I probably don’t need to tell you that The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe for the Nintendo DS is one of many video games based on the 2005 feature film, which itself is based on the children’s fantasy novels by C.S. Lewis.
The good news: it isn’t a 2D platformer created with the same game engine as Land Before Time 223 for the GBA. Instead, developers Griptonite had the slightly-more-original idea of creating a real-time hack-n-slash RPG similar to their Game Boy version of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.
The game loosely follows the story of the movie, leaving most of the details unexplained and creating its own background characters and environments as it goes along. Basically, four children from England discover a mysterious fantasy land called Narnia. They soon realize that they’re the only ones who can free the land from the icy grip of the evil White Witch who has transformed Narnia into a world of perpetual winter. (She later moved to Canada.) Watch the movie or read the book before you pick up the game if you really care about the story.
Gameplay
Narnia’s gameplay is hard to explain: It seems simple, but in many ways is deceptively complex.
You’ll start off as Lucy, guiding her through a frozen Narnia from a bird’s eye view. You’ll fight off mystical beasts and converse with talking animals. Eventually you will be joined by Lucy’s siblings, Peter, Susan and Edmund and will be able to switch between them anytime you’re not talking or fighting.
The combat is pretty bare-bones. Each character can punch or stab, and gain one other combat move after being “taught” by another character. Additional combat moves generally involve throwing, charging or sending evil spells at enemies. If players could store their special moves in an invisible inventory and choose which to use at any time, the combat would be far more interesting. As it is, battling enemies is fairly repetitive, even with the ability to switch between all four main characters. You will soon find yourself desperate to find new special moves even if you know they’ll be worse than the ones you already have.
One of this game’s few innovations (if it could be called that), is the health bar. Instead of each character hogging a meter all to themselves, they share one collectively. Each time a character takes a hit, the bar goes down. When it runs out, you won’t die until all four characters have been struck down. Each will get up within a matter of seconds of being attacked if others are still standing. At times this makes it too simple to run circles around particular enemies while your teammates repeatedly attack, fall down, and recover. But it also adds an element of strategy similar role playing games don’t feature.
Each environment is completely separate and will reset upon each entrance, meaning you’ll have to fight the same enemies and solve the same puzzles each time you return. On the upside, this means you’ll never run out of the goodies you can earn by defeating enemies (money, health, upgrades, etc.). Of course this can also make gameplay terribly repetitive, and make it hard to remember where you’ve already explored.
The big problem with being able to control any one of four on-screen characters, is the inability to control the other three. The AI works just fine when all characters are set to attack, but you can also program any or all of the four children to defend. This might sound just dandy on paper, but to the AI, “defend” apparently means “go stand a few feet away from the nearest enemy and hope it doesn’t blast your brains out while you twiddle your thumbs”.
Thankfully, a cooperative multiplayer mode is also included. Connecting consoles even allows players to swap character stats and equipment between systems. Unfortunately, wireless gameplay requires multiple carts, so it’s unlikely you’ll actually be able to take advantage of this feature.
When any character does particularly well in battle or completes a quest or challenge, he or she is awarded with an upgrade, or “virtue point”. With this upgrade, you can boost a character’s combat skills, increase their HP, or improve another aspect of their ability. The effects on the AI are simple, but often surprisingly noticeable.
The RPG elements don’t stop there, either. Each character will also gain unique skills such as smashing boulders, healing, and summoning powerful allies. Using jewels awarded for killing enemies, you can also buy better weapons and protection for the four children. Magical wells will let you purchase “blessings”, which will up your characters’ weapons’ damage points, etc. Informative books and maps are scattered throughout Narnia, offering wisdom and advice. A “chill meter” in the upper left hand corner of the top screen signals the warmth of Susan, Lucy, Peter and Edmund, and will determine the speed at which they can function. And I still haven’t explained the other functions of the battle tactics.
Yet despite all the gizmos and gadgets, abilities, options and tactics, The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe is surprisingly easy to get into. You don’t need to be an RPG fan to play this game. But you might need to be a Narnia fan...
Unfortunately, and despite the game’s welcome innovations and complexities, Narnia’s gameplay is simply too repetitive to offer long-term enjoyment to gamers uninterested in the fate of Aslan.
There are other problems, too, of course. The environments vary little in terms of visuals and design, and even the dungeons offer few surprises. There’s much more variety in the cast of enemies, but you’re rarely pitted against challenging bosses or significant fiends from the movie. Worst of all, the gameplay seems a notch too slow, even without the intentional drag induced by the “chill meter” and the unintentional choppiness.
Another let down is the dialogue. Despite being able to choose from an array of different questions/comments/insults, the way you talk to friends and foes rarely seems to change the long term outcome. When it does, it’s not because you’ve gone out of your way to form a character on your own, but rather because you’ve succeed at saying exactly what one of the kids in the movie ³would say². In other words, the conversations are terribly linear and most-often predictable.
Controls
The controls are simple, but effective. The D-pad controls movement and all other action functions are assigned to Y, X, B and A. Tactics and options can be altered anytime during gameplay using the touch screen, which is also used to display maps and character stats. L is used to switch between characters. My only gripe with the controls is the inability to control touch screen functions (including “save”) while the game is on pause. Otherwise, the layout is satisfactory and the bottom screen menus are easy to navigate.
Visuals
Unfortunately most places in Narnia are covered in snow, which means a sad lack of visual variety for gamers. Worse, the animation isn’t great and slowdown commonly occurs. On the upside, the dungeons, at least, look different, and the outdoor environments effectively portray a very cold atmosphere. The 3D visuals are crisp and clean and the colour pallet created with care. Overall, The Chronicles of Narnia is a nice package, visually, if a tad uninspired.
Audio
Aside from repetitive sound effects, the audio, like the visuals, effectively capture the mood of the film. The music definitely stands above the competition.
Longevity
Most won’t desire to play past the initial completion of the game, but for those hardcore Narnia fans who do, there will always be more fighting, exploring, stat building, skill learning, side-questing and kid-swapping to do. Oh, and don’t forget the multiplayer. Considering this game is primarily targeted at younger gamers, it’s certainly long enough as an action/adventure title. If you’re expecting a full-length RPG, however, prepare to be disappointed.
Conclusion
As with all modern games based on mainstream family-oriented movies, the expectations for The Chronicals of Narnia were low. It’s obvious that Griptonite Games went out of their way to create a title that exceeded those expectations, and for the most part, they succeeded. Half of me wants to reward them with a big juicy 8.0, but the other half feels a 5 would be perfectly adequate. For every new innovation, solid gameplay design, and visual accomplishment, there’s another half-hour of gameplay that seems just like the last. While part of me would be happy to pick up my DS and play The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe right now, the other part would rather be playing Zelda, or any other more-refined adventure game. The only solution in a case like this is to find a balance; six and a half seems just about right.
