"My Wudan Style is unbeatable..."

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is not a perfect game, but a lot of fun nonetheless. With a cool, unique fighting engine that falls somewhere between Dynasty Warriors and a fighting game, CTHD comes as close as I've seen to capturing the feel of a kung fu film in a videogame. You can use your hands, feet, and any weapon you can get your hands on (you can pick up the weapons of fallen enemies and use them, and so can they)to dispatch all who cross your path in the 15+ levels of heavy fighting/ platform gameplay in highly interactive environments. With a little practice you'll be running on walls, fighting on rooftops, ''flying'' through the air, and doing crazy, over the top offensive and defensive combos (where you stylishly avoid attack combos from enemies), just like the movie. As you progress your characters skills and strength improve depending on whether you fight with your hands or weapons. As you advance you unlock hidden combos to enhance your fighting technique. There's also a ton of easter eggs and unlockables, as well as MULTIPLE endings, depending on hidden items found and how well you play the game.

There's also a platform game element to the gameplay with a lot of minor jumping and climbing puzzles, and hidden areas/ alternate paths to find. For the person willing to look there are rare pick ups, and secret items everywhere, with alternate paths almost always having a hidden reward.

If you liked the movie you'll enjoy playing through some of the cooler scenes from the film (i.e. the courtyard fight, the teahouse brawl, and Jade Fox's hideout). The attention to detail in these areas is excellent.

And now for the bad news... The in-game camera is pretty sketchy and at times downright bad, sometimes making it hard to see who or where you're fighting (read ''Oops, I fell off a cliff... again!''). I'm 99 percent sure this game would've gotten more love from magazines if the camera wasn't so shady. The right stick allows you to manually control the camera, so with a little work, this can become substantially less annoying.

At times some of the moves seem canned, but I guess that's the price you pay to do back flip splits while dodging multiple axe attacks... I can live with it.

All in all, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is a fun game and at $39.99, not too high priced. If you liked the movie, and love kung fu flicks and beat 'em up/platform gameplay, then give it a shot.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 10/14/03