"Suprisingly, this is an enjoyable, licensed, hack and slash."

Intro
I know what you might be thinking. A licensed game, based off of a family movie (that is filled with Christian symbolism), on the DS, how can this be any good? Well it is. As the name suggests the game is based off of the recent Disney film and C.S. Lewis novel of the same name. The storyline is pretty close to the source material, but it far from being a direct translation. For one thing basically all of the Christian overtones have been stripped out or diluted. Sidequests throughout the game give supporting characters from the movie larger roles, as well as deviate from the original storyline. In the end you are still fighting against evil to save Narnia

Graphics - 7/10
The graphics of this game are very nice, for this kind of game on the DS. The character models are all very detailed. The animations for all movements are also fluid and not jerky. The downfall of the graphics is slowdown. When there are around 6 or more characters on screen there is noticeable slowdown. Considering you yourself control 3 characters on screen most of the game there are enough characters to cause slowdown many times during the game. The slowdown is annoying, but does not ruin enjoyment of the game. The slowdown also never negatively affected my playing (meaning it never caused me to suffer damage because of it).

Sound - 5/10
I can't really comment on the sound too much because I played most of the game with the sound off. However when I did have the sound on it was not all bad. The music is of high quality and changes based on whether the level is cold or warm. This helps to set a different mood for different levels. The sound effects are fairly basic, but they more than get the job done. The only real problem with the sound effects is that they are very repetitive and get old very fast. After hearing the same sound effect 500 times you will want to turn off the volume for a little bit too.

Gameplay - 8/10
The gameplay of the game is where it truly shines. This is classic hack-and-slash action, but it does a good job of it. Each character has a basic attack (A button) and a special attack (X button). I rarely used the special attack because the basic attack is more than enough to get the job done. You can switch between characters using the L and R buttons. During gameplay all your characters on screen share the same life bar. This may sound stupid, but it helps to make things easier during combat because you know exactly how much life you have left. The game itself is a dungeon crawler. You wander the overworld going from dungeon to dungeon to defeat the "boss" of each dungeon and free a captured animal lord. Once you defeat all of the dungeons you get to take part in a final showdown with the White Witch's army, and eventually the White Witch herself. One of the best things about this game is that there is a map of the overworld included. This helps stop you from wandering in a big circle looking for the next dungeon. It also tells you what part of Narnia you are in, which is a big help in the sidequests. Sidequests are given to you throughout the game by animal allies. Most of them are either wiping out a specific enemy in a specific area or buying their banner and giving it to them. Throughout the game you will gain experience points which you can use to level up a certain aspect of one of your characters. This is a nice RPG element which added to the enjoyment of the game. Also in the game you collect different kinds of currency. This currency is used to buy better weapons and armor. So when you see those little pieces of ice fall from a dead enemy, pick them up, they are useful.

Replay - 4/10
The game really lacks in the replay value department. You do not unlock anything by completing it. The only reason I could see for playing it again is that you really enjoyed it the first time (which is a possibility) or you want to complete all of the side quests so you can say you beat it 100%. If you choose to play through it again, you know what you are in for.

Overall - 7/10
I loved the C.S. Lewis Narnia book series and I liked the recent movie. I also liked this game. However, I can see people who have no knowledge of either having fun with this game. If you know someone who has it borrow it ASAP. If you see it in a store pick it up, but I wouldn't spend over $20 for it.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 08/09/06