The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian [X360]

To keep those of us with attention issues happy, there are a few things to collect strewn about the levels. Inside every destructible barrel, box or vase -- as well as in plain sight -- you can find small chips to collect which will upgrade your health. Less commonly, you can find golden keys which unlock treasure chests and score you bonus art, video and a few small bonus mini-games. Oddly enough, the keys respawn each time you enter an area, so by the end of the game you'll find yourself with far more keys than you need to open every chest in the game. The bonus content isn't all that special, but finding the chests does provide a reason to go back and play the game a second time. At least the game gives out achievements like free candy so you won't have trouble getting close to all of them on the first run.

The major issue with Prince Caspian is that the game rarely has sufficient context for your actions. Though the game makes use of clips from the movie and cutscenes in between the gameplay, it can be difficult to follow if you haven't seen the movie or read the book. Most people that play Caspian will probably already be familiar with the story to the point of that not mattering, but the game objectives also sometimes suffer from the same issue. Kids may find the instructions on how to complete specific tasks too vague. Heck, I found myself lost a few times. The game designers seemed to assume too much about the player.

But then, that sloppy presentation carries through to the graphics and sound. As powerful as the hardware is that is running it, there certainly is nothing here to indicate that it's being used properly. I thought we were done with the PS2 lowest common denominator affecting how games looked on PS3 and 360, but it looks like that isn't the case. Prince Caspian runs without a hitch on Xbox 360, even when there is a lot going on, but this isn't the visual showcase that the movies are. Unfortunately, the same can't always be said about the PS3. I found an unbearable amount of slowdown the first time I entered one of the large battlefields. It cleared up and didn't appear again, but there really isn't any reason it should ever have an issue running. And while the orchestral music that the game features is a pretty good listen, awkward scene cuts and generic sound effects don't help things.

Closing Comments
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian would be a good game to let any young fan of the movie try his or her hand at, but it's too simplistic for most core gamers to find enjoyable. Or rather, it would be good if the full context of what you're doing in the game was made more apparent. As it stands it's a game with a solid foundation and good ideas that falls short of its promise.

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