Sometimes we get lucky and game publishers choose to release demos for their upcoming games. These cases are always quite nice. After all, who doesn’t like playing a game they’re anticipating weeks or months before it’s due to release? Other times, when a console game is also in development for the PC, we get treated to downloadable demos of said game. There are some drawbacks to these kinds of demos – for one, we don’t get to experience playing the game with a console controller – but it’s always a nice surprise, nonetheless, to play a game that isn’t being released for a while.

This is kind of the case with King Kong, which is in development for an array of platforms, including GameCube, Xbox, PlayStation 2, Xbox 360 and PC. Ubisoft released a downloadable PC demo of the movie-based game on October 7, and AMN’s GameCube Editor-in-Chief Phillip Levin has since played through the demo multiple times. Below he’s detailed his hands-on impressions of Ubisoft’s upcoming first-person adventure game.


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King Kong is shaping up to be incredibly moody, atmospheric, heart-pumping and downright impressive – not to mention a number of other great things. That’s how the short PC demo left me feeling after running through it multiple times. So far, King Kong is well-designed and is dripping in production values.

Those who haven’t been following the game shouldn’t fret. There are a few things they should know, however. For starters, King Kong is based off the upcoming Hollywood remake of the classic film by the same name. The film, which is being directed by none other than Peter Jackson, tells the story of a group film-makers sent to Skull Island to shoot a documentary about the mysterious inhabitants of the island – a number of ancient tribes and monstrous animals. Upon arrival, however, things go terribly wrong – no surprise. The group, led by Jack Driscoll, stumbles into misfortunate when their very own Ann Darrow is kidnapped by the hostile tribe. She’s eventually served up on a platter as an offering to the island’s legendary and god-like King Kong. To the surprise of Ann’s film group and the tribe, Kong quickly falls in love with her and runs off into the jungle with the poor gal.

Ubisoft’s recently released PC demo picks up somewhere after these events. The demo is split into two different parts: a level where you play as Jack and a level where you play as King Kong himself.

The first part of the demo stars Jack. You play through this short part of the game from the first-person perspective, which is in fact the perspective the majority of the title takes place from. Control is a little wonky in the PC demo. Since I haven’t played the game with either a GameCube, Xbox or PlayStation 2 controller it’s hard to say exactly how it will feel with a console pad, but the mouse and keyboard configuration – which usually works perfectly for the genre – feels unpolished here.

After fiddling around with the mouse sensitivity, I eventually found a configuration that felt more usable. Thankfully, the transition between mouse and keyboard and console controller will be pretty conventional, so describing the control scheme is possible. The title features a dual analog setup, meaning the left analog stick moves Jack forwards, backwards, left and right, while the right stick lets him look around. Additionally, Jack can carry out a number of actions. By pressing the correct button, he’ll pull out his equipped weapon, which in the demo is an automatic rifle. You must hold down this particular button in order to keep Jack’s weapon up. Ubisoft’s opted for this design because it creates a more realistic experience, not to mention a more immersing one. When walking around with your weapon out, Jack’s movement speed drops considerably, so it’s often not the route to take.



King Kong

The demo starts you out in a corner of a forest, with rain pouring down on you and your men. Almost immediately, Jack comes to an overhead bridge with a few of his men trickling over it. One of the men says something about seeing some giant monster and escaping to warn you about it, but before a few seconds can pass by, a roaring growl echoes through the forest, followed by a towering tyrannosaurus rex appearing as lightening flashes across the sky. Jack must quickly run from the rex until he and his men come to a gate that is locked. While his crew tries to break through the locked gate, it’s your job to keep the gigantic t-rex distracted. Unfortunately for you, it moves faster than you and can kill you in two quick bites.