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

"Who cares about the movie? This game ROCKS!"

This game was very entertaining and I throughly enjoyed playing this game, although I wish I could've played as Kong a little more often than usual. Otherwise, this game is solid in all major areas.

Game play: 8/10: When you play the game as Jack, you really feel as if you are the person, but this quality is lacked when playing as Kong. I was often frustrated when I tried to move, but I was "busy" swinging a tree branch around and the game wouldn't let me. The limits on the weapons and enemies made it easy to master how each character needed to be killed. It was kinda scary waiting for just the last second to blast a raptor away to do maximum damage (Crimson Butterfly anyone?) Having a pistol was ok, as it wasn't amazingly weak. I was surprised to see that I was so good with the sniper rifle; it was surprisingly easy (and satisfying) to pick off groups of 10 bird creatures from a long distance. The machine gun was adequate.

Story: 7/10: The story was simple enough: You, Jack, must rescue Ann and get off the island in one piece. For the first few levels, Hayes acts as a very good tutorial, as well as provide fire support and clues, as well as warning you about creatures surrounding you. It got annoying to be stuck in one area when you don't have a clue, you're waiting for a clue from your helping characters, and all the director can say is "Just one more lever. Just one more lever. Gotta find one more lever" ?!?! Plus, being stuck with only spears to fend off a V-rex seems kinda harsh. While Jack is involved it a lot of the action, one has to wonder why he has to do everything.

Graphics/Sound: 8/10: The sound was awesome, as it was very helpful when you're alone and you hear an animal behind you. However, it becomes both scary and annoying to hear raptors walking over your head and not knowing where they are. The voice overs were ok, but they could have done better.

Play Time/Replay Value: 7/10: If you are a novice who is nervous at every turn, then it will take you about 2 days to finish it, while if you're patient, cool and calculated, then you can pass by in one day in you start early. Once finished, there's not much else to do, except to replay levels to unlock about 4 more extras. However, it's fun to re-do levels to see if you can save more ammo and act quicker for a level.

Overall: 8/10: It's a fun game to play once through, then to play through again as a master. I would recommend this game to anyone with an open mind, conservative with bullets, patient for Kong levels, and willing to enjoy the game for more than one time.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 01/10/06