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| | Title:
The Chronicles of Narnia
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System:
Xbox
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Genre:
Action/Adventure
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Publisher:
Buena Vista Games
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Developer:
Travellers Tales
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Release:
11/14/2005
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Online:
No
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ESRB:
Teen (T)
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Now in days it seems like with every new movie coming out, there has to be a video game that coincides with the release of the movie. Most of the time, it seems, the game is created to further promote the movie, and to capitalize off of the name. Usually when this happens, the game is thrown together and comes out as a horrible game. The Chronicles of Narnia: the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is one of these games that is based around a movie that is due to hit theaters soon. However, even though it is geared mostly towards kids, this game is one of the rare few that actually turned out to be a decent title and not one that is at the bottom of the bargain bin just months later.
Story
If you are unfamiliar with the storyline, it won't take long to understand once you begin playing. The story, in the game, is not that in-depth or extremely exciting, but it does keep the game moving from level to level. To keep things simple, a few kids (which you will play as in the game), discover a magical winter land, known as Narnia, that is accessed through the back of a wardrobe closet. Most of the game takes place in this winter land where players will fight against all sorts of creatures ranging from Minotaurs, to Werewolves, to Cyclopes, and pretty much anything in between. The player's goal is to free Narnia from the continuous icy cold winter that is being controlled by a witch. Since we don't want to give out any spoilers, you will have to play the game or watch the movie to find out the rest of the storyline.
Speaking of the storyline, there are actual clips from the movie integrated right into the game. After each level, a clip from the actual movie will be shown that furthers the storyline in the game. Although this may seem like a cheap way out, it works very well with the game and makes the gameplay feel more realistic.
Gameplay
Throughout the game you will have control over a total of four people. These four people include: Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy. Each of them has their own skills and abilities that will help you throughout the game and with different tasks that you have to perform. Switching characters is done very well and the transaction is nice and smooth. By just pressing the right trigger you will switch to another character quickly. If this isn't the character you want, you just have to rotate through them until the one you want is selected. Once that happens you will have complete control over that character until you decide to switch again, and all the other characters will follow you to wherever you are heading.
Although each character has their own specific abilities, several times throughout the game they will need to work together to get past a certain obstacle or defeat a specific enemy. For example, Edmund and Lucy can team up and Edmund will fling Lucy into enemies or some sort of barrier. This is used a lot to break through large pieces of ice in the path, so that you can continue moving forward. There are about six of these cooperative moves and they can be upgraded later in the game.
Fighting enemies is a big part of the game, and the combat system is setup pretty well, but very basic and easy to understand. For most of the beginning part of the game, you will just be able to use your basic punch attack to defeat small enemies. Later in the game you will have access to a stick, sword, and bow & arrow. You can also use objects in the environment such as snowballs and a bundle of sticks, but these are mostly used to solve puzzles instead of attacking enemies.
In many parts of the game, it feels almost like you are playing through some of the old Mario games. Why? Because there are tons of shiny and spinning coins scattered all around the place that you have to collect. Also, for some odd reason, you can collect coins from objects such as furniture or barrels. The coins are used to upgrade a player's skills, abilities, or weapons. Although every single area of the game has these shiny coins scattered all about, they are not a big part of the game and you will only upgrade a handful of times throughout the game.
The gameplay goes well with the story, however is overall very basic. Each level consists of basically the same thing repeated over and over, which is, kill some enemies, get past an obstacle in the path, beat up on some more enemies and then get past something in the environment. Because of the repetitive nature of the game, I found it boring to play through more than two levels in the same sitting.
Graphics
The overall visuals of this game were much more than what I had expected them to be. The environments are by far the best looking thing in the game. The snow looks accurate; effects such as fire and snow falling from the sky are very well done. There are trees, brush, and hill sides everywhere you look which adds to the overall feel of the game. Altogether, the environment matches closely to the magical and mystical style of the game. Animations also look smooth and well done. The animations are probably best represented in the enemies, such as when a wolf is running toward you, or when you are bonking one on the head, they will react realistically and very smoothly. One slightly annoying aspect of the game, that you will notice right off the bat, is that you can't rotate or move the camera in any way. The camera is locked in a certain position for each area of the level. This is not a huge problem, but becomes annoying when you can't exactly see what you are trying to do in the far distance or something that is behind something like a bush. The overall graphics are very well done, but nothing you haven't seen done before.
Audio
The background music fits the game really well and matches the magical theme of the game. My only complaint with the soundtrack is that often times it seems overly dramatic. For example, sometimes after you complete a relatively easy objective, some loud and triumphant music will blare, and honestly it just made me laugh, but would probably excite younger kids and keep them playing. Voice acting is also very well done and sounds like something right out of the movie. The overall sounds of the game exceed all other areas of the game including gameplay and graphics.
Overall
Overall, The Chronicles of Narnia is an excellent children's games that most young kids, or anyone interested in the movie, would enjoy. The gameplay is straight forward, easy, and nothing new. Graphics and audio much better than expected from this type of movie based game. The magical type adventures always work well with kids, and they shouldn't really mind the somewhat boring gameplay. This game would make for a great Christmas gift, or rent for the younger kid that enjoys video games.
| The Core Score |
Overall
7 |
| Fun |
|
7 |
| Gameplay |
|
7.3 |
| Graphics |
|
7.6 |
| Audio |
|
8 |
| Replay |
|
5 |
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