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

"The Big Hairy Monkey Is So Beautiful"

Went to the movie with my girlfriend, made out for three hours...but I watched the cool parts! After seeing how freaking cool the movie was, I went out and rented the game. I haven't seen the old version of King Kong, but I can make an educated guess that this movie is WAY better and the game is even better then the movie!

This game is really fun to play. It's one of the best games this year, without a doubt. It's pretty easy and straightforward (which I usually criticize in my reviews) it's got one or two difficult parts. Usually the King Kong parts, which keeps the game from getting old. The controls with Jack are easy to understand and playable for even the youngest gamers. King Kong's controls are a little annoying at first, but after you get used to it, you can fully enjoy the ability to be Kong.

The story is simple. You're a movie writer, and you and your crew, and a few sailors, go to a film a movie on an island. An island that the director only knows about by finding an old map. The year is the late 30's early 40's and movies have become such an important thing to American life. When you get there, things get bad...natives attack you and you get stranded on the Island. You have to get off!

People praise this game a lot for it's graphics, but I don't see much really special about them. It's probably because I'm playing it on the Playstation 2. The fire looks a little fake, but fire looks fake in nearly every video game, so I can't bash it for that. The sounds alright, nothing really special there either.

The game is just the right length. Not too long and not too short. I would've made it just a little longer though. Maybe go on longer then the movie did and have a little more play time at the end. I wouldn't play it again after you've already beaten it. I was completely satisfied with one go around.

Like I've said before, rent games. That is no exception for King Kong. It's fun, not too different from the movie, the story is easily followed, and it's a gem. Most games that are based on movies aren't good at all, but this game shows that games based on movies can shine too. It graces my review with 9 out of 10.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 02/07/06