Clash of the Titans Updated Hands-On

It's been a strange odyssey for the Clash of the Titans video game. Liam Neeson released the Kraken in late March when the movie on which the game is originally based came out in theatres. But the virtual version of that iconic sea monster has had to endure some substantial delays. It wasn't until May that the game was finally released in Europe, and it'll still be nearly a month before it arrives on North American shores. (The game, not the Kraken. At least we hope.) So with the games industry taking a collective post-E3 nap, Namco Bandai recently sent us a near-complete build of the North American version so that we could see what players can expect when Clash of the Titans finally does make that long overdue trip across the pond.

If you read our original impressions of Clash of the Titans, you should have a good idea of how this action game plays. For those who haven't, though, it's a combat-driven adventure that, on the surface, invites a number of comparisons to the God of War series. While both are third-person action games set against a backdrop of Greek mythology, Clash of the Titans doesn't really go for the epic encounters and general bloodlust we've come to expect from Kratos and pals. It's a more straightforward style of action that forgoes bitterly ravaging giant creatures in favor of more strategic offerings. This mostly comes in the form of what the game calls sub-weapons, which are the secondary weapons you can steal from your enemies and use against them. Nearly all of the game's enemies--both grunts and bosses--seem to be weak against certain weapons and attacks; thus, the search for the right type of tool in a given situation seems to form the foundation of the combat.

You start off playing the shoeless, tunic-wearing Perseus, an ordinary enough fellow from a small fishing village on the coast. When a group of sirens start attacking villagers, Perseus has to take up arms to defend his family and friends. Things naturally spiral out of control from there. When Perseus isn't fighting harpies or skeletons, he's being scolded by an irate Hades, who likes to pop by from time to time to look angry and, presumably, show off his savage beard. It doesn't take much time to realize that this rotating cast of mythological beasts is probably the game's strongest quality, as there's no shortage of bizarre monsters to battle.

The variety of monsters means there are a lot of sub-weapons to steal. Some early examples include a giant hammer with a skull at the end, bows and arrows for ranged attacks, and a leathery harpy wing that does wind damage. (Yes, the game actually calls it a "leathery wing.") While your standard sword that you have with you at all times can be used as often as you like, the sub-weapons are powered by enemy souls, which are represented by a gauge on the screen. Each attack drains the gauge a bit, but you can refill it by stealing new weapons or doing a special soul-stealing move on weakened foes. But, really, this is all just a long-winded way of saying that you have to be cautious with how you use the sub-weapons. There's definitely a risk-versus-reward dynamic at play with the decision to use up your special weapon on a big group of low-powered enemies or save it for a single big boss.

It's worth mentioning that the process of stealing these weapons requires completing a quick-time event of sorts. Basically, you hit a button in time with a large circle shrinking in time with a small circle. You'll generally have to do this two or three times with a single enemy, which in our experience got quite tedious after a while. Fortunately, the finishing moves (while equally unvaried) look pretty cool the first time you see them. Ripping the wings off of a harpy that was once tormenting you from up high is definitely a rewarding experience. Other times, though, they look a little goofy, like when you thrust your sword through the open space in a skeleton's rib cage to kill it.

That leads us to the big question we're left with after playing the first couple of hours of Clash of the Titans. Initial impressions suggest a serviceable if unremarkable action game that could very well appeal to fans of the movie with its cast of cool Greek monsters. But there are hints of repetition in the combat that could wear on you and drag down later parts of the game. You can expect to see how it all ends up when our review arrives later this month.