RaOne The Game

Following the success of the Hindi superhero blockbuster of the same name, RaOne The Game provides a new perspective to the popular hit. This time, using the power behind the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 3 to tell a linear story. Considering that it’s from 2011, we won’t judge it too harshly, but there are a lot of pain points to address with this video game. On the other hand, a few redeeming qualities do exist for what it’s worth.

Afterall, RaOne is still a blockbuster franchise. It contains major elements and plot points from the movie and manages to dilute — or occasionally enhance — the story for players.

Story

Just like the movie, the RaOne game follows the story of a brilliant — albeit stereotypical — video game designer à la Tron Legacy. In this case though, the main cast isn’t transported into a video game world, instead, things are a bit more convoluted.

Shekhar Subramanium (Shah Rukh Khan) is the main star of our story. With the ability to transform into video game superhero ‘G.One’, he must do everything in his power to combat the antagonist, ‘Ra.One’. This entire conundrum is a result of Shekhar’s son getting into a stint with Ra.One in the video game. This leads Ra.One to pursue him even outside of the virtual world. Like a good father should, G.One naturally protects his son and plays hero to the city.

Although the plot exists in the game, its presentation is a lot more convoluted and difficult to follow in this context. It alarmingly feels like the developers were making the game with an assumption that every potential player has seen the movie. Even if its slightly justified, the way it is executed leaves massive room for improvements.

Gameplay

Ra.One The Game takes place in a series of stages that appear as uninspired arenas at best. Seriously, this dystopian-esque look does not bode well when its all you see in your entire playthrough.

For combat, Ra.One manages to imitate the idea of a conventional video game experience by adding upgrades, special attacks, basic melee and ranged attacks. The sum total of these features results in a fun and satisfying set of hits when mowing through a seemingly endless swarm of enemies. However, this false nirvana is as fleeting as its arrival. Why? Fighting the same types of enemies, in the same location with the same set of moves, listening to the same soundtrack and tiringly pushing a button over and over is ultimately… boring.

Characters

Different models, same gameplay. That’s pretty much the only way to sum up the supposed “playable characters” in Ra.One. However, they do pose a few unique abilities that quickly get boring. You can get to play as Kareena Kapoor’s character and a random third protagonist.

The presence of optional characters is reminiscent of Ben 10: Protector of Earth on the PSP consoles. However, that game definitely provided a larger variety of playable characters with diverse abilities.

In comparison, the 2009 release of James Cameron's Avatar: The Game provided a full-fledged experience that perfectly complements the movie.

Pros:

• Video game adaptation of a beloved movie

Cons:

• Poor graphics
• Monotonous gameplay
• Poor storytelling
• Heavily bugged