Peter Jackson's King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie

"The movies is great, but the game..."

King Kong is quite possibly the best movie to come out in a good while and should be up for Best Picture at the Academy Awards. The game, on the other hand, is not all that bad, but it just feels so...repetitive. It is not a terrible game by any means, but it just leaves you feeling like it not really what all the hype made up the game to be.

GRAPHIC: 9/10

Very nice graphics and some of the best on the PS2. You feel like you are on the Skull Island, but the graphics do not make the game.

SOUND: 9/10

Music and sound effects add a very nice touch to the game to help you feel more immeresed into the game. Also, the music will turn all eerie when one of your teammates is being attacked, so it helps you out as well as adds to the eeriness of the game.

CONTROLS: 8/10

One word...simple...too simple. Ok so maybe thats two words, but still these controls are so simple even a baby could get use to them. As Jack all you need to know how to do is move and shoot, because thats all he can really do. As for Kong, there are more things you can do, like running on walls and swinging from tree trunks, but you cannot do them at your will. The game makes you do these things to get to your destination so the freedom of being King Kong is lost. Ill get more into that in the gameplay.

GAMEPLAY: 4/10

Wow...that bad you ask? Well in my humble opinion yes it is. The reason is cause the game is soooooo repetitive! This is what every level consists of...get from point A to point B by burning some bushes, finding a lever to open the door, killing some critters, and protecting your team (which is not all that hard since they can defend themselves). The freedom that I was hoping this game would have is lost. Even playing as Kong, supposedly the best part of the game, it is still the same. Get to from point A to point B, break a door down, lift a pillar, kill some critters, and protect Ann. See not, not much of a difference. As Kong you get to kill V-Rex's and break their jaws, which is really awesome, but still these fights pretty much consist of a lot of button mashing and tapping. The game is not that long either and it is just soooo repetitive that it feels like you just never experience anything new.

REPLAY VALUE: 2/10

Nothing special here. I guess if you have not played the game in a year or two it might be worth playing again.

OVERALL: 5/10

This game has great graphics, and music and sound effects that helps the atmosphere of this game. Gameplay though is just so lacking and repetitive that it really hurts this game. It is definitely a solid rental, and that all it should be...a rental.

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 01/09/06