Dr. K's Waiting Room

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In the absolutely bonkers science-fiction film Pacific Rim (del Toro, 2013), the monstrous Kaiju first attacked humanity on 10^th August 2013, which was subsequently branded “K-DAY”. To celebrate this event, and giant monster movies, I dedicated every Sunday in August to one of cinema’s most prolific monsters: King Kong!

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Released: 22 November 2005
Developer: Ubisoft Montpellier
Also Available For: Game Boy Advance, GameCube, Mobile, Nintendo DS, PC, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Xbox

The Background:
Considering his status as one of the titans of the monster movie genre, it’s kind of surprising that King Kong hasn’t featured in more videogames. Between his debut in 1933 and the release of Peter Jackson’s blockbuster remake of the influential original, King Kong had only featured in three videogames and was perhaps best represented by unsubtle knock-offs like Donkey Kong and the Rampage series (Various, 1986 to 2018). After a long period of dormancy following a slew of questionable sequels and the impressive 1976 remake, King Kong returned with a bang when life-long King Kong fan Peter Jackson reimagined the original into a critical success. Though plans for a sequel were scrapped in favour of a later reboot, the 2005 King Kong was accompanied by this videogame, whose Xbox 360 drew initial criticism for being unsuitable for standard-definition televisions. Heralded as an innovative title due to its cinematic presentation and minimal use of onscreen text, Peter Jackson’s King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie allowed players to explore Skull Island as a first-person shooter or as the titular ape, though the visuals were criticised compared to the elaborate environments. A commercial success, the game was praised for being ahead of its time and one of the rare, more competent tie-in games, though the simplistic gameplay was noted.

The Plot:
In 1933, film director Carl Denham coerces playwright Jack Driscoll and struggling actress Ann Darrow into accompanying him to Skull Island, a treacherous, forgotten land populated by dinosaurs, savage natives, and a gigantic ape who becomes besotted by Ann and the focus of Carl’s excursion.

Gameplay and Power-Ups:
Peter Jackson’s King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie (which I’ll simply be referring to as King Kong going forward because that is a ridiculously long and convoluted title) is a hybrid first-person shooter (FPS) and action game based, obviously, on the big-budget, long-winded remake of the same name. The game is split into a number of chapters that vary in length and primarily takes place entirely on Skull Island, with the bulk of the action seeing you controlling screenwriter Jack Driscoll, who turns out to be very handy with a variety of firearms (though he can always rely on his fists or one of the many spears). You get a pistol, a shotgun, a sniper rifle, and a Thompson machine gun, with this latter being the best weapon in my opinion. When playing as Jack, you’ll use the Left Trigger to aim your weapon, the Right Trigger to shoot, and (oddly) the Left Bumper to reload. RT also allows you to grab new weapons, swapping out your current one (Jack can only hold one firearm and one torch at a time), “repel” with a melee attack, or use levers. Y drops any spears you’re carrying, B checks your ammo (which is simply Jack commenting on how many rounds or magazines he has left), A lets you talk to nearby non-playable characters (NPCs), and X does nothing. Jack can crouch when you press in the left stick (though I found minimal use for this), zoom in by pressing in the right stick, and can bash open wooden barricades and push rotating locks with RT. If he runs out of ammo, Jack can use his fists or any spears nearby, or can smash ammo crates that drop from planes or even grab more ammo or a weapon from helpful NPCs. He can also light spears using any fire sources to solve puzzles or burn down thorny bushes to clear a path. Fire can deal additional damage, and take out some of the game’s smaller enemies, but don’t get too close as it’ll quickly sap your health, too.

Neither Jack or Kong need to worry about grabbing health kits as they’ll automatically regenerate health if you avoid damage for a bit, but there are also no power-ups to find beyond ammo crates and Kong’s “Fury Mode”, meaning there’s no real incentive to explore beyond trying to find a lever. If you’re hoping for some fun King Kong action, then you’ll be left disappointed. The titular ape is only playable a few times, and each is little more than chasing and mindless combat sequences that somewhat break up the monotony of the FPS sections. Kong is a massive, lumbering beast able to swing from branches and leap to handholds, cliffs, and vine-encrusted walls to chase his quarry. These actions are performed with X and see Kong rampage through the jungle and primitive settlements like a heavy, unstoppable beast. Kong can also push enemies, bite them or enter “Fury Mode” if you rapidly tap Y. This slows time and seems to empower Kong to easily dispatch the island’s biggest predators. He does this with A, which sees Kong hit enemies with clubbing blows or simply break their jaw if you tap the button like a madman. Kong can also grab Ann with B to carry her or put her down, and Ann will helpfully open doors or burn down obstacles so Kong to progress, though you’ll need to protect her by fending off any incoming attacks. Kong can also muscle obstacles out of the way, bash down doors, and clamber up buildings in downtown New York. However, he’s as vulnerable to harm as Jack. Both automatically regain health if you avoid danger for a short time, but Kong tends to jump from perfectly fine to near death with just a few attacks, meaning you’re best off activating Fury Mode before you tackle the game’s larger, more aggressive enemies. When in the city streets at the end of the game, Kong must avoid the military’s heavy cannons and take out spotlights on rooftops as artillery fire will quickly cut him down. He can also grab and pound the island’s monstrous inhabitants with relatively ease but you’ll be more concerned about being hit mid-jump and plummeting to your death.

Just as the movie plodded along and quickly outstayed its welcome, so too does King Kong very quickly fall into a repetitive series of simple tasks and annoying hazards. The gimmick of having no or very minimal information onscreen is interesting, but hardly anything game-changing and actually makes it more annoying to navigate or locate levers and keep track of your ammo. Jack repeats the same basic puzzles again and again, blasting monstrous creatures, finding levers, and pushing doors with NPCs. Sometimes you must defend Ann and your other allies (and you’ll be met with failure if they die); others, you must carefully cross narrow wooden platforms that collapse under your feet. One of the most common tasks is using fire to burn thorns to uncover new areas, find levers, or reach a goal. You can do this either by lighting your spear or breaking flaming skull symbols around the environment, and you must light multiple torches, with one enjoyable moment seeing you avoiding a herd of Brontosaurus’. Occasionally, you’ll be chased by the ravenous Vastatosaurus rex or King Kong himself and must  use flaming spears, stone buildings for cover, and distract the beasts util doorways open. One key way of achieving this is using the game’s “food chain” system, where enemies are distracted by your kills or various bait (large worms and flies) to allow you to escape or ambush them, which is essential for clearing spiders from levers. As for Kong, he has an even simpler gameplay loop; you just swing and jump and chase Ann as she’s carried away, and battle V. rexes and the bat-like Terapusmordax obscenus. It is fun playing as Kong, but his sections are far too brief. However, I did enjoy ploughing through the native’s village, clambering about avoiding a lava pit, and the parts where Kong’s massive hands and face burst through the scenery as he follows Ann when she’s rescued by Jack.

Presentation:
King Kong uses clips and footage from the movie its based on very sparingly. So sparingly, in fact, that they only really appear in the game’s opening, which tells an incredibly truncated version of the events that bring these characters to Skull Island. I don’t necessarily mind this as the movie spent what felt like an age set on the Venture, but there were plenty of times where film footage could’ve been used as cutscenes or to bolster the in-game action, but the game chooses to use its in-game graphics instead. Luckily, these aren’t too bad…for the most part. While characters have the voices and likenesses of their movie actors, they resemble marionettes more than anything; however, they are a little more lively than regular NPCs. Carl will continuously stop to bust out his camera and chastise you for obstructing his shot, Ann is actually very helpful and will burn thorns or open paths, and NPCs are always gifting you weapons or chiming in on the bizarre events around them. The game’s environments are quite impressive, too. While it gets repetitive exploring the thick jungle of Skull Island, rain and thunderstorm effects are used very effectively and the island is very alive thanks to the food chain system and a great deal of care has been put into creating the aesthetic of the movie, it’s just a shame there’s no collectibles or interesting Easter Eggs to find.

While the game runs fairly smoothly, I noticed some graphical pop-up, slow down, and fogging that’s used to obscure more complex models (however appropriate the fog is to the setting). You’ll venture into a number of dank, dark caves, so you might want to turn up the brightness settings. I’d also advise saving often as I had a few instances where the game wouldn’t load in a scripted sequence, forcing me to reload and do the section again to progress. There are some fun moments that break up the gameplay, such as when you’re forced onto makeshift rafts in tumultuous rapids or when Kong or the V. rex are chasing you, and it’s quite exhilarating playing as Kong. Kong feels large and sluggish but also nimble and powerful, exactly as I expect he would, and there are some impressive sections involving him, such as when you creep through his bone-littered lair to rescue Ann or when he first appears as you’re tied to a stake. Kong also hounds you, dropping you into a cave filled with giant insects, and there are times when you can set large parts of the jungle ablaze and explore some interesting ruins, but these are merely stop-gaps in the endless gameplay cycle. The finale sees Kong rampaging through downtown New York City, which should be an epic and thrilling experience but it’s actually quite claustrophobic and restrictive. The game doesn’t immediately tell you to clamber up buildings to use the rooftops, meaning you’re left wandering around and getting shot at, and it’s really more of an extended, interactive cutscene as there’s nothing to do except plough through obstructions and climb the Empire State Building.

Enemies and Bosses:
Jack and Kong will be set upon by the numerous prehistoric creatures that inhabit Skull Island, from giant bats and insects to more formidable dinosaurs. Even the island’s natives get in on the action, hurling spears and causing the environment to catch fire as they either chase you or desperately fend off your rampage. Typically, you’ll contend with giant insects and giant bats, which slither from every dark corner and swamp the skies at times but are easily put down with your basic pistol. If you don’t have any ammo, a spear will do the trick, or you can distract them using the food chain system, which is true of all the game’s enemies. Although Jack can’t kill or even damage to V. rex, he can put down the smaller Venatosaurs, which regularly attack in voracious packs. He also has to contend with scorpion-like creatures, blast at lizard-like beasties when his allies are crossing banks of water, and make sure that he’s keeping his friends alive whenever hordes of creatures close in. While Jack is limited in his means of fending these off, King is not. He doesn’t have to worry about ammo, only the game’s janky camera, his inability to lock-on to a target, and his inconsistent durability.

Kong simply pummels enemies that Jack has to pick off either strategically or in a frenzy. Kong can grab Megapedes and pound them into the dirt or toss them about, swat Terapusmordaxes out of the air, and flatten the natives, and offers players a fighting chance against the larger Queen Terapusmordaxes and the V. rexes. These are essentially the game’s boss battes; while Jack has to run and hide from these creatures, Kong tackles them head-on, to varying degrees of enjoyability. The Queen Terapusmordax is flanked by any of her smaller minions; she’ll dive at you, whereupon the game prompts you to hit X and A together to tackle her out of the sky, which can be tricky to master. When battling the V. rexes, you must avoid their tail swipes, bites, and claw attacks. The V. rexes will try and bite Kong’s neck, so you must mash buttons to escape, and you’ll often fight two or three at once. Your best bet when faced with Kong’s monstrous enemies is to quickly enter Fury Mode and swipe at them a few times. This quickly allows Kong to perform his jaw snap finishing move, allowing you to make short work of them, which is preferable as these can be frustrating sections. In the finale, Kong swats at biplanes from atop the Empire State Building, but there’s obviously no way to win this fight as Kong simply plummets to his death as always.

Additional Features:
If there’s one benefit to King Kong it’s that the game is short and the Achievements are simple to attain. Just play through the game and all nine Achievements will pop as you complete each chapter. It’s good in the sense you can rush through for an easy 1000G but disappointing that there aren’t any fun Achievements here. There are no collectibles to find, no Easter Eggs that net you extra Achievements, and not even basic stuff like “Kill 100 Enemies” or “Clear a Chapter Without Taking Damage”. Some extra content unlocks in the game’s gallery as you play, but it’s nothing but images and videos and such. There is no two-player mode where you and a friend work together as Jack and Hayes (or one of the other NPCs), no battle mode where you fight as Kong against the game’s bosses, no skins, and no real incentive to play the game again once you’ve beaten it as its so unremarkable and easy. There are push-button codes that’ll grant you unlimited spears, questionable invincibility (you have to enter the cheat every chapter and I found it often didn’t work), or gift you specific weapons but the game’s so easy that you shouldn’t need them and they don’t exactly make it more fun anyway.

The Summary:
Peter Jackson’s King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie tries to go for a unique, cinematic presentation to stand out from the many terrible videogame adaptations and, in some ways, it achieves this. The game lovingly and faithfully recreates the visual aesthetic and atmosphere of Jackson’s overblown remake and you definitely feel immersed when exploring the dense jungles and ruins of Skull Island. It’s interesting incorporating a food chain system and giving Jack such limited ammunition to increase the tension felt when enemies attack, but the repetitive gameplay cycle soon wears thin. While King Kong should offer some entertaining alternatives to this system, he doesn’t feature enough for it to be anything other than a glorified mini game and a boss battle system. I definitely would’ve preferred to see Kong’s gameplay fleshed out more, perhaps telling a prequel to the film’s events and then showing his perspective on what happens in the game. Rather than switching between characters, you could’ve had two story modes: one with ten longer, more unique missions as Jack and one with ten, more action-packed missions as Kong. Instead, we get an overall bland experience that suffers from pacing issues. Some chapters are over in a minute or so, others drag on needlessly, and none of them offer any variations on the gameplay beyond mixing up the enemies you fight. Ultimately, this is a game only worth playing to quickly add 1000G to your Gamer Score and is far from the definitive, immersive King Kong videogame I’d like to see.

My Rating:

Terrible

What did you think to Peter Jackson’s King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie? Were you disappointed by how repetitive it became and the odd pacing of the chapters? Did you enjoy utilising the food chain system? What did you think to Kong’s gameplay, and would you have liked to see him included more? What’s your favourite videogame featuring giant monsters? Would you like to see a new King Kong videogame someday? Whatever you think, comment below, support me on Ko-Fi, and check out my other King Kong content.