Golden Compass (Nintendo DS) - Review by Andrew

Introduction

If there's one thing that's become predictable over the years it's that at least one of the big movie studios will unleash a seasonal movie over the Christmas period. Not an actual Christmas movie or Disney/PIXAR outing but rather a literary classic which not only crosses age groups and also provides a more thought provoking and visually stunning alternative to the usual fodder. The year it's a reworking of Philip Pullman's hit book The Golden Compass, which on paper has everything; a great cast, magical lands and creatures and a formidable quest which must be undertaken by a child. As a result, the film itself is proving to be a box office hit but what about the game?

Gameplay

The Golden Compass plays out as a kind of co-op beat'em up and as a result you play three of the book's characters: Lyra (who you control most of the time, Pan (her demon) and Panzerbjorne Lorek. Your objective is to discover the secrets of The Golden Compass whilst also rescuing Lyra's friend Roger. Fans of the book will probably find the structure confusing as the story jumps around for reasons of pacing making the narrative that much harder to follow. During the first few levels you'll indulge in some combat and the odd puzzle but as soon as you get indoors the whole thing turns into a kind of avoidance game, which is not only painfully slow but also badly designed. Unfortunately this is how the whole thing plays out: combat, puzzle, avoidance and so on until you reach the end. I don't need to tell you that this repetition does not make for a great game and I'd be surprised if any of you managed to complete it.

Controls

Not too bad at all with every new move prompted by on-screen instructions. Unfortunately the collision detection is just not as responsive, leading to frustration far too often for a game of this nature. Worst still is the combat where not only must you resort to simple button bashing but almost everyone or thing you meet is dealt with in the same fashion.

Graphics

While the outdoors environments have been expertly designed with suitably detailed textures, as well as snow and other weather effects, the same cannot be said of the indoor and town locations. These are a little bland by comparison and, as a result appear static and unrealistic and you get the impression that if one of the leads collided with a wall it would wobble. Worse still are the bland characters models, which are also poorly animated. This wouldn't be so bad if the decision had been made to keep the game's speed at an acceptable frame rate but you will often find the game struggling to keep even the most average of speeds even though little is happening.

Sound

The audio is probably the bet thing about this game and a variety of orchestral themes play throughout the menus and levels. The sound effects aren't bad either with the winds providing a suitably icy backdrop to the outdoor adventures. Elsewhere it's all a little generic and don't expect anything like a sound bite as all communication is done in text.

Dual screen

The bottom screen is hardly used at all and inexplicably it actually spends much of the game displaying exactly what's on the top screen. Elsewhere you do get to use your stylus for the 'weird and wonderful' Alethiometer but, given that you'll need a degree from the University of Strange Science to use it, you may as well just keep it tucked away.

Final comments

Just when you thought there was a glimmer of hope with movie tie-ins, SEGA release this mess which should never have made it past the testing stage. There are far more creative methods of adapting a book to console than simply having the lead characters read out reams and reams of text. Even worse the whole game looks average at best and plays awful. Even if you did enjoy the movie, do yourself a favour and invest in the book instead.

Pro: Audio isn't Bad.
Con: Terrible Dialogue with Ugly Characters and Animation.
Final score: 3.8

Share on Twitter or Facebook

Comments