Ben 10 Alien Force Vilgax Attacks
SCORE: 76
The animated hit Ben 10 Alien Forces, from Cartoon Network, makes it’s debut on Xbox 360 with an original story from the creators of the animated series. Ben 10 Alien Forces: Vilgax Attacks is an all new adventure for Ben Tennyson and his 10 aliens forms as they battle Ben’s greatest enemy, Vilgax. Fans of the series will be pleased to know the writers and voice actors contributed (very well in fact) to make this game an authentic representation of the Ben 10 world.
In Ben 10 Alien Forces: Vilgax Attacks, Ben and his friends find themselves going back in time to stop the destruction of the Earth – before it happens. This adventure takes the team to various alien planets to uncover the evil plot of Vilgax. As mentioned this is an original story from the writers of the animated series, so there will be plenty of never-before-seen worlds and environments. The gameplay includes problem solving, platform play (climbing, jumping, etc) and fighting. Each environment included some of each type of gameplay.
What fans of the show will be most excited about is the ability for Ben to change into any of his 10 aliens forms. Game developers did a great job of making the transitions simple and easy to use. The left and right shoulder buttons are used to scroll through the alien forms, and changing to the selected form is as easy as pressing the right analog stick. The main thing to keep in mind is that Ben can only change into an alien form from his human form. That means if you are using Goop and want to change to Brainstorm, you will first need to change from Goop to Ben, then from Ben to Brianstorm. For those not familiar with the Ben 10 Alien Force animated series, the transition into alien forms is provided by the Omnirtix – a watch like device that provides energy for the alien forms. The energy indicator and stamina bar are located on the left side of the screen. Situated above the energy / stamina bars is the alien selector as well.
Each alien form has their own special abilities that will make them more useful at certain points of the game. The communication with the other team members and hints on the screen will give suggestions as to which aliens to use. This is both the best thing of the game and the worst. As much fun as it is to use all 10 of the different alien forms to solve puzzles and defeat bad guys, it can become somewhat frustrating having to change forms over and over to solve one puzzle – which can be difficult at times. But this will probably only grow tiring to the older audience, as I am sure the younger fans of Ben 10 will always enjoy switching between their favorite aliens.
As good as the voice acting is, there were multiple instances of the captions on the screen not matching up with the voice and mouth movements of the characters. Also note worthy is the character interactions with the environments. Some items can be destroyed using melee attacks, while other objects (some time right beside the item just destroyed) sit there as the characters arms swing right through it. Some of the scenes were unusually dark, and presented problems when trying to unlock clues. I look for these items to be corrected in future installments of the Ben 10 franchise.
Ben 10 Alien Forces: Vilgax Attacks is a one-player game, and does not include the option for playing on Xbox Live. I would recommend parents to sit or play with their kids for a while when first playing the game. There will be opportunities to discuss patience, problem solving and also different talents – relating to how different characters have separate abilities that make them special.
The animated violence is not over done, and most of the boss fights
are simply finding the necessary pattern in their movements to uncover a
weakness. Some of the characters definitely have interesting
appearances, and that may be something to look into depending on
parents’ preferences. If parents allow their children to watch the Ben
10 Alien Forces animated series on Cartoon network, then this could be a
good addition to their game library.
- Alan
Graphics: 75%
Sound: 80%
Replay/Extras: 79%
Gameplay: 75%
Family Friendly Factor: 74%
System: Xbox 360/Playstation 3
Publisher: D3 Publisher
Rating: 'E10+'
for Everyone 10+
{Fantasy Violence}
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