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Excellent Game!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 13 / 14
Date: November 23, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I played this game on my friends brand spankin new XBOX 360 and its absolutly unbelievable! The graphics are superb, it looks like youre playing the movie! You get to play as one of the main characters in the movie (can't remember his name) OR as King Kong him self! This game is so intense... when you are playing as a person, you do not have any health bar, or any ammo information, you must entirely rely on the other characters that are with you to let you know when you are dying or need to re-load. When you wish to distract a menacing T-Rex, you can shoot down a flying dinosaur and he will actually go over and eat the bird, buying you time to run for your life! While playing as Kong, you can smack the hell out of your enemies and throw them around untill they are left lifeless. Its an excellent game that is sure to please all! Can't wait until the movie!!!!!

Great Game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: May 25, 2006
Author: Amazon User

KING KONG is a fun,interesting,and unique game.First off it has great graphics,lighting,and sound.You will get a chance to battle and survive giant(V-REX)as KONG and JACK.The game has 5 weapons that makes the game really fun.The machinegun,pistol,shotgun and sniper rifle.You will be exploring the whole island as JACK surviving in the jungles,and rippin enemies apart as KONG.Overall this game is worth a buy.

Great Game for the Action Game Lover

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 28 / 30
Date: November 26, 2005
Author: Amazon User

This game is clearly associated with the 2005 movie. How can we tell? The full name of the game is Peter Jackson's King Kong - The Official Game of the Movie. Subtle!

The game was made with complete cooperation of Peter Jackson - he let the gaming team have access to the CGI and sets from the movie, and the game was made at the exact same time.

The game plays very much like being in a movie, with smooth slides between cinematic scenes and action sections. That being said, the game of course is FAR more action-oriented than any movie would be. In a movie you might fight off a group of creatures for a short period of time. In the game, of course, the hordes come in numerous, almost endless, waves.

This is more than just a beast-slaying game, though. There's a bit of thought involved. For example, if a gigantic dinosaur comes running at you, you don't have to try to slay it in straight-out combat. You can instead kill another random creature that is nearby, and the dinosaur will decide to go munch on it.

There are a few levels that you can play as Kong, but really for most of the game you are playing as a normal human in a band of friends. The various friends around you can either be helpful or REALLY annoying, depending on their mood. There are many times that I was tempted to snipe at my "friends" instead of the Giant Centipede or whatever the monster of the moment was.

The graphics are of course awesome. From the ocean waves to the murky dark caves, from the detail on the faces to the detail on the monsters' teeth, you get immersed in a high quality version of the movie. Again, this is to be expected, as the game designers got direct feeds of the movie graphic files.

The sound is also well done, with the sounds and feel of the movie. You get an immersive experience, drawing around you what the movie is all about. Danger, gloom, crashing waves and thunderous primal screams.

I have to admit that I found some of the puzzles a little tedious. Walking around and around a post to open a door was silly enough the first time, but for me to have to do it repeatedly was a bit much. Also, there were a few times that monsters seemed to get "stuck" in an area and I had to in essence go and prod them a few times for them to come out and properly attack me. I suppose not all monsters are highly intelligent :)

The game is definitely one that targets adrenaline-rush types. The sounds are loud and pounding - from bellows to cries of panic to screeches. The video is always jumping between dark caves to dark stairs to fiery bushes and things swooping down at you. You're kept off balance and rarely get a moment to breathe.

I did like how the game is set up like a movie. There aren't on screen health bars, ammo counters or anything else. You hit a button to hear a verbal check of your ammo. You talk to your friends to find out how they are. When you get hurt, your screen starts to go red and fuzzy, and you even hear "angels sing".

If I'm going to have any complaint about this game, it's really a personal one - I like games with a balance between hyped-up tension and more calm puzzle/investigating. There was really no break here, it was just non-stop thundering noise and attacking monsters. I'm sure most people thrive on that :)

Well recommended for those seeking a high action fix!

Great rental

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 16 / 17
Date: December 11, 2005
Author: Amazon User

As has been discussed since the game King Kong was announced, Peter Jackson approached Michel Ancel to create this game due to his work on one of my favorite games, Beyond Good and Evil. When I heard the Michel Ancel was working on a high profile game, I jumped at the chance to play it. This was one of the first Xbox 360 games I purchased and the second I beat.

One thing Michel Ancel is extraodinarily good at doing is creating a living world, populated with rich characters and terrific scenery. He proved this in Beyond Good and Evil, giving various different gameplay functions to mess around with, as well as terrific characters that could bring a smile to your face. King Kong continues this and gives us a fully realized Skull Island as our playground. Ancel took away any hint of an interface. There's no life, ammo, or aiming device. Its all natural and you have to rely on vocal cues about the ammo, realize that one or two bites from a T-rex is going to kill you and estimate on how you throw your spears.

At first I was worried about the lack of aiming target, but the game compensates for this by being pretty open. Hitting a target really isn't too difficult as long as you are aiming in the general area. Playing in first person really helps get you in the shoes of the protagonist, and hearing the terrifying roar of a T-rex (or V-Rex as they are called in this game, to which I say, WTF?) behind you and knowing that he's there but knowing also that if you stop to look you will be dead really helps sink in this feeling. Its a survival of the fittest and you had better keep your wits about you.

Graphically, the game is beautiful. The textures in the land really help present an island teeming with life. The enemies are done pretty well over-all. One of the problems with the current form of normal mapping is that sometimes things can look shiny or slimy. This is duly noticeable in the hair of people. Naomi Watt's character's hair looks shiny and slimy instead of natural. The art direction is stunning too which helps cover-up any graphical short-comings there maybe.

The audio is stunning as well. The voice actors from the movie reprise their roles and unlike some movie video games, it doesn't sound like the actors are just talking into a mic to get paid. The screams, the bit of dialogue there is, it all fits into a nice package surrounded by terrific dinosaur sounds, ambient music and a terrific score. The only part of the audio that became annoying to me was when you are seriously injured. Hearing the angels choir became annoying after awhile.

Playing as Kong is a delight, mostly. Instead of making it difficult, the game-developers wanted to give players a sense of strength and reckless abandon that you don't have playing as a human. And they succeed. Kong is vicious, you don't have to worry about timing anything or about hiding. Charge in there, destroy things, climb on walls, jump from ledge to ledge, break T-Rex's mouths open. Its all there, easy to pull off, and makes playing as Kong a joy instead of a chore.

Once you get off Skull Island is where the game lost a little. It felt as if New York wasn't as developed as it could be and it was over in about 10 minutes. Pretty much a let down but I'm sure that it was done this way to keep any surprises from the movie leaking out.

Now, as great as this game is, there is a major problem. Its damn short. It took me about 5-6 hours to play it. Since its an incredibly linear video game with no room for exploration, you pretty much have no choice but play it quickly. It is a visually stimulating and exciting journey, but a very quick one. In fact, I don't know if I can justify the $60 price tag. Its a game that begs to be played and you can get it down in one weekend without realizing it.

Michel Ancel succeeds in creating another exciting game. If it weren't in such a hurry to get out before the movie, maybe it could have been a bit more flushed out. As it is, the game is a terrific way to spend 6 hours of your life. But, as to the $60 out of your pocket, that's debatable.

Everything you need to know

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 7 / 10
Date: December 18, 2005
Author: Amazon User

King is a great game. Lets get the ovious part out of the way and say the graphics are absolutly beautiful. It is the most endrinlyn rushing game I have ever played. If you stop for a second to breathe, death is coming for you. You cannot stop to rest for anything. You have raptors flying down out you, T- Rex's charging and envirmental traps(holes and pits) , Making rest impossible.Another thing is that there is no ammo or health meter. You have to tap a button and you will get the ammo amount verbally. For health you have to rely on common sense. You have to know that one bite from a T rex is porbably enough to kill you instantly. But, the screen will flash red and you'll even hear angels sing. Also there some thought to this game as well. Instead of attacking a beat head on, you could kill another beat near by and the other beats will go and eat it, allowing you to slip by unoticed. There are 2 down sides to this game though.
1) when you finally leave for skull island you arrive in NY, and you think you get to play a lot in that level , but from there the game is over in 10 minutes.
2) The game is to short!!! It took me 6 hrs to beat it m aking it not worth the $60 price tag.
The game is very good though, you get to play as Kong 20% of the time,and instead of making it a chore you get to rip the jaws of T rex's and snap there necks in 2 with ease.
I reccommend to RENT this game.

Like playing the movie?

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 7 / 12
Date: November 23, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Are you crazy? This is not like playing the movie. It is way fun. But it is not like playing the movie. THe garphics on the XBOX 360 are incredible. It is incredibly realistic. But you can certainly tell this is a video game and not film. I think the previous reviewer was a little excited. Anyway. The game is fun. There are plenty of things to do. THe Kong levels are way fun, but do not think they are half or more of thge game. They are only about 20 percent of the game. Too Bad because they are way fun. The human levels are great too though. This game is from the creators of Beyond Good and Evil and it shows. Both games are great.

Bottom Line: If you love the movie get the game. If you want a great first person shooter get perfect dark or call of duty.

Just got it!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 4
Date: January 10, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Takes the movie adventures to a new level. The game is full of gigantic creatures and of course Kong. Pretty good with amazing graphics.

King Kong, the Xbox 360 Game

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: December 01, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Running through the jungle as a giant monkey is great fun. Unfortunatly, its less than half of the gameplay to be had in King Kong. The Story starts out on Skull Island. You play Jack, the Oscar-winning, beak-nosed protagonist of the movie. Armed with guns and spears, you make your way through the drab environments. The graphics are not very next-gen for a 360 title. In fact, they seem little better than a xbox game. The graphics do look a little better as the campaign progresses, as if the programmers figured out the 360 as they went along. As a first person shooter (as much of the game played as Jack is) the game is average at best. The game has a few good tricks up its sleeve: Killing monsters (dinosaurs, giant centipedes, etc) can be used as bait for other monsters, so you can sneak by. The game also has a couple of puzzles on each level, mostly using fire in some way, or figuring out a particular sequence of events to progress. It's ok, but the muddy graphics (I played it on a 42' HDTV), mar the experience.
The game shines a bit more when you get to play King Kong. Laying the smack-down on V-Rexes (T-Rexes virtual cousin?) is great fun. However, the combat mechanics are a bit one-dimensional. In my opinion, the best part of the game is rumbling though the jungle as Kong. You can almost feel Kong's sheer size as he climbs and jumps through the levels.
The in-game story follows the movie closely, and expands on some of background on what Jack is doing while the other actors in the movie are trying to escape Skull Island and save Naomi Watts. Side note: Jack Black (just as annoying in the game as he was in the movie) is accuratly portrayed, as is most of the other actors. However, Ann in the game looks nothing like Naomi Watts. Kind of a bummer, when she was one of the best things about the movie (next to the giant chimp, of course). The story leads to one of the down points of the game: You know Kong is going to die at the end. It makes playing through the last few levels of the game feel kind of pointless. I mean, who cares if Kong gets killed on the next to last level, when you know he's going to die on the last level? There is an alternate ending, that can be achieved by replaying a bunch of levels to accrue enough points, so at least there's that.
Ending comments: I had a pretty fun time playing through King Kong. The game really grows on you (like lice on a monkey, heh). The furthure I got into the game, the more fun I had. If your a fan of King Kong (and who isn't) this game is worth picking up for $20-$30 dollars. It would be hard to justify paying $60 bucks for it. Here's a rundown of the good and bad points: Cons: 1. Bland next-gen graphics 2. You play as Jack more than you play as Kong. 3. Repetative puzzles (how many times do I have to use fire to get past a certian point? 4. Last levels in NYC feel tacked-on. Pros: 1. Playing as Kong is great fun. 2. Good scripted events. 3. Story keeps you interested till the end.
Total rating: 7.5/10 (which is pretty good for a movie-licensed game)

Long live the Kong

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: May 20, 2006
Author: Amazon User

The game is both a First Person Adventure and a Third Person Action. You play as a human in the first person adventure sequences, and as Kong himself in the third person sections. Both modes are merged together within the storyline, flowing from one to the other. The story line determines which one you will be playing at any given time.

While playing as the human, you will have to overcome various obstacles and solve puzzles throughout the game. Many of the puzzles include finding handles to turn in order to open doors, or finding fire to burn some bushes blocking your path. While playing as man, it gives you a deep feeling of the `survival' element because ammo is scarce and you will often have to pick up and throw sharp bones or spears at enemies, in order to conserve your resources.

Graphically, this game is amazing. I was truly impressed with the level of detail all throughout this game. The hair on Kong is jaw-dropping and will keep you wondering how in the world the console can generate that amount of detail. The environments are lush and well designed.

While playing as Kong, you will mainly have some platform jumping, which is really easy to do, and mainly fight off dinosaurs and the human savages of the island, destroying their villages as you pass through. Kong's adventure is shorter than man's.

In both modes whenever you are badly injured, the screen turns read, all you have to do is stop or avoid taking damage and you health will recharge itself. There are no health packs in this game. Saving can be done at anywhere in the game however you will sometimes start at the beginning of the chapter of somewhere in the middle. The chapters for each mode aren't long to complete. Some of them are as short as ten minutes or as long as half an hour. Luckily whenever you die, you start not to far from where you were killed off..

Although Kong may lack the depth of game play desired by more advanced gamers, it is a truly unique gaming experience.

This game was great!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: March 31, 2006
Author: Amazon User

This game was so good. There was never a part during the game that I became bored. It really kept me wanting more. For a launch title, this game had really great graphics. I thought that even though the game was pretty short, it still holds up as a great action/adventure game. I personally loved this game and definitely recommend it to all xbox 360 owners. When you play as Kong, you truly get a sense of power. You can pretty much take anything down in you path and the enjoyment from this is awesome. Another thing I really liked about this game was the detail that the game goes into. Some parts of the game truly blew me away with its graphics. One thing that wasn't the best on this game was the way the achievments worked in the game. There was only 9 of them, and basically if you complete the game, you will unlock all of them while doing so and get the 1000 pts. This just seemed way to easy and with Microsoft saying how great these achievements are for games, these were not that great. Overall, I really loved this game and thought it was great!

Presentation
The menu is a little blah. Not great, not horrible, it's just kinda there. It in no means takes away from the greatness of the game, but it certainly doens't add to it.

9.0 Graphics
For a launch title this game is pretty incredible in terms of graphics. The first couple chapters of the game don't look as good as the rest (like 5% of the game). I don't know why, it just does.

9.5 Sound
The sound of the game is amazing and really adds to a realistic gaming experience. Things sound like they're are right in the room next to you. It really adds to the mood of the game.

8.0 Gameplay
The gameplay of this game is great, don't get me wrong, but it is pretty short. This is my only real gripe of this game. There is so much more the game could have had. It was great as is however.

7.5 Lasting Appeal
This game doesn't scream lasting appeal. It's a great game, don't get me wrong, but it lacks certain things that could make it last longer. No mulitplayer, no Live aspects (except achievments), etc.

8.5 Overall

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