Review - Monday 1st January 2007 - 12:00am
Indiagames are pretty well known for their film and TV series tie-ins. Harry potter, Buffy, The Mummy and the day after tomorrow have been adapted for mobile by them. Their latest “film game”, The Scorpion King, has to be their best yet.
The game follows the film’s storyline with surprising accuracy, through with a few reasonable cut scenes and some limited dialogue. You play through the game as the Scorpion King, whose ultimate goal is to assassinate Memnon, a tyrannical leader who is destroying the free tribes, of whom the Scorpion King belongs to. Along the path to killing Memnon, though, are several different enemies. These range from human enemies (who all look the same) to colonies of ants, which are surprisingly strong.
The best thing about this game is its 3 modes of play, integrated into the levels. First of all, you’re thrown into the first person shooter mode, where, with a bow and arrow, you’ll have to stealthily eliminate night shift guards without alerting other guards to your presence. I actually found these parts of the game quite tedious, as you’re not able to move, and only one weapon is available. Also, in addition, the cursor moves much too slowly, which can effect your accuracy with the bow.
Second of the game modes is wall climbing. These parts basically require getting to the top of a wall, with various hindrances getting in your way, including rocks and eagles. The wall climbing is quite fun, but some people will have a problem with jumping from platform while dodging huge boulders. The final game mode is good old side scrolling platform action, which is quite similar to Gameloft’s Prince of Persia-and not just because of the 'arabesque' setting that both the games provide. The swashbuckling action in the Scorpion king will remind you of Prince or Persia immediately, while the fighting is accompanied by some great sound effects. Apart from your sword, you’re also able to use a bow and arrow, a feature Prince of Persia missed. However, graphics in this game are nothing like the graphics of Prince of Persia, while the music isn't quite on par as well.
All things considered, Scorpion king is a reasonable alternative to Prince of Persia. While the game’s graphics and music are nothing compared to those of Gameloft’s, the gameplay here is pretty good.
