#ARTHUR AND THE INVISIBLES GAME MOVIE#
#ARTHUR AND THE INVISIBLES GAME SERIES#

Visually, though, I'm rather quite gobsmacked. Verdict: alright, though no Panzer Dragoon. The short flying-shooty bit I failed to mention in the review. I only mention it because it's an annoyingly long and difficult section with sensitive steering and tricky obstacles that, due to cack-handedness took me hours to complete.

In fact, the only thing incongruous about the whole affair is the last section of the game, which - apropos of nothing, except the fact that it appears in the film - rips you out of the platforming world to race down a pipe in a toy car. And it's suitably chunky, if pretty forgiving - any death usually sees you put back in exactly the same place with all progress intact. While the three leads constantly chat to each other, building up a repartee to keep you awake, some of the lines do come across as either irritating or patronising if you're over the age of nine and most likely played a zillion other of these types of games. Its linear nature keeps you busy with tasks aplenty, but it's hard not to feel short-changed under all the excitement as you very slowly push yet another ill-disguised block into place. Yet the game wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't so damn slow and repetitive. Speaking of which, the AI is smart enough to keep characters close to your side and sufficient in combat at nearly all times. Of the three characters you command, each has one or two special abilities that needs to be utilised at well sign-posted times - Selenia, Arthur's love interest, for example (voiced by Madonna in the film, who was obviously too busy to voice the inane 'Hit the action button to open the door' voiceovers to appear here), is the only one who can chop down the many brambles that block our trio's way. The main elements are far more prosaic, built around block-pushing, door-opening and simple combat. Groan.ĭon't expect the same levels of action excitement found in either, though.

#ARTHUR AND THE INVISIBLES GAME SERIES#

It certainly aims high, I'll give it that, borrowing from some notable sources, chiefly the Prince of Persia series with its simplistic imitation of ledge-clambering and QTE fights upon the shoulders of monsters, and Demon Stone with its on-the-fly character switching for combat and puzzles. The title doesn't have an original bone in its body, yet it's pleasant enough not to offend. Not that there's anything really wrong with the game (sigh). Free! And we can finally get rid of that damning phrase, 'Not that there's anything really wrong with the game.' Say You Want a Revolution No more 'Simon Says' mini-games cluttering up our precious time. No more justifying collecting 100 sponges or ten spatulas for an extra live, we'll stamp on those abhorrent CDs like we do spiders in the bath. Then, imagine! A world instinctually repulsed by a needless double-jump.

Time spent gritting our teeth on its uninspired shell shall become encoded into our genetic make-up, ready for us to pass on to the next generation.

#ARTHUR AND THE INVISIBLES GAME MOVIE#

So if such is the case, then why not take a leaf out of the idea of selective breeding and engineer some worthwhile instincts ourselves? Why not take matters into our own hands? Why not, by taking Arthur and the Invisibles as an example and commanding every gamer to play it each day for the rest of our lives, instil into our minds self-made neurons of hate and apathy for the whole uninspired movie tie-in genre. Stumpy red-haired kid Betameche has a voice you'll want to throttle after an hour and evidently no soul (probably). For instance, the reactive fight-or-flight model we all possess isn't a modern conceit, it's a process honed thousand of years ago, brought about by our cavemen ancestors trying to survive in a dangerous era of sabre-toothed tigers, pterodactyls, and pedal-powered cars. The memories of our early lives are, it's said, locked away at a purely instinctive level of our being. In fact, we can supposedly find direct evidence of this evolution of the species deep within ourselves. Constantly getting eaten by beasties twice your size? Then divert your evolutionary path towards future generations adorned with spiky skulls and patterns on their backs that look like grimacing faces. Nature essentially gives a leg up to those who adapt and survive, wiping out the weakest of the species and changing the strongest for the better. OK, from what I know of the Godfather of evolutionary theory, Charles Darwin, and his research on the islands of Galapagos (which is, to say, not much) he coined a concept known as natural selection. Now, yes, obviously I'm going to need to inject a little melodrama into a review that heralds the next in a long, long line of average movie-licensed platformers, but hear me out.

Arthur and the invisibles game