The latest assignment I had for DigNews.com was a review of the Eragon movie tie-in games. Sounds simple, right? Not really.
As it turns out, there are basically four versions of the game, not counting wireless phone games based off the movie. They include one version that appears on PC, PS2, Xbox and Xbox 360; one version that is exclusive to PSP; one version that is exclusive to Nindento DS; and one version that is exclusive to GameBoy Advance.
To make matters more complex, I couldn’t review the PC/PS2/Xbox/360 versions all together, because the graphics were too far apart. So I had to split them up so that the Xbox and PS2 versions were combined into one review, and the PC and 360 versions were combined in another review.
Five reviews, five different chances for the developers to “get it right” … and they all failed. Even on the high-end PC/360 version, the graphics were rush-jobbed and nothing to write home about. The basic gameplay was generic and uninspired. And although the games on handheld platforms were all different, none of them were very good at all.
I stand by my standard line on this one: Eragon is a better reading experience than it is a gaming experience.
