Parents' Guide to

Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole

By Christopher Healy, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 10+

Mission-based aerial combat game with fighting birds.

Game Nintendo DS , Nintendo DSi , Nintendo Wii , PlayStation 3 , Xbox 360 2010
Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this game.

  • Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole Game: Screenshot #1
  • Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole Game: Screenshot #2
  • Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole Game: Screenshot #3

Community Reviews

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age 10+

Based on 1 parent review

paintdadanta
paintdadanta Parent of 5-year-old
September 4, 2012
age 10+

Good but difficult

The game is very good with a variety of options. It is built more arcade style so you are not locked into one particular story line. My stepson is younger than the rating suggestions but since he was obsessed with the movie and was already good at video games we decided to try it. The content and concepts were good but the controls can be rather difficult at times. My husband and I struggled to complete some of the levels ourselves even though we play a variety of games. If you are looking for something complex or you are very good with controls then it could definitely be the game for you.

This title has:

Great messages
Great role models
Too much violence
See all 1 parent review

What’s It About?

The Guardians of Ga'Hoole books contain a long and complicated history that could never be contained within one video game. What you get in LEGEND OF THE GUARDIANS: THE OWLS OF GA'HOOLE is the story of Shard, an orphan owl who grows up to become a guardian of the sacred Great Tree of Ga'Hoole. He and his feathered friends train to defend Ga'Hoole from the evil forces of the mysterious Pure Ones who want to take over the world. The game is mission-based and will have you battling the Pure Ones' crow and bat allies, rescuing kidnapped owlets, and freeing ally hostages. Once you've completed all the story missions in any of the five worlds, you can roam that world freely and take on numerous side missions.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (1 ):
Kids say (2 ):

You don't have to be well-versed in the epic lore of the books (or even to have seen the movie) in order to enjoy the game, Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole. The lush, beautiful landscapes are really something special to look at (especially on the HD consoles) and the controls have a nice pick-up-and-play feel to them. The aerial dog-- er, birdfights are a blast to play. The actual attacks look pretty vicious and could definitely frighten little kids, but they're also quite exciting. There are a ton of different missions to work your way through, which together with the free-roam exploration aspect, adds up to many hours of unique gameplay. If you're a fan of air combat games, and think it would be interesting to swap your planes for birds, you can probably have a great time with the Guardians.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the violence in the game. Is the violence less impactful here because the characters are animals? MIght it actually bother some kids more than if the characters were human?

  • Parents and children can also compare the story here to that of the movie and the books. How does it differ across those three different media? Which version do you like best?

Game Details

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