Peter Jackson's King Kong: the Official Game of the Movie

 Review

Common Sense Media says

Thrilling, beautiful game is over quickly.
greenON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
yellowPAUSE: Know your child; some content
may not be right for some kids.
redOFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
not for kidsNOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age.

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Quality
 
Sometimes media can be age appropriate but a real waste of time. Our star rating assesses the media's overall quality.

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Parents say

Kids say

What parents need to know

Parents need to know that this is an intense action game in which players will kill giant insects, crabs, bats, dinosaurs, and some humans. Most of the action is presented through a first-person view, and the violence involves both shooting with guns and stabbing with spears. Some third-person passages depict King Kong breaking the heads of dinosaurs and smashing humans. Though the action can be tense and the game provides many startles, the violence is generally bloodless and gore-free.

  • Jack and Kong sometimes fight the native islanders.
  • As a man, players shoot, stab, and burn various monsters and some humans; as a giant ape, they smash monsters, humans, and scenery; blood and gore is minimal. Some characters in the game are eaten by the beasts.
  • Not applicable.

What's it about?

PETER JACKSON'S KING KONG: THE OFFICIAL GAME OF THE MOVIE follows the plot of the movie, which is similar to the classic 1933 film: movie-makers venture to tropical Skull Island for exotic location filming. Players mostly play as Jack, a screenwriter on the project, as he and the crew rescue the beautiful actress Ann after Kong abducts her. Players occasionally control the big ape, too, including when he is captured and put on show in New York City, and when he scales the Empire State Building before falling to his death.

This is mostly a first-person shooter with some third-person passages. Most of the action consists of shooting or spearing giant creepy-crawlies and dinosaurs, while finding handles to open doors and torches to burn through bramble. As Kong, players grapple with scores of dinosaurs and swing through the scenery. Kong also has to pound his way through the streets of New York City.


Is it any good?

 

PETER JACKSON'S KING KONG: THE OFFICIAL GAME OF THE MOVIE is a beautiful, atmospheric, exciting, and tense game -- while it lasts. Both Kong followers and fans of first-person shooters will find plenty to love, but at only five or six hours, many players would be better off renting it. The jungles of Skull Island, the setting for about 90 percent of the game, seem hot and steamy, with shafts of light piercing the mist through the canopy of leaves.

The bulk of the violence is directed at beasts, without much blood. The Kong scenes are undermined by sluggish controls and simple action -- fighting creatures often boils down to frantic button mashing. All in all, this is very much like playing a movie: There is no on-screen display, crosshairs, ammo gauges, or health bars to obscure the view (although some of these features can be turned on from the options menu). Immersing players in the movie does lead to linear gameplay, though, which reduces the replay value.


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What families can talk about

Families can talk about how games based on movies are used to market movies and related merchandise. How are the release dates tied together? Are you more likely to be interested in a movie if you enjoy the game (or vice versa)? How does a video game based on a movie limit the story the game can tell?


This review was written by Chris Jozefowicz
Parent of 5, 5, 11, and 15 year old
April 6, 2011
 
My 15 thinks it good but not to good he says lots of bug jump out at you.My 11 year old says that its fun but TENSS.

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Teen, 14 years old
July 23, 2010
 
Good
A good game. I really liked it when i was younger. I would stear clear of the PSP version though. Suggested Esrb Rating: T for mild language, violence

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Teen, 15 years old
October 1, 2009
 
Good graphics and fun play. I like the fact you can replay any of your favourite levels. Maybe a little scary for younger kids (I still get freaked in the level 'V-REX' and 'RAPIDS')

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Teen, 15 years old
September 7, 2009
 

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Adult
September 3, 2009
 
good game
might scare some people at first and there is a little bit visible blood

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Teen, 15 years old
May 13, 2009
 
A very well made movie game!

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Teen, 15 years old
April 9, 2008
 
finally, a good movie game
It's usualy stupid to expect a lot from a movie game, but not in this case. King Kong delivers intence action,a wide as- ortment of awsome scary mythical and ( suposidly) extinct creaturs,and a gripp- ing plot that follows the movie well.You get to play as Jack and Kong. As Jack you get to operate 4 different guns (I know that its not a lot, but it gets you through)some spears, and some sharp bones that you find on animal skeling- tons.As Kong you can throw and swing trees and kill noraly difficult enimies easily,but the bus sized bats and the t- rex' can provide a chalenge, espeialy when faced 2 or 3 on 1.If you think killing T-rexes as Kong is hard, merly surviving them as a human is practicly imposible.King Kong has some bugs, so be sure to save a lot,but other than that,this game is very fun. It keeps you on the edge of your seat for most of the game.On the whole, i'd rate this game 8.5 of 10.(7 being the average) Replay value: moderate. (good for a few times through)

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Adult
April 9, 2008
 
KONG!!!
this game is harmless to anyone over the age of 12. Although it does have some scary monsters on Skull Island it is things that scare you the first time you see them or they surprise you. The best part is playing kong. You can go to new york climb buildings; you're like a 25 ft. tall spider-man! you can also fight all the monsters in skull island and beat them all up like little flies but it is challenging when you fight multiple t-rex which you do a lot. this is a great game after you see the movie.

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Adult
April 9, 2008
 
Give me more
Play is very good and follows movie well. Graphics and sound are excellent in MOST scenes. Could have a little more ability to go your own way. However there is more than enough possibilities to entertain. Only wish it was longer. End comes too quickly. All in all an excellent game.

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Teen, 17 years old
April 9, 2008
 

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This review was written by Chris Jozefowicz
Platforms:PlayStation 2, Windows, Nintendo GameCube, Xbox
Available online?Not available online
Genre:Action/Adventure
Developer:UbiSoft
Release date:December 9, 2005
Price:$49.99
ESRB rating:T

This review was written by Chris Jozefowicz

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ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids.
OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
Learning ratings
BEST: Really engaging, great learning approach.
GOOD: Pretty engaging, good learning approach.
FAIR: Somewhat engaging, OK learning approach.
NOT FOR LEARNING: Not recommended for learning.

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