Aeon Flux

"A Successful Movie Tie-In"

Introduction

Aeon Flux is the official tie-in to the recently released movie by the same name. It falls into the genre of “third-person action,” but also contains a little bit of shooting as well as a little bit of platforming.

Game play

Game play is good. The controls, while not totally fluid, are simple with a moderate learning curve. Fortunately, the degree of difficulty increases gradually, so you can button-mash until you're comfortable stringing together an elegant combination of attacks and finishing maneuvers, which—by the end the game—you will be required to do.

The most enjoyable aspect of the game is watching Aeon maneuver through dangerous environments littered with hordes of enemies in all of her grace and style. Unfortunately, however, it seems the developer focused a little too hard on “creative” level design and not enough on “fun” level design. The potential for excellence exists, but excellence is not achieved.

7/10

Story

The time-line of the game covers years 2032-2338, which predates the movie. If you intend to see the movie, do so before playing the game. There are several major movie spoilers in the game, most of which would be revealed if I even gave a brief overview of the story here, so I won't. I'll suffice it to say, however, that the game is not plot-heavy and contains very little in the way of cinematics. It sounds contradictory, I know, but just trust me.

6/10

Graphics/Sound

The graphics are nothing above or below average. There are no “wow” moments, be they good or bad, throughout the entire game. The animations and particle effects are pretty good.

The sound is above average for a couple of reasons. The first, and most important, is Charlize Theron's voice acting. Beyond that, the music manages to retain the title's futuristic feel without becoming unfamiliar or unpleasant.

8/10

Playtime/Re-playability

With the primary adventure lasting about 5-10 hours, the game ends right where you start feeling it become repetitious, and that's a good thing. I must admit, I felt no desire to replay through the game looking for items I missed that unlock new costumes, but if you enjoy that sort of thing, that will add to the replay value for you. Surprisingly, however, I still found there to be some pleasure in replay. You can always make an action sequence look cooler when you know that cliff is there, and don't fall off of it. And let's not forget: looking cool is what this game is all about.

5/10

Final Recommendation

The only acceptable excuse for purchasing this game is being a die-hard Aeon Flux fan. By itself, the game is simply not worth the $50 price tag, and I'm not even sure I'd even shell out $20 for it. If you didn't see or enjoy the movie, the game has even less to offer.

I really enjoyed the movie. Therefore, as an 8-day, $8.61 rental, I feel I got my money's worth. I played the game for an hour or two everyday for about five days, completed it, and took it back. I don't feel that there is any significant amount of fun I could squeeze out of this game if I had it longer than a week.

7/10

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 12/12/05