Review

Developed by:Other Ocean Interactive Published by:Paramount Digital Entertainment Genre(s):
  • Action Adventure
  • Platformer
  • Platform:
  • Microsoft
  • Sony
  • Cost:$10.00 ESRB Rating:EVERYONE 10+ Players:1 Release date:October 26, 2011 Reviewed on:XBox 360
    4.6

    The War of the Worlds

    Challenging platforming, beautiful art style, fantastic storytelling, and voiced by Patrick Stewart. The War of the Worlds has a multitude of qualities that should make it one of the best games coming out of the Xbox Live Arcade this year. You play as Arthur Clark, a man on a desperate search for his family as the invasion of London is in full swing; the Martians have taken over, vaporizing or abducting everyone in their path. It’s a shame that it’s an exercise in frustration to play this title. It had so much going for it. Other Ocean can be proud of most of this game. But this is another game that proves no matter what else a game has, the gameplay needs to be there or it is all for naught.

    The War of the Worlds is one of the most polished games I’ve seen on the XBLA. The visuals are absolutely fantastic. The dark, gritty art style is perfect for H.G. Wells’ classic tale of Martian invasion. The muted earth tones of London under attack make the bright, shiny Martian machines stand out, and the rays and beams of their weapons are a stark contrast when they are fired. The cut-scenes are done well also, sometimes blended into the game graphics for a really cool effect. The art style is phenomenal, and is exactly what I’d imagine the scenes looking like.

    The audio is excellent as well. First off, the narration is done by none other than Captain Picard. The voice acting is wonderful, as expected, and draws you in to the story wonderfully. Music and sound effects are perfectly suited and well executed. The only thing I have against the audio is it can be grating as it does get repetitive. As radio proves, even things that sound awesome get annoying if you hear it enough times.

    Now we get to what kills this game, the gameplay. I am all for difficult, challenging games. One of the main reasons we play video games is for the challenge they pose to us. The sense of accomplishment when you complete a board, down a boss, etc. is what we want. The platforming for The War of the Worlds requires precise timing, control and skill. This is what makes this title amazingly frustrating. The controls are way too imprecise for what is required to have an enjoyable experience here. There are far too many places where your playing devolves to trial and error, hoping somehow the game responds with the correct response to what you are trying to do. In situations where you are pressed for time running, jumping, and climbing to escape yet another death, the controls let you down with inaccurate responses, causing you to have to try again and wish for some luck.

    Everything you do is slow and loose, and the game punishes you severely for it. This title is unforgiving to mistakes, and a majority of the time the mistakes are not because of you, but due to the poor response from the controller. This, coupled with infrequent checkpoints, forces you to go over the same sections a ridiculous amount of times. When you are stuck on a section that has audio attached, after the first few tries, the voice work becomes annoying, mocking you with yet another repeat of the same thing. I would be able to easily forgive the lack of checkpoints easily if it weren’t for the fact that the poor controls with demanding gameplay make for a brutal combination that caused me to have to stop playing several times out of sheer frustration.

    If Arthur was a hair quicker, and the controls were precise and responsive, this would have been a stellar game. But being reduced to hoping for miracle through trial and error and having to go thru too much when you die again and again, makes The War of the Worlds an arduous experience to say the least. I would not have finished the game if I didn’t have to for this review.

    Gameplay:

    2

    Brutal platforming with shoddy controls.

    Graphics:

    8

    Fantastic visuals and art style are amazing.

    Sound:

    8

    Outstanding voice work, music and effects.

    What's New:

    4

    Excellent source material for the story, great execution in everything but controls.

    Replay Value:

    1

    I barely completed playing through once.

    Final Score:

    4.6

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