts, and Adrien Brody providing great delivery.
King Kong is an amazing game that really shows what can happen when developers really work on a film adaptation. The game combines the two different gameplay styles very well and fully immerses you in the experience. The production values are amazing with top-notch graphics and sound found nearly everywhere. Though the game runs a little short – we played a little over six hours – you’ll have a blast every step of the way.
Dec. 4, 2005 - Editor's Note: King Kong composer Chance Thomas informed us that the music for the game is completely original and not taken from the movie.
-- Adam Nunez (Xbox 360 text) -- Jose Liz, PGNx Media
---- Nov 30, 2005
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