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The game of the film of the book… Games based on films really are a peculiar proposition. Even more so if the film itself is based on a book, as each shift in medium involves shifts in conventions and requirements. The game of the new Narnia film is mind-bogglingly odd – the first level involves you beating up furniture to gather tokens. What would CS Lewis make of such nonsense? The game of Harry Potter's latest cinematic adventure also relies on the token-gathering convention (in this case, Bertie Bott's Many-Flavoured Beans litter the environments). Although the Goblet Of Fire game is fun in a robust EA chart-topping kind of way, the best of the current crop of games released to cash in on the season's blockbuster films is probably UbiSoft's King Kong.  Although it essentially takes characters, trappings, settings, and some story elements from the film, like all these games do, it does abandon some of the more gratuitous game conventions and clutter. You don't run around collecting Kong droppings or suchlike, and you don't have a messy interface, and there's no HUD-style info, a device that aligns it somewhat with a movie. Instead, when you're playing as hero Jack Driscoll in what is basically a first-person shooter, he calls out the state of your ammo supplies, for example, which isn’t a bad idea. And the game itself is more considered than the bulk of titles based on films.  The biggest predicament for designers making games based on films is that the player has to be constantly doing something. So, unlike a film's narrative - which unfolds with more dialogue, character interaction, etc - in games it tends to unfold as you fight, fight some more, then fight some more after that. In this case, working your way across Skull Island while fighting dinos and sundry beasts with your gun or handy projectiles. The King Kong game does make things more interesting, however, by having you play as Kong himself too, with third-person giant ape action levels. And it's pretty nifty, although controlling Kong is probably more suited to a joypad than a PC keyboard. All in all, UbiSoft's game is an ambitious attempt to innovate the traditionally awkward film adaptation.
Daniel Etheringtion
Peter Jackson's King Kong: The Official Game, Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire, and The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe are out now on Xbox, PC, GameCube, PS2, DS, GBA and PSP.
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