Game Review: Constantine

By By Nick Finnegan (Contact)

Thursday, March 3, 2005

Constantine

PS2, Xbox, PC

Movie companies nowadays seem to be compelled to release games based on their movie property. This would be all well and good if their purpose was to present gamers with a unique experience and not just trying to cash in on their movie rights. Constantine is much like an alien probe: unnecessary and generally unpleasant.

The story driving this game is basically a skewed version of what happens in the movie; omitting characters and changing events. Some parts are taken directly from the movie, however, and they seem to work the best, especially the opening exorcism scene.

Aside from the story, most of the things seen in the movie make an appearance in the game. Keanu Reeves becomes equipped with his gold knuckles, holy shotgun, and the ability to go to hell. The game has additional weapons such as The Crucifier, a rapid firing nail gun. A spell system has been added as well, granting players the power to smite foes with holy lightning and to turn enemies to stone.

There just isn’t really enough here to keep someone entertained, unless of course that person is a huge fan of the movie. Nothing besides the story is new here, and that alone can’t make up for the rest of the game. Constantine goes the way of most movie spin-offs and does a rather poor job of capturing the essence of the movie, which in this case wasn’t incredibly great itself.

Grade: D+

Nick Finnegan

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