Battle Los Angeles

While games based on movies can be pretty inconsistent with regards to quality, there have been some cracking move games in history. Sadly, Saber Interactive developed title Battle: Los Angeles does not live up to that expectation. The movie itself was a critical failure and a bit of a flop; can the game manage to do any better? Let’s take a look and see what we think of the 2011 release.

Can you take back Los Angeles?

Based in the City of Angels, the game for Battle Los Angeles follows much of the same thinking as the movie that it is based upon. The game was released as part of the Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network. The game itself received pretty awful reviews when it was first released, though it did receive higher ratings from users on some platforms such as Metacritic. Critical reception, though, was mixed to say the least.

The game follows the same story as the movie; UFO sightings have been commonplace, and eventually result in the arrival of an actual extra-terrestrial species. They aren’t here to play nice, either, and soon the Earth is under major attack on all of its major locations. As the greatest cities in the world fall to alien rule, a few people decide to start fight back – humanity begins to formulate a resistance in and around LA, and you play a role in trying to fight back against the alien invasion and put an end to their occupation.

By the numbers movie video gaming at its most mediocre

Sadly, while the concept sounds cool, much like the movie itself it all manages to fall pretty flat on its face. This is a generic first person shooter thrown into a world that lacks anything like the kind of context or lore depth needed for such a story. As the game carries on, you take on the role of Corporal Lee Imlay and fight alongside other characters from the movie as you shoot back at alien invaders to try and save the world.

Really, most levels are nothing other than the same fare running through and gunning down the opposition without much threat. The AI is limited at best, the scripting and writing are as generic and dour as the movie itself, and the overall level of detail in and around the city can be described as middling at best.

Pros:

• Faithful recreation of key moments within the movie itself, including major scenes

Cons:

• Generic shooter action with no real innovation or fresh ideas included
• Basic level layout with dated visuals and a lack of real deep thinking
• Lacks replayability