Ice Age: Continental Drift – Arctic Games

If you are aware of the Dreamworks property Ice Age, you’ll know that the company have milked this IP for all it’s worth. We mean, after the ice age actually happens, you would think there isn’t many places you can go in terms of a story. Yet, once again, the studio managed to piece together another narrative with Manny, Diego and friends. So that can only mean one thing, a video game Ice Age Continental Drift – Arctic Games tie-in which aims to cash in on the movie release and provide an interactive re-imagining of the movie’s plot.

This game plays like other platform games based on movie IP’s such as Bee Movie Game, DreamWorks Shrek Smash n' Crash Racing, The Incredibles: Rise of the Underminer or Monsters Inc: Scare Island. However, this game also makes use of a mini game format like Mario Party or Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games. This may be just another licenced movie tie-in but sometimes these games are a surprise package. So the question is, is this game one of these games? We find out in our review of Ice Age: Continental Drift.

Shamelessly Cashing In

Licenced games have a reputation for being soulless, bland and uninventive games that are passed out to junior developers who are given very little time or money to produce a game fit for consumption. Well, the bad news is that this game does nothing to shake that stereotype. This game is a collection of predictable mini games, with the only form of appeal when paired against competitors being that this game can plaster the Ice Age character roster all of the place as a means of selling this title.

The games themselves are component enough for what they are. They offer a means of competing with AI or local multiplayer opponents and they have simple intuitive controls that kids who this game is aimed at will understand. However, that’s where the pleasantries stop as all the mini games here are simply ripped from much more competent Kinect titles or pulled from games that preceded this game by years. If a game was made in a lab splicing together the licenced games of the last decade, this is most likely what they would come up with.

This would be forgivable if the writing was at least on par with the movie or the visuals were of Dreamworks quality. However, neither of these things are present. The storyline is practically non-existent which is all the more frustrating when there is a narrative to follow right there for the developer. Plus, the visuals and animations are woeful, even by the Wii’s low standards.

The Verdict

Overall, Ice Age: Continental Drift is exactly as you would expect. A game that is shoddily made, offers nothing new or exciting to the world of gaming and was made with one sole purpose. To get parents to crack open their wallets. The game does have some competent mini games and multiplayer features.

Pros:

• Competent all be it predictable mini-games
• Full roster of Ice Age characters
• Multiplayer functionality

Cons:

• The visuals and storyline are appalling
• Mini games are rip-offs of better, more complete titles