Peter Jackson’s King Kong The Official Game of the Movie is a bit of a mixed bag. I say that because whilst it does bring with it some interesting twists and changes to the standard first person shooter affair it also brings several significant technical issues and design problems that leave it an average game at best.
The game itself boasts that players “Play as man. Play as Kong.” but the touted 50-50 split is more in the realms of 70% man and 30% Kong. In terms of following the movies script a lot of changes are made along the way but base premise of arrive at the island, lone female on board gets kidnapped by giant ape, set out on mission to rescue damsel capture ape and of course finally show off ape who then escapes and kidnaps woman once more before being gunned down from the tallest skyscraper in the city. Though they claim the airplanes got him we all know that it was beauty killed the beast.
In terms of the differences between the action as man and Kong, as you might expect the gameplay of man takes the role of a first person shooter whereas that of Kong is a third person action brawler with some one path platforming added to the mix. As Kong the gameplay is passable as the sections are often short enough for the restrictions of a severely limited move set, somewhat clunky overall nature and very both limiting and restricting paths to become clear. Effectively, Kong has one combo and a handful of grabs alongside the ability to become enraged which causes a weird slow motion every time he lands a hit. Once you realise this the magical nature of playing as the true star of the motion picture wears off and you’ll be thankful for both the brevity of the levels and the sparseness of the stages in which you take upon the role of Kong.
The Jack (man) sections of the game, which thankfully make up its majority, are what you typically expect from the term first person shooter but with a few twists added along the way. The most obvious right from the get go is the complete omission of a hud (although it can be added via the options menu) as an attempt to craft a more realistic and immersive experience. Its different but I’ll be damned if it didn’t help give the game a unique look of its own when compared against (insert any other generic fps here). Unfortunately the technical and design issues present break the immersion just a touch too many times to be ignorable. In a game that’s attempting to create tension as you square off against dinosaurs with little to no ammo remaining, a stick or spear lit on fire shouldn’t be as effective as it is against velociraptors. Simply throw the flaming stick or spear into the charging dino’s face to stop him in his tracks and then while he’s still down run up and pull the stick you before quickly throwing the stick into his head once more; repeat until the dino is lifeless and your done.
Aside from the overpowered spear situation there’s also a noticeable amount of issues with the scripting of the dinosaur enemies as they run endless into a corner or wall, as they run through and over walls or scenery and as they slip and fall of a cliff to there demise without even so much as one spear to the face. Its comical and once more breaks the tense feeling of immersive dread that the game attempts to create throughout.
Finally the games controls also deserve as special mention as the omission of a jump or sprint button is bizarre and the aim down the sights some Metal Gear Solid complexity. For instance to aim using the sights of your gun requires to not only pull the left trigger (which zooms in slightly) but also requires a further press of the right thumbstick. Its weird and does take some getting used to and why it wasn’t merely pull the left trigger to aim is beyond me.
Its such a shame that the game lacks the polish to execute its vision better as the subtle touches it uses to create a more compelling and immersive experience could work well if utilised correctly. Perhaps if a game such as a more horror / tense focused game (Turok remake) were to steal a similar perspective and system and spent the time refining and polishing the gameplay then the true potential of the immersive style present here would be shown but as it stands King Kong the game is a valiant effort with a few shortcomings that bring it back down to average at best standards.