The Scorpion King: Rise of the Akkadian

"The sting of the Scorpion King"

Story- Before you think that this game is just another one of those movie-based games, I'll just inform you it ain't. Rise of the Akkadian is has an original story, which takes place before the movie. It's sort of your basic save the world from an evil sorcerer, but with the Scorpion King, so unfortunately, don't expect anything new.

Gameplay- As you could tell from looking at the back of the box, Rise of the Akkadian is a third-person adventure game. You run around beating up the evil guys, and solve a few puzzles. You can find various weapons scattered around the maps, and as you progress, they get replaced with more powerful versions of themselves. There are 4 weapon classes: Gauntlets, Spears, One-Handed Swords, and Two-Handed Swords. Each class having different attributes (such as speed, strength etc.). You've also got different combo's you can master in combat, although they aren't necessary to complete the game. There is also a few shields that you use to protect yourself, but if you use them too much, they'll break.

You'll have a normal lifebar in the beginning, but as you progress you'll get more life, eventually having 8 lifebars to go through before you die. Heh, think you'll be invincible with 8 lifebars ? Heh, 'fraid not. Monsters gang up on you and you'd be surprised how fast you can die. You've also got a stamina bar so you can pull off a special move (nothing breathtaking, just a round house with whatever you have equipped).

You'll also find hidden power-up throughout the game. You'll find PERMANENT strength ups and endurance ups. To check on those two stats, you just bring up the pause menu.

As with all good adventure games, you've got those hard boss fights. With each boss you've got to study the boss' pattern and wait for an opening. This can become time consuming, because with most bosses, as you lower thier lifebar, they recover from the opening faster.

On the bad side, I think this game had been churned out a bit too fast. There are the occasional glitches, such as graphic distortion and some monsters have very poor AI (you jump on a ledge and they run off a cliff to try and get you).

Graphics and Sound- The graphics in Rise of the Akkadian, are well, not spectacular. The characters look alright, yet you can't see emotions on thier faces. Some of the monsters are truely amazing, like the Snake God Apep.

The scenery is alright, it actually looks like ancient Egypt. It does get repetitive occasionally, but you'll always have your eyes on it cause you're looking for power-ups.

The sound on the other hand, isn't very good. The game's main menu features the song ''I Stand Alone'' by Godsmack, from the Scorpion King soundtrack. While this song is pretty good, it can annoy you a great deal if you hear it over and over each time you go to the menu.

The in-game music is decent, but you don't really pay attention to it since you're too busy fighting. When you do pay attention, you'll find the fight music is the same in every level, and in almost every room there's a fight.

On a minor note, the game does feature the voice of the Rock, and Mark Hamill. I’m afraid the Rock isn’t very good at voice acting…

Replay Value- This is what makes Rise of the Akkadian great, the replay value. Scattered throughout each level are Blood Rubies. Each Blood Ruby unlocks a hidden picture in the Bonus section, so that's about 300+ Rubies to find. If you want to find them all, you'll have to play the game through at least twice. So that means...

When you finish the game, you get the option to save. What's that mean ? You can play again, starting from the start with all you boosted stats (but not all you weapons...). You can find more powerups, and become even stronger (killing guys that gave you trouble the first time in a couple of hits !). You can also find the Blood Rubies you get the first time through.

Bonus Features- The game has a bonus menu, which features a trailer for the Scorpion King movie, a preview of the Mummy cartoon, and E3 trailer for Rise of the Akkadian. While you collect the Blood Rubies, you'll unlock the rest of the bonus feature, which are mainly designs for the game(there's a few movies to unlock, which are unlocked when you see them).

Rent or Buy- Well, I bought it not even knowing anything about it, and I'm pleased with my purchase. If you want a game with great replay, or you're a fan of the movie, this is the one for you. But... I guess it could get repetitive, going through the game over and over again. It is a long game, but you can finish it if you rent it, if you don't want to unlock the pictures.

My final score - 10/10

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 09/16/02, Updated 09/16/02