"While shorter than expected and cut quite a bit from the console versions, King Kong does make it to PSP."

Peter Jackson's King Kong, subtitled The Official Game of the Movie, is a game based on the movie of the same name. The game is unique in the fact that it is 2/3 a First Person Shooter and 1/3 a Third Person Kong Action game. While it is only about 1/3 the length of console versions, the PSP version still comes out to make a decent port.

Story

The following is written by myself. I will try to make it as spoiler free as possible. Be warned, there may be some minor spoilers.

The year is 1933. Filmmaker Carl Denham is planning on shooting a film written by Jack Driscoll. He finds Ann Darrow, a poor woman who worked for theater but has no means of money after the theater is shut down. Carl finds Ann and offers her the main role in his film. He plans on shooting his film on an uncharted island, Skull Island. After rushing to get to the island, he finds villagers there. Ann ends up with King Kong, and the movie is about Ann with the Kong and the crew trying to save her.

However, in the PSP version, the story was chopped and screwed. Many key elements from the movie were removed. The most likely reason for this was due to having a short amount of space, and a shorter amount of levels.

Nonetheless, the original story is good and the PSP version's story is decent so lets move on.

Gameplay 7/10

In this game, there are about 10 levels where you play as Jack Driscoll, going through the levels to try to save Ann Darrow. The remaining levels you play as Kong, where the main goal is typically swing on some vines, climb up some walls, and defeat dinosaurs. While the Kong levels start out fun, they can end up being repetitive. The only level you play as Kong outside of Skull Island is in New York.

The First Person Shooter part, on the other hand, is a little better. Here, you will use your fist, guns, or even spears and fight your way through enemies to get to the end of the level. Typical enemies include rather large millipedes, small dinosaurs, scorpions, and more. A normal level will consist of you going to get the lever to open a gate, or going to the end of a path to light a spear on fire to burn down some scrubs and move on.

There are 4 types of guns in the game: Pistol, Shotgun, Sniper Rifle, and Machine Gun. There are also 2 types of spears; while not named, one is more detailed with little artifacts on them, and the other is plain bone. You can also use your fist, but that isn't too effective.

Graphics 9/10

One thing that did turn out really nice about King Kong was the graphics. Everything is quite detailed, and is very clear to see differences in items that could be similar (like spears). The only few things about the graphics are there are quite a bit of white lines on the environment around you as you move on. Also, the pictures for the levels were the PS2's, thus not everything in those pictures are in the PSP version. Finally, the logo for the game is only at the perfect size at the main startup screen where you Press Start to load your game. Everywhere else the logo is used, its a zoomed in/out version, rather than a sprite designed for that size.

Other than these small flaws, the graphics are quite decent, not fully wasting the PSP's potential. The environments, enemies, and even Kong himself look very close to PS2 quality.

Sound/Sound Effects/Music 8/10

The Sound is the game is actually very nice. The movie, in fact, got a Golden Globe nomination for best original score. The music in this game deserves a thank you to Mr. James Newton Howard.

While the music is great, some flaws prevent the sound from being perfect. Sometimes, the sound can glitch after you die and stop playing at all for the rest of the level. Also, on rare occasions, if you die in a glitchy way (went through a wall or something) then the sound is off. Finally, I have heard about but can not confirm, sometimes Kong's yell at the end of his levels doesn't work.

Other than that, sound effects are great too. The Kong yells very loud, but clear, after killing a major enemy or if in rage mode. Also, enemy sounds are clear too, and not distorted.

Play Time and Replayability 6/10

Unfortunately, the game is really short, and by most, is considered to be the only game ever to be shorter than the movie itself. While the game may last you from 2 to 4 hours on average, there is a bonus. After you complete the game once, you unlock the Points System. Points: 0 will now appear under the first 14 levels in the game. If you can get a total of 250000 points from these levels, you can unlock a secret ending.

Buy/Rent/Ignore

Being honest, you should buy this game if it is on sale, if you love FPS's, or were a huge fan of the movie. However, if you are the type that can whip right through FPS's, then maybe renting is the better option for you. And in my opinion, if you get the game as a gift, I would recommend keeping it.

Conclusion

While not the best Movie-to-Game port ever, and certainly not the longest, Peter Jackson's King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie does turn out to be a pretty nice game. Overall score: 8/10.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 01/16/06