If the success of the Lord of the Rings films has proven anything, it is that fans have really gotten into the fantasy mood, evident by the movie releases of such other fantasy fare as The Chronicles of Narnia and the upcoming His Dark Materials. However, before that film is released, Eragon is set to settle down in theaters, based on the popular book of the same name, and with that release comes the official movie game. Sharpen up those swords and prepare to fight.

Since I’ve never read the book, I can only assume that the officially licensed movie game of Eragon will feature both scenes from the book and movie, plus probably a few in between moments, as that seems to be the general trend when it comes to movie based games; give them what they know and what they want to know. For the preview, Eragon and his teacher Brom find themselves at a rustic looking village placed along the water edge, and even built over the rushing river. With the king’s men hot on their pursuit, Eragon and Brom must do battle with the evil forces and attempt to flee to safety.

If you played the hack and slash games that followed the Lord of the Rings movies, then the gameplay of Eragon should feel pretty familiar, though not everything is the exact same, as Eragon features quite a few moves that even Legolas couldn’t have pulled off through those games. At its most basic, sword combat is pulled off with a series of A and B button presses, with it seeming like B is for the more heavy strikes. Unlike the LOTR games, Eragon surprisingly seems to require a bit of actual strategy, thus giving combat a fresh and actually rewarding vibe. Instead of just being able to slam on the attack buttons, enemies will actually parry and dart around our heroes, countering with their own attacks. Enemies also take quite an amount of damage, so don’t go in thinking you’ll be able to smack them twice and move on. The A and B buttons are also used in a different way to initiate grapples, as there is no single button press in Eragon, but rather you must do a B, A, B combo to initiate a grapple. Once in a grapple (different animations depending on size of the enemy and whether you grab them from the front or back) you can choose to smack them until they die (A button) or try and toss them (B button). However, be warned not to try and hit them too much, or they could counter your grapple and suplex you into the ground. Also, if you get an enemy on the ground, you can give them a finishing blow, where the camera will zoom in close to show the action. When you aren’t slashing or grappling, you can also dodge attacks by pressing the left trigger.

Eragon also has a vast supply of arrows at his command, which he can unleash by holding down the right trigger and pressing the A button. You can also apply magic to your arrows by holding down the left trigger, and once your arrow tip is glowing white, let loose an explosive volley. Speaking of magic, young Eragon seems to be the master of the Force, as he can both push and pull enemies depending on whether you press the Y button or A button. Eragon will also have to use his magic occasionally to do such things as levitate boards into place so that he and Brom can run across. Eragon’s magic pushes and pulls also come in extremely handy during combat, as he can use it to push enemies off the docks, plus it is a must when going up against the shield carrying enemies, as a simple magic pull will rip their shield away, opening up the chance for you to attack with your sword or arrows.

Since Eragon is able to communicate with a dragon, what fun would it be if the girl didn’t help you out once in a while. During designated parts during the game, such as an erected wall with arrow placements on top, a large blue dragon shaped icon will appear, indicating that you need to call your dragon Saphira so she can knock it down. Besides these moments, Saphira is also constantly making herself known, because as you might be fighting one baddie, she’ll suddenly come swooping in from off screen and grab one of the enemies in her clutches.

Sticking to its movie based license, the game is very cinematic, as in-game cutscenes will pop up from time to time, showing you a bit of storytelling or informing you what you may need to do next to advance. The developers did a good job at weaving this into the gameplay, as they are never too frequent or long so you get to a point where you wished they would just shut up and let you get back to the hacking and slashing. The cutscenes are also fully voiced, and though I’m not exactly sure if the actual actors provided the voices of their characters, the quality was still pretty high quality. The graphics are also pretty nice, though lacking the polish of other more recent Xbox 360 titles.

I actually mocked one of my friends for being excited about the movie and enjoying the books, and though they always tried to get me to read them, I never fancied them a go. However, after getting to play the Eragon preview, I find myself intrigued, and a possible book order in my near future.

Tags: Reviews