B-A-N-A-N-A-S!
Peter Jackson's King KongUbisoft, 360, PS2, Xbox, PC, PSP, CBA, GBDS
That classic romantic triangle of a man, a monkey and the woman who loves them both is about to see its latest screen incarnation, as Lord of the Rings auteur Peter Jackson trades giant CGI creatures and short hairy heroes for, well, a big computer-generated ape and Jack Black. Big stretch.
Rather than forcing players to identify with either Kong or Adrien Brody’s character Jack Driscoll, this game switches between both points of view, serving up first-person action from the human perspective and third-person gorilla beat-downs. Heroic leading man Driscoll must keep the rest of his film crew alive as the local flora and fauna attempt to snack on them. The game design is immersive, without the conventional life meter or ammo bar—real-world visual cues like blurred vision are the only clue that a grim death is close at hand.
The Kong levels feature the great ape swinging from trees and fighting supersized jungle critters. Sure, he’s just doing it to impress his date, but the Kong vs. dinosaur battles on the monster-laden Skull Island are suitably violent. And when anyone or anything menaces Kong’s loud-mouthed squeeze, Naomi Watts, it’s a clear case of monkey see, monkey smash.
