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Ubisoft was kind enough to send along a demo copy of their new King Kong PC game. The demo offers 2 full scenes to play, an FPS (you play as Jack Driscol) scene featuring a nasty T-Rex and a third person action scene where YOU get to be Kong and save Ann Darrow from all sorts of nasty dinos!
I just finished the Kong option (I mean how can you RESIST playing as Kong?!) and was blown away. The action is intense, and the battles are just a sheer joy to partake in. You as the player are left in the middle of the jungle with Ann in your hands and the rain pouring down around you, a T-Rex immediately begins to take aim at you. Handy reference notes appear on the screen to help you out at key moments in the game, and you will need them, as the action is fierce!
Soon after dispatching the T-Rex (in classic Kong style, if you know what I mean) you must make your way across the jungle using anything at your disposal to travel, this really gets the adrenaline going as you begin to swing through the jungle from tree to tree! Pterodactyls pounce on you, and what seems like Raptors also try to take a bite out of your fur (which does go flying at times!).
Chance Thomas’ music in the game is used to great effect, and the sound effects were coming in hot and heavy on my speakers. This is one game I cannot wait to play on my wife’s sub-woofer system.
The graphics are smooth and fully rendered; this really IS skull island. Michael Ancel and his team at Ubisoft have really managed to follow the style of Peter’s film. My 17-inch flat screen at 1024 x 768 (75MGhz refresh rate and DirectX 9.0) with a RADEON X600 had no lag issues or computer slowdown. The settings can be changed for both Jack and Kong (WSAD as default, Arrows and Joystick also available). What amazed me was that the sound system and other settings were available for you to change (vegetation level set to Low anyone?).
That being said this Demo is a really good tease for the game, I’m off to play as Jack Driscoll and get chased by a T-Rex!!