Graphically unimpressive, Great for fans!
One of the striking and most surprising facts for me is the fact that most of the voice acting in the game, and I must say that there is tons, seems to come from the same actors who were in the movie. In fact I seem to have begun to fall in love with their accents and such. They are all the same as they were in the movies. Lyra as tough, Pan as cautious, the scholors, Lord Asriel, and such.
The game launches itself off by incorporating the use of the same scenes from the movie, all of it is in a way DVD format presentation style it seems. Luckily I had seen the movie before playing the game extensively and all the cutscenes are the exact same scenes from the movie. So this is perhaps one of the most good aspects of the game.
One of the most critical things that I have with the game is the fact that it seems to be graphically outdated. Sure there are some points in which the environments and characters look good, but more often than not, there are tons of ugly polygonal characters and edges, and maybe even bland textures. Apart from the aesthetics everything else seems quite favorable.
The game is played in a series of ways. First most everything can be controlled with the motion controls wherever appropriate (such as balancing Lyra on objects, moving to dodge enemies, aim to throwing food and books and rocks, swinging Iorek's claws, and whipping Pan). But generally, if one chooses, they can ignore virtually most of the controls (aiming is usually done by pointing at the screen). Ah there are also tons of minigames, I believe they are referred to as Evasion and Deception minigames. These are used to either avoid enemies or to gather valuable information. They are presented in a ton of places to get so much. IN a series of 1 to maybe 6 minigames the player has to keep playing these minigames using the A and analog stick to manage to get their confidence i n the green or yellow. If they are successful (most of the minigames are quite simple though some are difficult such as aiming the cursor to grab a ball or dodging attackts), then they will be able to proceed to learn more information or gain symbols from the Alethiometer.
There is combat in the game, surprise, shock, and flare but all in all this game is not too difficult, fun, and perhaps great for those who enjoy the series. I would suggest that those who arent too keen on games of these type perhaps not land on this one. Unless, like me, you have a fetish for having nearly every ounce of dialog be voiced over by characters, and dont mind having a game that once you beat it, you probably wont ever play it again.
Remember, the only downside are ugly graphics, but the cutscenes that come straight from the movie are totally worth it.