Green Lantern: Rise of the Manhunters
Synopsis: In Green Lantern: Rise of the Manhunters, players will fill the role of gifted pilot Hal Jordan, the first human Green Lantern, and create an arsenal of ring constructs and take flight in outer space and beyond to restore intergalactic order. Players will use the Power Ring to build an array of weapons from green energy to defeat the Manhunters – an evil android race bent on destroying the Green Lantern Corps. Packed with intergalactic missions, alien androids and out-of-this-world combat, Green Lantern: Rise of the Manhunters is an action-adventure videogame that delivers the Green Lantern experience right into the hands of gamers.
It doesn't break any new ground or rewrite the book on how to do movie tie-in games, but don't be so quick to discount Green Lantern: Rise of the Manhunters. Spun off from the big-budget summer flick Green Lantern, this game finds our hero Hal Jordan tangling with intergalactic robots and aliens aplenty. Easy to get into, but not without its flaws, Warner Interactive Enteractive delivers what turns out to be a fun outer space adventure! Inspired by the Warner Bros. Pictures’ superhero feature film Green Lantern, Green Lantern: Rise of the Manhunters soars onto game consoles, extending the theatrical experience of one of DC Entertainment’s most popular superheroes. Playing as gifted pilot Hal Jordan, the first human Green Lantern, gamers will create an arsenal of ring constructs and take flight in outer space and beyond to restore intergalactic order. Players will use the Power Ring to build an array of weapons from green energy to defeat the Manhunters – an evil android race bent on destroying the Green Lantern Corps. Following a strict linear design with controls that mimic the likes of God of War, Green Lantern: Rise of the Manhunters offers fun fisticuffs abound, though it does tend to get repetitive at times. Wave after wave of familiar baddies will try to stop you from accomplishing your goals, though you'll have different ring constructs to liven things up. And those constructs do get really fun, really fast. You’ll definitely find your favourites for bashing Manhunter robots and mind-controlled aliens. Myself, I found myself using a swinging mace as my dominant weapon, though I often tried to mix things up as I moved along. The ring constructs get more powerful as you move along, amping the fun up considerably. But, like with most games, there is a catch. Using constructs will drain your power, and if you run on empty, you’ll have to rely on standard constructs and fisticuffs to overcome your enemies. A follow-up to the original movie, the game kicks off with our heroes coming together to remember the late Abin Sur, it offers an original story that immediately follows the events of the movie. Levels are split into small scuffles, each inevitably leading to the big boss fight to end said level. Admittedly, the scuffles can get a bit tedious, but the big boss battles are usually actually pretty enjoyable, offering up a nice break from the repetitive smashing and bashing. While the fighting and locations do vary from time to time, the visuals do stay on pretty much the same level throughout. By no means are the visuals mindblowing, but I found them to be better than average. Given the amount of fighting and general speed required to get from place to place to stop the next big threat, you won’t really be gawking at the look of things anyway. Admittedly, the Manhunter robots, and the assorted variants, do increase in difficulty as you progress, also adding a bit of a challenge for the ten level campaign. Nothing really overwhelming, but sure to cause some playful frustration from time to time. The voice acting is worth noting. It’s surprisingly strong, especially Ryan Reynold’s restrained work as Hal Jordan. Less jokey in the movie, Reynolds feels more like Jordan here than he did in the movie! Yeah, there’s some bad one-liners and some clunky dialogue, but overall the dialogue is pretty well done from start to finish, better than I was expecting. The game isn’t exactly long, clocking in at roughly 5 – 6 hours in total, with little replayability to be honest. If you like smashing up robots, then there might be some repeat appeal for you, but there are other games that do this better. The strict linear path can also be a bit of a detractor, as there’s very little freedom to roam around. Spaces are usually very confined and limited, and any extra goodies are very easy to find. The game also included some flying levels which are so easy that they barely merit mentioning. Still the pros of the game easily outweigh the cons. Voice acting and overall audio is stellar, and the original story helps. Combat is very easy to pick up and the co-op is pretty fun. Green Lantern: Rise of the Manhunters definitely surpassed my expectations. It's a fun game that's easy to play and doesn't overstay its welcome. Yes, it can get repetitive at times, but the ever-growing list of ring constructs helps to freshen things up. In fact, this is a great introduction for younger gamers, definitely a worthwhile lead in to similar but more complex game titles. It won't win any awards or be hailed as any type of landmark, but it's probably the best movie-based videogame in quite some time. Green Lantern: Rise of the Manhunters is a fun game that's worth at least a Rental, but die-hard fans should definitely consider adding it to their collection. Review of the Playstation 3 release of "Green Lantern: Rise of the Manhunters"
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