The only thing that springs to mind when thinking about a game based on King Kong was the mediocre Congo, a game based off the less-than-mediocre movie of the same name. A few deep breaths before playing helped to clear any preconceived ideas about hours of uninteresting gameplay before me, which was helped oh-so-slightly by the fact that King Kong, unlike its jungle brother, is a great adventure.

I’ve never been a big fan of foliage in games. Trees often end up looking like brown sticks armed with sheets of green paper, all of which intersect each other in the middle or around the top of the ‘trunk’. Even games with enjoyable outdoor levels, like the jungle portions of Soldier of Fortune II, still suffered from this problem despite their best efforts to smooth things out from afar, making even a technically accomplished game feeling dated and awkward. I supposed that’s really the unspoken strength of this newer generation of consoles: decent foliage. Now, instead of being something that detracts from the game, it enhances the experience by playing a pivotal role.  Not only does it present a formidable blanket for unseen enemies to hide behind - no, despite what your initial reaction is, it’s still tricky spotting a large dinosaur when it’s hiding in some grass - but it is also used to emphasize your situation by adding confusion and, as it slows you down, becoming a real nuisance.

In the case of King Kong, shrubbery and thorns can also be burned, which helps to work as a convenient way of keeping levels linear (some cannot be burned and works as a better alternative to the invisible wall method) and amusement (catching enemies off-guard and setting patches ablaze with them scurrying about, keeling over in the midst of the flames).

Even if you don’t care about foliage, never have and never will, it’s an important note for King Kong because the majority of the game takes place with you as either Jack or Kong on Skull Island, surrounded by the dangers of the environment and inhabitants. It also isn’t a certainty that a game based on the outdoors would get it right, but this one did, unnecessarily shiny rocks and all.

King Kong does a lot right. In an effort to minimalize the wall between the player and the game, there is no HUD whatsoever. This has been done before, and is becoming a fairly popular mechanic, but it is effective here and is also an excellent design decision because you need every inch of unobstructed viewing space. There is also a limit to the amount of weapons that can be carried, cutting down on the amount of menus and the time spent in them.  Pistols, shotguns, tommyguns, and rifles can be found in dropped supply crates or are given to you by a friend, along with spears and bones that are picked up from stockpiles and animal skeletons, respectively. Bullets go fast, so guns are often left in reserve with the spears being used instead, giving the game a more austere feel; they are used by stabbing, to keep enemies away, and throwing, to kill, with both sorts being reusable after taking them out of a corpse and breaking after a few uses. The necessity of munitions is always present, which, coupled with the dense and often confusing environment, causes a great sense of dread.

The game isn’t completely unnerving, though, as there is a great adventure element as well. Taking advantage of the environment, there are raft rides down rapids, lurking in tunnels, (many) puzzles involving fire to find pegs used to open doors (often involving getting fire around waterfalls and the like), running through ruins to escape a dinosaur’s bite, and scaling rickety bridges to cross large chasms. There are also great scenes that will leave you in awe: one particular chapter involves running between the legs of a giant herd of dinosaurs that are as great to look at as they are dangerous, with their steps shaking the ground and rattling the controller.

All of these worries that you have as Jack are almost all alleviated the second you start to control Kong.  The bats, millipedes, and aboriginals that were so pesky before are barely below Kong’s notice.  Naturally, this turn of events is fun, but it manages to elevate itself to hit that certain chord in that Kong plays how you would imagine and want him to play. He’s slightly cumbersome to control and doesn’t have a large repertoire of moves, but when he jumps off a mountain side and slams onto a dinosaur or backhands a water creature, you feel the impact as the screen shakes and image blurs. I’m perfectly fine in admitting that I replaced the game’s sound effects with my own vocal “Bam!” and “BOOOM!” as I had Kong slap around all the creatures that had given me so many problems before - I reverted back to a kid for a bit there, which is to say that they did Kong right by me.

In the midst of this grand adventure with this giant pounding away on giant creatures in random, exquisitely dimly lit and too-dark-to-play-properly environments, I ran into a surprising amount of bugs. One show-stopper involved the game going to a gray screen when I had Kong jump from the side of a mountain to another part on the same side. A few other chapter restarts came when I did something out of sync with what the game intended, like throwing an object and then seeing ‘Press B to throw an object,’ which wouldn’t allow me to proceed unless I restarted.  In one case I went ahead and had Ann die - most of these problems took place in Kong’s chapters - and started back at a new checkpoint as if I had completed the previously stalled section. It’s a good thing then that the game clocks in at a pretty short six hours, and that it’s split up into an obscene amount of chapters (over 30), so there is never too much that has to be replayed.  For those curious about longevity, there are scores that can be acquired by replaying individual chapters after the game’s completion to use towards unlocking goodies as well as internet codes to unlock items, which might be great if you love artwork and clips.  That being said, what’s up with not being able to play from start to finish without backing out to the menu?

There were some design choices that I wasn’t too fond of. You’re almost always with some NPC or another while playing, but for some reason they are fond of leaving you behind and giving you inaccurate information. It’s frustrating to look around for the person who was right next to you only to find them three screens ahead waiting for you; alternatively, having someone say they are in front of you when they are behind you is also not terribly helpful, as is hearing Jack Black’s voice constantly screaming out, “Jack! Defend yourself!,” as if the shotgun is firing itself. In a bit of melodramatic overkill, damage is indicated by red around the border of the screen with serious damage being accompanied with increased red and angelic-operatic singing, so it’s a shame then that at the very moment I need to be as acute about my surroundings as possible, my enemies’ sounds are masked by the singing. Some creative licenses aren’t absolutely necessary.

Overall: 8.5/10

(I’ve avoid saying the full title until now, so here goes:) Peter Jackson’s King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie is a fantastic title that went beyond merely being fun and actually got me interested in the movie. When it can be seen, it’s a gorgeous game with fantastic sound and slick presentation. Despite its superficial replay benefits and surprising amount of hiccups, I still enjoyed playing and replaying the various chapters, though its higher retail price should be a concern since it’s around 8 hours altogether, even when you include replays. While some games should be shorter, it’s hard not to recommend Kong as a rental when it can be beaten several times over in that period.