Kung Fu Panda: Legendary Warriors (Wii) - Review by Chris

Introduction

It's become almost a custom where every year, we see the 'next big thing' in terms of animated movies. Now, more than ever, we are bombarded with new animated features from the big powerhouse animation studios, showcasing their latest advancements in the field with new imaginative and more elaborate movies. Kung Fu Panda, coming from Dreamworks Studios, was one such film and did well at the box office upon release. The accompanying game, from developers Xpec and publishers Activision, looked to further bring in more money for the franchise by allowing those who had seen the film, or those who hadn't, to play through the scenarios they had seen in the film as well as ones specific to the game.

Gameplay

Kung Fu Panda revolves around the title character Po, who is a panda, and his story, or dream rather, of becoming the fabled Dragon Warrior and fighting alongside the Furious Five. To begin with, you'll fighting your way through the opening stage as the Dragon Warrior, coming face to face with the maniacal Tai Lung, who is the evil character in the story. Just as you get to this point, the level ends and it is revealed to be nothing more than the dream of Po with the ending of that level corresponding to the rude awakening he receives from his father. From this point on, he hears that the Furious Five are taking part in a martial arts competition and decides he wants to go and see them and so you'll have to fight your way through a level, along with some basic platforming, before you can get to your destination. Upon getting to the arena, it is revealed that none other than Po is the fabled Dragon Warrior and so starts his training as he tries to be accepted into the Furious Five's scheme and prove that he is worthy of such a title. It's your typical 'rags to riches' story, only with a martial arts twist to it that will inevitably end with Po living up to his title. The story is enough to keep younger gamers entertained and does provide some laughs that can be had by all ages.

The game follows the movie just as any other movie tie-in game does but the developers have added in their own distinct levels within the game's world that aren't from scenes of the movie. The gameplay also takes its cues from the movie, with the game being heavily grounded in the action genre. The action is simplistic yet deep enough to keep players entertained for what is essentially a very short game. Indeed, the overall run time for the game won't stray much further than 4 hours with little reason for you to come back to the main adventure once done. Saying that, however, it's an enjoyable run through the game with the action giving you just enough to keep you going until you reach your next bout. The developers have also included some interesting platforming and puzzle choices, which are more evident later in the game. For example, early in the game you'll have to make use of a ballista to shoot arrows and burst large balloons so that you can progress. Later, you'll get to take control of some of the other characters in the story, such as Master Shifu as well as the members of the Furious Five, and these characters all provide their own distinct styles that change up the platforming in the later levels, with Master Shifu having a cloud jumping trick that you'll have to make use of to traverse some of his levels. These small, subtle changes to the gameplay make it standout as more than just a bog standard tie-in game, making for an enjoyable experience overall. There are also unlockables hidden throughout the game's 13 levels that will unlock things such as different costumes for characters but the Wii version has had the number of unlockables cut compared to versions on other consoles which seems odd.

There's also a multiplayer mode that allows you and up to 3 friends play together or battle it out against one another in some brawling style games. It gives the game some longevity and something to come back to after finishing the single player mode but it lacks any considerable depth to make it much more than a fleeting after thought on the developer's behalf.

Controls

The game has clearly been developed with standard controllers in mind. This is evident from the tacked on motion gestures needed to perform certain actions. While movement and the basic controls such as jumping and your standard attacks are mapped to button presses, you'll have to use motion gestures with the Wii-mote and Nunchuk to get past certain areas. A swing of the Wii-mote controls your strong attack but the game rarely detects these swings. Quick time events are sometimes used and here you'll have to swing the controller in a certain way. At least here the motion controls work as they should do. At other times, you'll have to make use of the Nunchuk's motion controls and the sections of the game where this is used feel horrible as the Nunchuk just can't detect the subtle movements needed and isn't quick enough in detecting them. I understand the developers wanting to make use of the motion controls but they should have at least played to the controller's strengths.

Graphics

Having been co-developed alongside the Playstation 2 version, I can safely say that many, if not all, attributes of the game graphically have been shared. The game isn't pushing the Wii in anyway yet still managed to carry the charm and feel of the movie. Character models are the best of the visual presentation, looking good and having fluid animation. Environments, though large in size, suffer from pop-in of the graphics on occasion but the film's locations have been recreated amicably and feel the part. Unfortunately, frame rate issues do hamper the game and can crop up at any moment, even with only one character on screen.

Sound

The actors and actresses who leant their voices for the film haven't done so here but voice actors have been brought in to impersonate them. The voice work is still good though and the impersonators have done a good job in recreating the voices, even if it is particularly noticeable that they aren't the true actors. The score that accompanies the game doesn't quite hit the same standard as the voices, but it still helps in setting the mood in terms of what is happening on screen.

Final comments

Kung Fu Panda is a game that both treads the already beaten path of movie tie-ins but also tries to be something more. Developer Xpec has done a good job of recreating the feel and atmosphere of the movie in the game but has done well to further that by including levels that aren't based on the movie. It goes to show the potential depth of the license here, with the original levels often being more fun than those based on the movie. Ultimately, the game suffers from a short run time but for those couple of hours, what you get is a thoroughly enjoyable title that will keep all those who play entertained until the end.

Pro: Recreates the atmosphere and action of the movie well, thoroughly enjoyable from start to finish
Con: Motion controls feel horrible and tacked on, short run time, some presentation drawbacks
Final score: 7.4

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