Hands-on: Disney's Tarzan PS2

At its ongoing Gamers Week in Hawaii, Ubi Soft unleashed a new version of its PlayStation 2 action game Disney's Tarzan. This was only the game's second public showing, the first being at this year's E3. The company also announced that the game is in development for the Nintendo GameCube and showed some early video footage of that version. However, we were able to get our hands on the PlayStation 2 version following a presentation by members of Ubi Soft's Montreal development studio. Though an action game at heart, Tarzan is a compilation of a variety of exploration and extreme sports levels. According to Ubi Soft, the levels in the game are split approximately in half between the two types.

The extreme sports levels are made up of such activities as bungee jumping, water skiing, hang gliding, and surfing down rapids, among others. We were able to check out one of the early bungee levels, and we tried our hand at the surfing and water skiing levels. The bungee level is quite innovative. Tarzan jumps off high ledges with a bungee tied to his feet and free-falls through branches, rock formations, and other small and varied crevices. The player must navigate these obstacles using the left analog stick on the PS2 Dual Shock while hurtling at breakneck speeds toward the ground. The bungee levels were quite entertaining and demanding, as we were forced to quickly move Tarzan all around the screen in order to dodge the obstacles. The surfing level was probably the easiest of the levels we played. Here, we had to surf down quick-flowing river rapids while jumping over rocks and avoiding piranhas and alligators. Tarzan can also earn points by performing a variety of tricks, such as tail-grabs and 360s. The final level we played was the water skiing level, in which a bird pulls Tarzan across the surface of a tropical lake. This was probably the most visually impressive level shown. The reflections on the pristine water, which were all rendered in real time, were striking, almost to the point where it distracted from the gameplay. We frequently found ourselves gawking at the impressive real-time reflections, almost forgetting about the game at hand.

The exploration levels in Tarzan involve platformer-style gameplay--at least that was the case in the level we played. Tarzan had to negotiate a variety of branches and swing on vines to cross giant chasms. Interestingly, it was impossible to fall off the branches--the only threat of death was when jumping or swinging from one branch to the next. According to Ubi Soft, the early version of the game allowed Tarzan to fall off the branches and required players to balance themselves on every branch. However, this proved unpopular in early focus-group testing, prompting the developer to put everything on rails. Essentially, all players have to do is hit the jump button as they approach the end of a branch and they'll either swing or jump across to the next branch. Ubi Soft feels that this will give the game a fast-paced feel that should feel like Sonic's levels in the Sonic Adventure games--although not quite as fast.

The levels in Tarzan will be connected by cinematic prerendered cutscenes. Although the game is based on Disney's animated film of the same name and features many of the characters from that movie, Ubi Soft has created a variety of new storylines and characters for the game. In fact, Ubi Soft created a new antagonist for the game: a scientist who plans to capture Tarzan and the apes in order to perform scientific studies on them. Many of the voice actors from the film lent their voices to the game, though Rosie O'Donnell and Minnie Driver didn't make the voice cast.

Although the film was released in 1999, Ubi Soft says that its PlayStation 2 and Nintendo GameCube games will present the mythology and characters of the film in a new light. The extreme sports theme in several of the game's levels should appeal to fans of fast-paced action games, while the exploration levels will provide depth to more seasoned game players. Although the Tarzan games are primarily aimed at a younger crowd, Ubi Soft hopes to appeal to a wide range of game fans with them. GameSpot will have more in the coming weeks.