B. Patrick
Everyone loves game adaptations of two-year old box office bombs.
I recently went over to a friend’s place for a night of video games while his girlfriend was out of town. I had a habit of buying almost every release for a while, so I asked if there was anything he wanted me to bring along. He didn’t have any requests of games to pull from my collection but left it to me to choose a few.
Problem with my gaming habits?
I am a score whore.
For those unfamiliar with the life of a score whore, it is someone who is focused on boosting the achievement (or trophy) score more than anything else. Getting hooked on Xbox before PS3 trophies were available, every multi-platform game that was released, I would get on Xbox. I’d find myself playing much more Disney Sing It than Fallout 3 because it would make those insignificant numbers move that much faster.
Although, to be fair, personally singing the powerful jams of Disney Channel original Camp Rock has boosted my self-esteem tenfold…
Back to the point of this article, my friend does enjoy going through and gathering achievements, so I looked for games we could easily co-op and rack up achievements. I was quick to remember…
Green Lantern: Rise of the Manhunters
Released on multiple platforms in June 2011, Green Lantern: Rise of the Manhunters was a tie-in game to the Ryan Reynolds vehicle in theaters that summer.
Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 got “more realistic” versions of the game, while Wii and 3DS got a more cartoon-ish approach.
This game is the epitome of a game that is kind of… there. It isn’t awful, so in some senses, it could be considered a little under the radar but it isn’t anything special either.
Graphically, the game is pretty solid as seen in the trailer:
While some of those shots are cut scenes, here is a screenshot of the first level, as found on the write-up from GameFaqs.
Gameplay
The game itself is a basic beat ‘em up. Run across the level and you encounter various enemies. Punch, swat, gain XP. As you boost your level, you can buy new tricks for your ring.
Each ring upgrade is actually pretty cool and unique. Early on, you get some basic upgrades, such as a buzzsaw you can use to mow down enemies with ease. As the game moves on, you get some more options to go with the unique choices Hal Jordan would make in the comics or film.
About two levels in, there are flying levels where you develop a jet power and can construct a fighter jet which surrounds you, helping you “bomb” the baddies. You have the need to make an entry into blocked areas? You develop a landmine. A baseball bat is created to deflect attacking bombs. For the really ambitious fanboy, you can construct a landmine and then use the bat to bash it in the direction of the enemy.
Some of the ring constructs are given as part of story advancement. Others require the previously mentioned XP to purchase.
I personally love the Gatling gun. Easy and effective to work on multi-hit combos required for getting achievements, yet very entertaining at the same time. There also is a super cool Mech Suit. Marvel fans may see said suit as a rip-off of an Iron Man Hulk Buster costume but it is easy to ignore when you are stomping your enemies with it.
The one complaint here would be while there are a lot of cool ideas put into the world of this game, it seems those concepts aren’t fully realized. You have a lot of cool tools to use but nothing special happens with them. Once you see it the first time, there isn’t much more to it.
The game suffers from a nasty repetitive streak. You beat a guy, move forward. Beat a guy, move forward. You earn enough to get a new power, stay entertained for a few waves of villains, they you are ready for unlocking the next (unless you are still working on the “Defeat X amount of villains with said power-up” achievement).
But that’s how this game goes. It is entertaining enough but super repetitive. It gets frustrating in that there are a lot of things going in the right direction but stop short of becoming special.
Co-op
The co-op play does not add much to the player that has already completed the game. It is local co-op only. No online. It is in the vein of an older game, or an arcade game, in the sense if you have a second player, Sinestro is present for gameplay. No change in cut-scenes and no change in anything else in the game.
My friend that I introduced this to wanted me to answer all kinds of questions about how to do things, what to do, and when to do them. I played the game two years ago and remembered bits and pieces.
Score Whore
For the score whore, it is worth a play through for sure. It is more fun and entertaining than a lot of the games people may play to boost their scores. There are some cool elements for fans of comics or sci-fi and as mentioned, the game does have some unique elements.
The achievements are all straight forward. There is an achievement for defeating the game on varying difficulties, however, Emerald Knight (the highest difficulty), is super easy. The “difficulty achievements” stack and one play through on Emerald Knight will require very few replays, even for the least talented gamer.
In Summary
I always find it hard to assign a number rating, so I will say Mildly Recommended.
If you don’t play this game, you won’t be missing out on much. If you do play it, you aren’t going to have much you will be talking about.
While there is some disappointment with what could’ve been, the game still is a decent way to kill a few hours, have some fun, and boost your gamer score with little error or frustration.
