Clash of the Titans

(Namco Bandai for Xbox 360)
By Mike Delano

There’s some fun to be had in Clash of the Titans, the movie tie-in game timed to release alongside the DVD date. Fans of hack’n’slashers in the God of War mold will surely get a kick of out of pummeling a few baddies in fairly attractive environments like damp caverns and starlit mountainsides. It’s hard to imagine, though, that those fans have ever played a game in this genre with less personality than Perseus’ quest for revenge. In a year that has already seen the release of stylistic and gameplay tour-de-forces like Bayonetta and God of War III, the numbingly repetitive combat and middle-of-the-road presentation on display here is massively disappointing. The rich source material of the movies inspired little in the developers, as they’re content to present a string of clear-the-room quests, a bizarrely complicated weapon-leveling system, and slavish adherence to the worst aspects of the genre, like endless quicktime events. Oddly, the best part of the game – a string of great boss battles – is hidden near the tail end of the drawn-out 15-hour adventure, where only the most patient will journey. It’s competent enough for fans of this type of game, but only recommended if they’ve already exhausted all other options.
(www.namcobandaigames.com)