ic-games Review - The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe - Reviews, Previews and Interviews for PC, Xbox 360, PS2, PS3 and Wii

ic-games Review - The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe - Reviews, Previews and Interviews for PC, Xbox 360, PS2, PS3 and Wii ic-games Review - Home - Review, Preview and Interview for PC, Xbox,Xbox 360, PS2, PS3 and Wii

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe (PC/PS2/Xbox)

The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe

Information
Reviewer: James Collins
Developer: Traveller's Tales
Publisher: Buena Vista Games
Reviewed: PC, PS2 and Xbox
Genre: Action Adventure
UK Release: 25th Nov 2005
Article Date: 04th Dec 2005
Difficulty: Medium
Retail Price: £39.99
Price Comparison:
The Chronicles of Narnia

Score Breakdown

Experience:
Game Play:
Graphics:
Sound:
Overall Score: 74%

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Pros

Great tribute

Perfect for kids

Attention to detail

Cons

Some missions are unclear

Team AI

Screenshots

17 of 26

There’s nothing like watching a Christmas movie, munching on marshmallows and reveling in that all important ‘feel good’ factor as the magical day draws closer. Usually the same cannot be said of games based on these sorts of movies though, so with trepidation we approached Traveller’s Tales interpretation of the movie ‘The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe’, the game based on the forthcoming movie.

Anyone who hasn’t actually read the books should hang their heads in shame. CS Lewis popular children’s series The Chronicles of Narnia has entertained children for over 50 years, and its no surprise either, the books are fabulous. The story tells the tale of four children who have been whisked off to safety after their house is caught in the Blitz. It’s at the professors house that they come across the magical wardrobe after playing hide and seek. Being children they explore everywhere and eventually find the portal to Narnia where their adventure really begins.

Traveller's Tales have obviously listened to their praise of Lego Star Wars as this title plays in a similar vain. You usually have the four children under your control (Lucy, Susan, Edmund and Peter), and each child has a particular special move. Susan is a crack hand with a bow and can usually dispatch foes from a distance; Lucy loves to play Nurse and has been graced with the ability to heal the group. Due to her size she can also crawl through gaps and find hidden entrances and the likes. Peter is the brawn of the bunch and generally helps clear the area of enemies whilst poor old Edmund can only climb trees, although this ability does need to be used at times to complete the level. To switch from one child to the next you simply press the right shoulder button until the character you want is displayed on the top right of the screen.

The problem with team selection based games of this ilk is that once left up to the computer the AI is notoriously bad at helping out, sadly the same is true with Chronicles of Narnia. It’s fair enough that the majority of the combat should be left up to the controlled character, but when your other three computer controlled team mates are stood in a circle ignoring your frantic attempts to slaughter the hundredth wolf, things do get tiresome. Things fair a little better when you plug in another controller and a real team mate helps out, however it’s a shame a little more emphasis wasn’t placed on team combat.

Things do pick up around half way through when Father Christmas pops up and dishes out some decent weapons for the team. These gifts do not really change the abilities of the characters but they do make them more powerful in their specialist areas. Peter will (at last) be kitted out with a decent sword (as opposed to a stick), Lucy gets the ability to super heal and Susan now has unlimited arrows (a blessing) and a musical horn that can summon help. And as for Edmund, well he dicks off half way through the game, as in the book, to chum up with the wicked witch so he loses out on the weapon upgrades at that time.

There is a lot of artistic licence at work here, snowballs can smash through obstacles and children can push down trees to create barriers to cross water, but with a little imagination the story does remain true to the written works. Graphically the whole game is very impressive with some very nice blizzard visuals. Overall Travellers Tales should be applauded for getting the actual graphical atmosphere just right. There’s some excellent blending of footage from the film with actual in game graphics and the tone of the game is very faithful to the books and the movie throughout.

Stand out moments are few and far between but when you come across them your jaw will literally drop. Highlights include the Battle of Beruna where you have to outwit three massive giants as they slowly move towards your reinforcements. With the clock ticking you have to destroy waves of certain creatures, all this as the giants move closer towards your archers. If you’re quick enough the archers will take down the giants, if you are too slow the giants will break through your defences and the game will end.

The obligatory bonus content is present and correct, and as you would expect, allows you to view some behind the scene footage from the making of the game. There’s recording sessions from the four children getting overly excited about the game and also some new time attack missions which help towards that 100% completion status. The further you get into the game the more you are rewarded as well; you’ll have access to the making of Narnia, some trailers and other content that normally gets included on the film DVD's. It does give some incentive to complete the game and the extras are better than the tripe unlocked in some other games. Also unlike most games these extras are awarded with your progress in the game rather than ‘purchasing’ them. so it’s always wise to check the bottom draw of the wardrobe for anything new that’s been unlocked.

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe isn’t a bad game; it’s just slightly flawed in a few areas. It’s not always evident what you actually have to do during a mission – and it can be a frustrating learning experience. For example in one particular scenario, we had to dispatch a dwarf armed with a particularly annoying spinning attack. It’s not until a few deaths that you realise you can’t actually hurt him, without tying him up against a tree first. But to tie him up you actually need to hit him a few times (when he is stood in a particular place) even though it’s not actually harming him. The Chronicles of Narnia is a good game in places but you should be warned, you might need a walkthrough just to understand what to do in places as moments like this are scattered throughout the game.

In a kid friendly, action orientated interpretation of a film they’ll love, Chronicles of Narnia does hold its own - just. Kids with better patience than adults will marvel at the great visuals and probably forgive any of the shortcomings we have picked out. For starters it’s immensely frustrating in places and perhaps a little on the short side. That being said we still think that Travellers Tales have produced a decent enough interpretation of the film, if you are prepared to put up with the shortfalls.

DETAILED GAME INFORMATION

Version Reviewed: PS2/PC
Other Versions: Planned
Muliplayer: Yes (offline)
Price: £34.99

Trailer (11MB) - DOWNLOAD HERE

BBFC Rating

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