Beowulf: Bad Movie Equals a Bad Game

If you don’t recall the recent and highly lauded fully animated game, Beowulf, then let me bring you up to speed really quickly. Basically a fantasy warrior must battle an evil witch and her demons and creations to free a land that is being purged by her lunacy. While the graphics for the movie were exceptional, the film as a whole was a pretty big letdown and flopped at the box office.

So, can one expect the game offers anything really different? I think not. The game pretty much follows the movie to the tee, taking the player on a rather lengthy journey that encompasses thirty years of the life of the lead character, Beowulf. And while the graphics are simply put, amazing, and utilize the revolutionary patented YETI technology, which is prevalent in Tom Clancy Games like Rainbow Six Vegas 1 and 2, the overall game play really sucks.

Your player has to charge up to execute major attacks using the Carnal power system, which when fully charged allows for you wreak havoc using disastrous assaults on the enemies, inclusive of precision timed counterattacks. As the game progresses you can recruit other warriors to follow you around, called Thanes, which can be directed using a few buttons, and can protect you, innocent bystanders, or launch assaults as you deem necessary.

Beowulf is pretty mobile. He can climb structures and rocks, grapple as he moves through boards and can execute some pretty awesome melee moves that make your eyes go wide. However, the in game play does seem to get repetitious after some time playing, after the initial wow factor wears off. And while Beowulf is able to grapple, grab and climb obstacles. Although there are some parts where it can be glitchy at times, taking away from the fun of the game. The hand-to-hand combats are exciting but repetitious and ruin the replayability that I wished this game had.

Each level presents a newer challenge that Beowulf must rise to meet, and as you progress so do the Thanes, who follow in your footsteps; they can get smarter, more agile, more aggressive and more powerful, and have larger health bars as the game progresses. But the command system is lacking in the sense that it limits your control over the Thanes to a few simple commands, as opposed to being able to direct them on mission specific goals as you progress throughout this hack and slash adventure.

Without a doubt, the graphics are some of the best we have seen in any sword fighting game. But the in-game play can be repetitious as is the norm with all hack and slash monsters. My favorite part of this game was the massive amounts of blood that sprays when you execute a fatal power attack. The Mature rating by the ESRB rating council always assures that when you pick a hack and slash favorite like Beowulf offers, you will get ample amounts of gore for your buck. But shoddy online play, limited in-game play as far as attacks and in-game options, takes away from what otherwise would be a very kick butt game.