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The Golden Compass

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: January 01, 2008
Author: Amazon User

[[ASIN:B000R32IDW The Golden Compass] is a fun game with good graphics and plot although does not exactly follow the movie line. I am replaying for the second time now. some challenges are pretty tough to beat. This game has no save options except with checkpoints .I purchased the game guide book as well as there is very little info available on line at this time

DOESNT GIVE GOOD INSTRUCTIONS

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: January 02, 2008
Author: Amazon User

VERY UNHAPPY WITH PRODUCT. DOESN'T GIVE GOOD INSTRUCTIONS TO FOLLOW AND CANNOT GO BACK THROUGH LEVELS WITHOUT HAVING TO DO EVERYTHING ALL OVER AGAIN. NO FUN.

Did they make it in a hurry?

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 1 / 2
Date: January 04, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I love he book dearly, and I was excited about playing the game, but I was a bit disappointed.
On the one paw, it was fun to "explore" Lyra's world and change Pan's forms. The play was VERY easy, and there was no way to do any wrong- if you messed up, you started over at the checkpoint. On the other paw: IT WAS SO EASY! Almost to the point of being boring. Actually, in some parts, it was.

I'm trying to think of good things to say about the game...
It was closer to the book, as far as the order of events. But, like the movie, there was no ending. No climax, no sense of accomplishment, no desire to play it again...
It did show clips from the movie but they had an annoying voice over by the witch. The last bit, where Lyra goes to see Lord Asriel, the clip that wasn't in the move, was interesting but can also be viewed on youtube.
Play was difficult as far as controlling the characters. The camera can't be adjusted at all so at some parts you are playing blind. When you are playing Iorek, to jump over a crack in the ice, you just press triangle (on PS2). He jumps by himself. And to fight, you follow on screen prompts. Kind of like DDR.
It was fun to change Pan's forms: He can be a Ermine, a hawk, a sloth, and a wildcat. But only when the game allows you to change him. When he is in hawk form, he can help Lyra glide, but the graphics in the game are quite crude, with little sense of depth perception, so it is hard to judge where to land. It's funny, too, the way Lyra looks... so crude.
I think it would have been more fun if the programmers had utilized Pan more... maybe mini-games with him and Lyra, and more forms for him to change into.
As for exploring, you really couldn't do that. It is a very linear game. I thought you could have wandered around the college rooftops at leisure, looking for hidden items and gathering collectables perhaps. Maybe had an "inventory" and were able to buy things: food, or new clothes, or equipment... And I was really looking forward to escaping Mrs. Coulter's flat and evading the gobblers whilst roaming the London streets at night.
... Nope. There really isn't a whole lot of choice here. "Go here, do that, oh you messed up, try again, there now, it doesn't matter, go here... Kind of like that. For example, in the flat in London, one task is to find the tub stopper. Oooh, I thought, a quest! Where could it be?!... oh. It's in plain sight at the bottom of the stairs. It's even glowing. Well, that was fun.

The alethiometer was a good bit- it was like a mini-game to give you something to do when you got bored. You were supposed to use Pan's "ermine insight" to find the meanings of the symbols...but it really wasn't necessary as the mini-game (a O pops up: push O...and so on...) was easy enough without bothering.

The good, the good... Well, the aurora was pretty.

This might be a really fun game for children. In fact, that's who it was designed for, so there you go. For those curious about the game because they loved the movie or book, I suggest renting it first. You are not likely to want to play it again anyway, so at least you'll get the experience without the high cost. ^^

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