Despite the unsualness in terms of a game. King Kong is more than adequate for any movie or game fan. Its worth playing.
Which thankfully was what the game turned out to the be. The first thing you're bound to notice when playing Kong, is that it creates its atmopshere almost perfectly. The moment you're introduced to the Island of the Skull, in the storm, you can't help but notice the excelent visual effects combined with the voice acting that stresses the situation Jack and his comrades face ahead of them. The water effects of the ship as rain drops run down it, the blur effects when Jack's hurt and the fur on Kong's body, all demonstrate the power of the Jade engine Kong uses for its graphics.
Returning to the sound also, its crisp clear, even on this GameCube release. We have excelent voice acting, especially from the key characters like Carl and Ann, spine tingling sound effects, such as when the creatures move or the water ripples. And heart pounding music that forces the situation on the player, be it panic or relaxation. Overall its excelent and once again helps present the atmopshere throughout the film giving it that cinematic feel.
Basically every componement of Kong contributes to the atmopshere, the gameplay is no exception. Its split into two types of gameplay: FPS moments with the main character, Jack. And fight sequences featuring Kong.
The First Person Shooter (FPS) sections of the game are unusual to say the least and take a big risk of not using the much tried and tested FPS formula. At the time of its release Kong was one of the few FPS titles to not use the life bar, infact there was no heads up display (HUD) at all. Meaning, it was realistic as if the player literally was in the heart of the action, it was most likely a device to create atmosphere and keep the game as cinematic as possible. For the most part it works in doing this. However at the same time there is unique mix of action and puzzle during these sequences.
Another unique change in formula by Kong is from the weapons Jack use. On Skull Island, rather than being dependent on machine guns or shotguns, for most of the game you'll be using spears and fire. There are few moments in the game, at the begining or the end, where you'll be using guns and the game tries to show, they're simply there as back-up incase of an emergancy. I hardly ever used the guns while playing Kong.
However this acts as a double edged blade. Its been a long while since a change to primitve weapons was used in FPS games (Turok Evolution used the idea back in 2002 with the Bow), so there is likely to be a reason for this. Using spears can be irritating in the game, especially when you plan to throw them at your enemies. Its hard to determine if they would actually hit or not, even when in the ironsight mode, the game offers to help players aim (I hardly ever used it). However even then its not easy. The best way to tackle this problem would be to use it close, and when throwing aim carefully.
But that is the only issue with spears. There is an feature that means if you use meele weapons so much that they break, this obviously is used to add difficulty to the game and realism at the same time but is never a worry, especially if the player still has ammo in their guns. But really, the addition of the spear is good, and unique to King Kong which is a major reason to why I give it such praise. They play a key part to progression in the game, when setting fire to areas or looking for keys to gates. These are the puzzle areas just so you know.
So with the FPS sections explained, I'd like to look in detail at the fighting sections, that make a good break from the FPS sequences in Kong. Which is exactly what they're for in my opinion, you'd still have a game, even with just the FPS sequences that play the Jack's side of the story.
When you play the Kong sequence for the first time, they're a little confusing. It mostly plays as a fight between him and some dinosaur, like the T-Rex. They're alot of fun, even when you need guidence with the punches on your first try. Although there is an option of weak and strong punch, most of the time you'll find yourself using the strong punch. Not only does the strong punch feel more satisfying when beating the Rex to a bloody pulp, but the fight's won alot faster and generally its alot easier that way. When playing as Kong you'll also find its alot harder to die than Jack, but don't worry, you do! ;)
Flaws with the Kong sequences aren't really that major, the worst I had were moments of confusing such as with the controls or what to do next. Again like Jack there is a mix of puzzle and action although I think most of us would argue Kong's mostly to do with action. This isn't bad, but if there were Kong sequences in the game there is a chance this could have been added. Thats the big problem though, size. Kong is a short game, and even with me playing it rarely at the time, It was finished within a week.
It is confusing and actually ironic, confusing because Skull Island could've been made to be a much longer and larger enviroment - most of it is linear, although I'm fine with that. And ironic because Kong is an incredibly long film. If the developers weren't bothered about cinematic presentation we could've had a much longer game, I'd argue that there wasen't enough given time to help finish development, much like other movie to game spin-offs and that there wouldn't be much to add without boring the gamer. Even without replay value, there are extras and goodies so I'm happy.
The only thing that bothered me was there was never a change in the enviroment, infact only once did it change, and that was at the climax where Kong was in New York. However even then, it felt alarmingly the same to Skull Island, atleast in layout anyway. This is likely to the thing that turned most gamers off Kong, we like change in our videogames, anything new is good.
So ending this, I would definatlly recommend King Kong. Despite the unsualness in terms of a game. King Kong is more than adequate for any movie or game fan. Its cinematic qualities won me over and it will likely do the same to anyone else who buys the game. I can indeed recommend it at retail price, although since I found it at a discount price, this game can be given distinction and will remain a favrioute in my collection. In a nutshell, its worth playing.