Clash of the Titans
Most movie licensed game are quickly put together to coincide with the release of the movie in theaters. This often leads to short development times and a sub-par game that is relatively short, simple and straightforward. Clash of the Titans is different breed of movie licensed game. Its release does not coincide with the movie’s theatrical release but the DVD release. Also it is apparent that the game’s developers put in a lot of extra work not typically found in a movie licensed game.
The first notable difference is the length. Most movie licensed games you could play through in a few hours. Clash of the Titans has a lengthy campaign with a challenge mode that is unlocked upon completion. Instead of following the events of the movie, the game adds several obstacles and levels between the movie’s notable scenes. This extends the time you’ll spend with the title and may make you feel better if you bought it. The problem with the extra levels is I had no desire whatsoever to play them.
The levels between each major plot point will often make use of the exact same environments. This isn’t just recycled game objects but exactly the same level. Going back to the hub area before each mission, a character will give you several tasks you need to complete. The only problem is you can only complete one task at a time as opposed to all at once. Restarting from the same point, and venturing through the same level to complete new objects kill all sense of progression and I really found myself with no desire to play anymore.
While the recycled levels played a large part in causing this feeling, the purpose of the quests also bothered me. Many of the quests that cause you to venture into these same levels are largely irrelevant and seem to simply be impediments to game progression. In one instance you will have to complete seven quests before a king will trust you enough to task you with saving his city. With the city’s impending destruction within a few days you’re really going to put a demi-god through trials before he goes on a journey with tight time constraints? The most annoying thing about these tests is immediately after Perceus and the king’s soldiers are leaving the city, two guys claim to be good fighters and the king’s general who just tested Perceus for several missions accepts their help without proving themselves. Later on you have to do a quest to get one of these “great’ fighters some fish because their hungry. Such a good fighter cannot venture into repetitive levels to find their own food? It is these little stupid quests that hamper down the game’s progression and if I was not reviewing the game I would have put the controller down and played something else.
With the extended levels comes the need for a variety of enemy types. The game borrows several mythological creatures for both standard enemies and boss battles. Battling some of the larger monsters from Greek mythology is a great way to make the game more interesting. However the frog demon enemy type is very ridiculous and annoying. The frog demon looks silly and its main attack is hopping at you. The point in the game where you encounter them is before you have any ranged attacks so you have to get close enough to slash them with your sword. The problem with this is that your sword attack will not prevent them from hopping at you. The boss frog demon with loads of health does a ridiculous amount of damage and I could not believe this was a serious enemy type in a video game. The frog demon boss as well as unarmed civilians gave me the most trouble. I’d rather fight armored centaurs or Cyclops over frogs and starving humans any day.
Another feature that separates Clash of the Titans from other movie licensed games are the unique enemy animations, variety of weapons and the weapon leveling system. Once you’ve weakened an enemy they will start blinking orange. Pressing left bumper while in proximity to this enemy will initiate a sub weapon seize quick time event. Completing the quick time event will result in a badass kill animation, which are surprising awesome and can also net Perceus a new sub weapon. There are several categories of sub weapons, ranging from due swords, hammer, bows and even magic items. Each category has several weapons to unlock that can only be obtained from killing enemies or beating challenges. Each sub-weapon can be upgraded to become more powerful through items gained from dead enemies. The different weapons are actually displayed on Perceus’s character model which is a level of detail I didn’t expect from the game.
There are also a surprising amount of cutscenes in Clash of the Titans, though most are simply characters talking to one another. While I appreciate the amount of cutscenes in the game, they are pretty funny and not in a good way. The written dialogue is not very strong and at points made me cringe. The voice acting has a few moments where bits of emotion can be heard but otherwise sound like words being read off a page. There are moments in the cutscenes where a character stolls in and speaks without context or introduction.
While cutscenes happen frequently, load screen happen even more frequently. The load screens are never very long but they are long enough to cause mild annoyance. The game does not boast impressive graphics or large set pieces so the need for so many load screens is odd. I can only assume it has to do with the disjointed level designs and hub mission structures.
Clash of the Titans could have also benefited from an auto save system. Instead you will have to completely finish a mission and go back to the hub and save. This isn’t a big deal but you will have to remember to save after every mission, in case something happens during the next mission to pull you out of the game. Another surprisingly absent feature is the ability to block enemy attacks. Even though Perceus uses a shield in the movie and during a cutscene you’re presented with a shield, you will never have the option to use one. Instead you will have to make use of pure offense and rolling out of harm’s way.
The game supports up to two players but don’t expect to sit down with a friend and have a coherent co-op experience. There are several levels that only support one player which will cause your partner to sit there and twiddle their thumbs. Performing a sub-weapon seize as the second player will make you perform the quick time event as Perceus instead of your character. The secondary characters don’t feel as robust and quick as Perceus and the feature seems like something quickly added to throw on the back of the box, perfect for marketing a gift towards two siblings.
Overall Clash of the Titans is a hard game to describe. Many people will probably dismiss it as a crappy movie licensed game, which is a valid opinion. However the developers were clearly ambitious in some of the features they implemented which I would not have excepted to have found in the game. The problem with a lot of the features is that the exist but never shine. The recycled levels, irrelevant and boring quests coupled with poor writing and voice acting really detract from the product. While I do appreciate the work to add extra bits of cool content, they never amount to anything significant. Even with the extended gameplay and additional features Clash of the Titans still falls into standards of movie licensed games.
