Ben 10: Alien Force

In late 2005, Ben 10 began as a sci-fi animated program on the Cartoon Network. BEN 10: ALIEN FORCE is a video game based on the lastest series, Alien Force, which began earlier this year and features the plucky Ben Tennyson, a kid with a special watch that lets him transform into various aliens to help save the world. In this game, Ben's grandfather is missing just as the creepy Highbreed marauders plot to take over the world. To defeat these evil doers, Ben teams up with his pals and dials up five alien forces from his handy Omnitrix.

You'll begin as two aliens and add some special powers quickly in the initial amusement park level. Helpful aliens can be summoned via the Wii remote D-pad. You move forward and around via the nunchuk. And you can fight via button-pressing or by shaking the Wii remote. Pressing the "A" button with another Wii remote allows for a pal to jump in and fight in coop mode at any time.

Almost everything about Alien Force seems great -- except for the game controls. The story is cool and hip, as is the dialog. The artwork, although slightly jaggy due to the Wii's lack of processing power, is top notch. The voice acting is also top shelf: it never seems like actors aren't into their roles. And the idea of shape-shifting into various aliens is a good one that's full of thunder and fireworks when you transform.

But when it comes down to game mechanics, Alien Force is a mess. You can't move the camera around at all. So when you want to judge distance in jumping, say, to a platform in the water, it's really difficult. Even though it's a 3-D game, you have no depth perception. So you end up dead in the water. Also, when you try to run then jump, sometimes the controls only allow you to run. If you're jumping over water or fire, you might be doomed if the controls screw up. Even though the game's levels are short, this really could have been a terrific buy … if they had taken a few more months to get the controls in line. As it stands, this one's for true fans only.