Ben 10 - Protector of the Earth - PSP review

Ready to save the earth?

25 December 2007 0:00 GMT / By Stuart Miles

When 10-year-old Ben Tennyson discovers a mysterious device, he gains the power to change into 10 different alien heroes, each with uniquely awesome powers.

Welcome to Ben 10, and what has to be a great premise for a video game, but can the cartoon work in the videogame world? We get shape shifting to find out.

The premise of the PSP version of the cartoon is that while you were sleeping (no, not the film with Sandra Bullock in it) some pesky mossy has nicked the Omnitrix (the secret to Ben's powers) and you've got to spend the next umpteen levels fighting bad guys, aliens, robots and what have you, to get it back and of course save the world (not just a cheerleader).

Based on the cartoon of the same name from the Cartoon Network you get all the same tricks you've seen on TV. This mainly means the ability to change into one of 10 aliens all with special powers and skill sets.

Whether it's Fourarms for smashing stuff, XLR8 for speed or Grey Matter for solving problems the idea is that you have to use them when the right time comes to continue on your mission.

Having a barrage of 10 aliens tucked in your wristwatch sounds too easy and in an attempt to make the game last just a little bit longer than your average episode your Omnitrix power is weak on juice (it was stolen at the start remember) you won't get access to all your alien alter egos straight away.

So how does this all play out in-game? Well there is lots of killing drones and enemies to be done and at times the repetitiveness can, even with the inclusion of needing to use different characters, get boring.

Kill, collect power-ups, kill some more, make the odd jump, kill some more, collect more power-ups and so on.

Every so often you'll get a boss to offer you a bit more meat for your effort and you'll have to master a series of combo moves, which luckily the game instructs you to press at the time, to defeat them and move on to the next one.

With three difficulty levels there is plenty of scope for younger gamers and to make things a little more interesting there is a delay in changing between the aliens so you can just switch from strength to speed without being a 10-year-old in-between.

Graphics to this Platformer are basic, but in keeping with the television series with a cartoon cutscenes breaking the levels to push the story along.

Verdict

Ben 10 on the PSP plays out like an episode of the cartoon, and for that reason it great fun.

While there is no real challenge to this platformer in the way of puzzles to solve, the need to switch between characters to complete set tasks does help break the monotony of all that killing.

If you are a fan of the cartoon series on the Cartoon Network, you'll love it. Otherwise it's still a great game, but one for the younger or young at heart player.

Score

Review Recap

Made by: D3
Price as reviewed: £35
The good: Play all the characters from the cartoons, learn combo moves, fun graphics
The bad: Gets repetitive, no real puzzles to solve
Quick verdict: Ben 10 on the PSP plays out like an episode of the cartoon, and for that reason it great fun
Score