‘ALIENS VS. PREDATOR: REQUIEM’

January 6, 2008 at 2:00a.m.

(Sierra/Rebellion) for PSP

Rated: T

Grade: C

The Alien vs. Predator franchise was spawned in comics and lived on in gaming before making it to the big screen a few years ago. With the recent arrival in theaters of a sequel, the developer behind the best-selling and critically acclaimed Alien vs. Predator PC game has created a PlayStation Portable title, “Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem,” based on the new movie.

In the PC shooter game, you can play an Alien soldier, Predator or human. In “Requiem,” players step into the combat boots of a large, cloaked Predator who seeks to eliminate the Aliens unleashed by a crashed Predator ship on Earth. After the first level, the game branches into three paths (each takes about two hours to complete), each culminating at the final level, which is set in a hospital that serves as the Aliens nest.

Although you have access to six Predator weapons (including wrist knives, shoulder cannons and throwing discs), an invisible cloak and three types of vision, you can beat the game without using anything other than standard shoulder cannons. The game should have included levels that required the other weapons.

The game doesn’t look bad, but it doesn’t push the PSP’s processing power, either. Many of the levels are dark, and it’s far too easy to get stuck in nooks and crannies while Aliens pummel you from outside your peripheral vision.

A skirmish mode, which can be played solo or with a friend, gives you five minutes to kill as many Aliens as possible, but there’s no real reason to replay the game. The old PC game still offers a more intense and entertaining experience than this movie tie-in.

‘THE GOLDEN COMPASS’

(Sega/Shiny Entertainment) for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, PlayStation 2, PSP, Nintendo DS, PC.

Rated: E

Grade: F

“The Golden Compass” game is the perfect storm of everything that’s wrong with Hollywood and gaming convergence. Publisher Sega recently jumped into Hollywood licensing, and developer Shiny Entertainment created “The Matrix” games, which were commercial hits but critical failures.

“The Golden Compass’” slow and grueling tutorial stretches to more than two hours. Gamers can’t play for more than short bursts of time before the game details more instructions.

Since the game is aimed at children, it shouldn’t take this much effort to explain how to play. In fact, once you get past the forced tutorial, gameplay is rudimentary and boring. The high point is engaging in button-mashing combat when you play polar bear Iorek, who pummels enemies with little effort. The bulk of the game relies on a snail-paced platform crawl as young Lyra Belacqua. (Actress Dakota Blue Richards, who plays Lyra in the film, is the only actor from the movie to lend her voice to the game.)

Although she can turn into four creatures (including a hawk), poor controls won’t entice many to delve too far into this adventure title, which also features annoying mini-games and a convoluted puzzle element using Lyra’s truth-telling alethiometer.

On any console, the game looks as horrible as it plays; the frigid landscapes are barren of any graphical wonder.

‘BEOWULF: THE GAME’

(Ubisoft) for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC.

Rated: M

Grade: C-

Ubisoft’s video game “Beowulf” overlaps with the film’s story but explores the 30-year period glossed over in the original poem and in the film’s screenplay.

Although fans of the movie will want to jump into this gory extension of the mythology, consider renting this game instead of buying. It shows signs of being rushed to release, and gameplay was sacrificed. The result is an adventure that can be more taxing than fun.

The heart of the game is old-fashioned, repetitive button-mashing. Beowulf and his army of thanes (which grows as you become more powerful) hack, slash and rip apart soldiers, monsters and trolls during the game’s eight hours of story. The blood flows freely, but there’s little depth and no replay value. A few variations break up the monotony, including an “action booster,” a rhythm-based game that’s required to move large objects or row a boat around rocks.

Shoddy artificial intelligence makes “Beowulf” challenging, but not in a good way: Your army dies for stupid reasons. If you don’t revive soldiers in time, the game is over. Should Beowulf’s right-hand man, Wiglaf, die, it’s game over. Routinely, the linear game presents divergent paths that stop at dead ends, requiring you to backtrack and find the other way. It’s also easy to get stuck at various points because of poor level design.

Despite its many flaws, the game will attract fans who want to know what happened to Beowulf during those 30 years. This game offers an explanation — it just takes perseverance to make it to the end.

—John Gaudiosi, Washington Post