Video Game Review and Trailer
NarniaFans has an exclusive review of the upcoming video game for The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe from the E3 conference. The review is written by Aaron Hallstrom. See a description of the gameplay below but click on the link at the bottom of the story to go to NarniaFans and read the whole story. See a slew of pictures from E3 below.
UPDATE: NarniaFans now has some video and more pictures. Click here to view.
UPDATE AGAIN: On the third day of E3, NarniaFans has more video clips. Click here to view.
UPDATE AGAIN AGAIN: See the official video game trailer available at GameTrailers.com
Though in its early stages, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe video game is a wonderful adventure for all sorts of fans. Though very incomplete at this stage, the game immediately puts you into the shoes of Peter, Susan, and Lucy on desperate attempt to rescue their lost brother. Fighting on a frozen creek in Narnia, the player is able to at any moment switch between which character he/she is using, creating some very dynamic gameplay elements. In this first stage, the three siblings needed to fight off wolves and other nasty creatures while attempting to break through iced up dams (accompanied, of course, by beavers). Doing so involved using regular attacks (Peter’s sword, Susan’s bow, and Lucy’s punches), special attacks (Peter has a power strike, Susan sings a song to put creatures to sleep, and Lucy is able to heal the health of the entire party). Players controlled by the computer fight alongside of the human players, but can be rotated at anytime to vary the battle. Additionally, players must also “team up” with one of the sibling to complete objectives. In this first level, Lucy jumps onto Susan’s shoulders in order to reach high enough to break through the dam.
The second level involves only Edmund and Peter in a fierce battle against Ginarrbrik the Dwarf. Apparently, he’s been crossed and now needs to be put in his place. In order to do this, Peter and Edmund must run around, avoiding Ginarrbrik’s attacks. Eventually, the dwarf will become dizzy and the brothers can tie him to a tree. The brothers then proceed to attack him until he cuts through his ropes, and starts the whole party again until his health his drained. In the final version of the game, players will also need to light Ginarrbrik’s beard on fire.
After the dwarf is defeated, Peter and Edmund are confronted with anklebiters and two giant Cyclops. In order to break free of them, Edmund picks up a torch with which to light bails of hay on fire. Once on fire, either Peter or Edmund can kick the bails into the enemy in order to defeat them.
As you can see, the gameplay is quite varied and will make for excellent cooperation modes. Of note, the games graphics are very beautiful. The artists have accurately modeled the children’s faces, make great use of detail and precision. The games environments are also very well crafted, complete with shimmering ice, blazing fires, and lots of movement on screen. One scene that was particularly impressive was an invasion of Minotaurs against the children. The screen was literally full of the giant beasts, all while retaining very smooth gameplay.
