Arthur And The Invisibles - PS2 Review

Written by Ray Whitney // 29/01/2007

Arthur And The Invisibles on PS2 Review | Movie / Film

I recognise the name Arthur from two historical sources: the mythical king of England, and that kids' cartoon with the weasel-thing and his annoying sister. Whichever one you want to choose, I would be happy to play the video game adaptation. These Arthurs should not sleep easy, because there’s a new one in town, and he’s after a place on the exclusive Arthur-list. This PlayStation 2 game based on the recent kids’ movie Arthur And The Invisibles has an Arthur who is a young boy desperate to save his grandparents’ house from demolition. So desperate, in fact, that he somehow manages to shrink himself and join a community of tiny fairy people (the Minimoys) who live in his garden. What the hell, Atari? You're making this stuff up.

The video game journalist is always tempted to damn all movie tie-ins to hell, spitting at them with accusations of being generic and lazy. After all, ask yourself exactly what you expect from any licensed game. The developers have cobbled together a third-person 3D action game, mixing in a handful of sub-games and puzzles to keep it from souring, and letting loose yet another boring title onto the mainstream? It’s easy to think like that, and it’s also easy to forget just how good God Of War was – and nobody complained about that being generic. So let’s not write Arthur off just yet, because this game has the potential to be a favourite. And besides, he went to all the trouble of shrinking himself.

I’m unfamiliar with the film, but I’m here to review the game based on its own merits, and so I shall. Yes, it is another 3D platformer, and yes it is for kids. There are plenty of sub-games spread over the seven worlds, ranging from the surprisingly technically-impressive mosquito flying segments to the rather odd sports car driving interlude. The bulk of the game involves exploring the beautifully crafted Minimoy world, which involves leaping and double-jumping over some warm and detailed graphics. Look at them!

Mmm.

You will find the majority of your time split up into two sections – fighting and searching. The fight system is simple but satisfying, while the searching can aggravate. It involves running back and forth over the territory, hunting down hidden flagstones (which open doors), and picking up rocks and putting them in different places in order to make stuff happen. Not the most thrilling of tasks, it has to be said, and a lack of action can make you grow weary. Luckily, we are revived by the game’s endless dialogue (the characters have plenty to say, ranging from silly throwaway conversations to warnings that they’ve once again been hit), the soaring orchestral soundtrack and the ever-constant looming threat of the enemy, including shocking explosions delivered by airborne enemies.

The trick up this game’s miniature sleeve is, as the press release puts it, the “concept of the ‘trio’.” Unfortunately, this doesn’t mean a long-awaited return of the chocolate, caramel and biscuit treat, but rather we are given control of three characters – Arthur himself, Princess Selenia and Prince Bétameche. Sadly, these aren’t voiced by their cinematic counterparts, but Bétameche is amusingly voiced by Bruce Dinsmore, who played Binky on hit kids cartoon Arthur. He must be sick of the word.

The concept of the ‘trio’ involves swapping the character in control to deal with the situation at hand – each of the Minimoys has different abilities. For example, Bétameche has a ranged attack, while Arthur is quite the acrobat. Together, they must solve the game’s fun but basic puzzles and navigate the world, looking for hidden secrets and escape routes from danger. While far from revolutionary, this system adds a nice level of variety to the proceedings, and admirably the dialogue and events change depending on who you have in charge at the time, and what you let them get up to. This level of detail deserves congratulations.

The experience is very cinematic, with drama cornering you at every opportunity. This seems pretty intense for a kids’ film, but it keeps the game enjoyable. The events don’t really make much sense unless, I presume, you’re a fan of the film, but what you have to do at any one point is usually more than obvious. If you’re an older gamer, you may feel let down by the lack of challenge – you don’t really need anyone to teach you how to double jump anymore, or to let you know that they require healing. The younger player will love it though – it’s varied, exciting and can stump you on occasion. It may drag, as the running about pressing buttons and dragging rocks does grow stale when there are very few enemies to distract you, and once you make it through once, you may need to leave it a while before wanting to do so again.

Yes, we have seen it all before and the game doesn’t really make any effort to make you care about anything if you haven’t got a prior attachment to the film. But if you love the film, you should be clawing at this. If you’ve got a younger gamer in the house, you could do a lot worse than letting them immerse themselves in this lovingly-crafted and action-packed tiny world. Anyone else, just sit back, let it have its time on the charts and wait for something a bit more grown-up to come along.