Rise of the Guardians: The Video Game Review

Game Reviewed: Rise of the Guardians: The Video Game

Release Date: November 20, 2012

Developer: Torus Games

Publisher: D3 Publisher

Platform: [Reviewed: Xbox 360], PlayStation 3, PC, Wii, Wii U

Genre: Action-Adventure

Rated: E for Everyone

An amazing DreamWorks film has made its way to gaming platforms under the development of Torus Games. Developing titles for the younger audience is indeed Torus’s forte, known for their earlier Monster Jam and Scooby-Doo titles as well as games dating all the way back to the Gameboy and Nokia N-G age.

With this said, Rise of the Guardians will not, in the least, attract the older age gamers. However, for younger players, this will be an interesting story that draws them closer to each character of the feature film.

Guardians only exist when the children believe and, as of late, there aren’t as many believers as there once were. To make matters worse, Pitch, the nightmare king, is using his ability to ensure no one believes. All until a new guardian is chosen who goes by the name, Jack Frost.

In Rise of the Gaurdians, Gameplay is quite simple. The guardians are taking on Pitch and his army of nightmares all around the world to regain belief of children. Action consists of a 1-button hack and slash. Nightmares will come after you, and at times so will Pitch. If they manage to drain your energy, you’ll lose your light (children’s belief). In other words, that player will become inactive.

Under the controlled players icon is their health, special powers and most importantly, dreamsand. Dreamsand, when used, will replenish the health and belief in all of the guardians.

At any time, you have the ability to switch players by using your d-pad. Every character has their own unique powers, including special co-op attacks.  It’s also here where other buttons will be used for a short time for the special attacks and so forth.

One fun factor is that Rise of the Guardians is a four player drop-in / drop-out multiplayer with the option to join in at any time. It’s definitely a great feature for friends and family to play together in an “ultimate alliance.”

Players also have the ability to upgrade characters throughout battle, make their characters stronger, and build special gauges faster.

The biggest downfall to Rise of the Guardians is the lack of presentation, affecting the replay value. Outside of the cutscenes, there isn’t much more that will entertain players after a while of the same monotonous progression. Generally, an audience can only take so much. Even with the different maps, it lacks the experience of the game taking you to the next level.

Rise of the Guardians in the end is going to be one of those titles that gets noticed only due to the box office release. It’s not that the game lacks interest,  it’s actually fun for a short time. It’s just that the time is too short.

The Scores

Gameplay: 2.5/5

Visuals: 3/5

Audio: 2.5/5

Controls: 3.5/5

Value: 2/5

Overall Rating: 2.5/5