PETER JACKSON'S KING KONG THE MOVIE REVIEW:  When Ubisoft announced that work had begun on a game for Peter Jackson’s King Kong, the initial reaction was lukewarm. After hearing that Michel Ancel and Ubisoft’s Montpellier Studios was tasked with the project, interest peaked considerably. Here we have a man that was responsible for two of the most memorable gaming experiences ever, in Rayman and the underappreciated Beyond Good & Evil. Having all the support of Jackson’s film team, plus the talent at Ubi certainly gave King Kong a lot of potential.

The game of King Kong is probably nothing like you might first imagine. The gameplay is split between two very different mechanics; a first-person shooter-like action adventure and a third-person brawler. The story follows the original script in which an ambitious filmmaker, Carl Denham (played by Jack Black) drags his support staff to the remote regions of a fabled island, in hopes of scoring the perfect venue for his upcoming movie. Part of this staff includes an aspiring actress Ann Darrow (played by Naomi Watts) and writer Jack Driscoll (played by Adrien Brody).

During the vast majority of the game, you’ll be taking on the role of Jack in a first-person perspective. While gunplay is involved, Kong Kong is mix between chucking melee weapons (spears, bones, etc.) and the bang-bang. The one aspect that sets King Kong apart initially is the lack of a heads-up display (HUD). No life bar, no inventory readout, no ammo indicator – it’s all Skull Island, all the time. This obviously goes a long way in bringing about the intended cinematic experience, and for the most part it works. It takes a while to get used to knowing exactly how many “hits” Jack can take from the various creatures. The screen will flash red, designating that Jack is injured and in a state of disorientation. As a general rule of thumb, it takes about two chomps before Jack bites it, unless the brutal V-Rex (it’s just a T-Rex) manages to catch him from behind.