Ben 10 Protector of Earth Game

DESCRIPTION

The Ben 10 Protector Of The Earth Game is available for the DS, PS2, Wii and PSP. An inter-dimensional crisis threatens to swallow the Earth into limitless darkness and Ben Tennyson suddenly finds that his alien powers have been stolen. As Ben and his family set out to recapture the source of his amazing abilities, they encounter armies of otherworldly minions and uncover a plot to suck the Earth into the Null Void. Now you can join the Tennysons on an adventure across the United States to recover the lost pieces of the Omnitrix while battling villains from the show, including Kevin 11, Dr. Animo and more. In this time of chaos, it's up to you to find some answers and save the Earth from ultimate destruction!

REVIEW

Popular with 5-12 year old Ben 10 fans, this "beat-em-up" platform game sees children charging about the screen as Ben 10, transforming from one alien form to another to defeat the villains that approach. The Omnitrix loses power when Ben is in alien form and he cannot transform when the power is all used up until the Omnitrix recharges. The recharge is quick but part of the game play involves choosing wisely when transforming between aliens to ensure you pick the right one for each battle or manoeuvre. This is great for encouraging children to solve problems based on the individual abilities of each character. When you defeat each villain you are rewarded with alien upgrades and you collect Sumo Slammer cards to unlock content and new alien forms. Vilgax is the toughest to defeat as any Ben 10 fan would expect.

This game is fun, fun, fun. It is fairly easy to play with easy to follow levels, challenging but no too much so that you get bored of trying. After the initial learning curve you will have mastered how each alien moves and in which order to do things. There is great sound and a brilliant story line with something new in each level to keep children excited. For an older addicted gamer it may not take many days to complete as it is not a never ending game you will still be tacking in years to come. Although the game length is short it has a quality feel and say for a six year old offers a few weeks of entertainment.

The game includes an interesting co-operative gameplay mode where anyone can join in. It seems two Bens are better than one! Each player will play one of the Bens with each having the ability to transform into one of the aliens. The two player mode encourages social skills as the players use strategy and team work to cooperatively defeat the villains. The second player can also leave the game without stopping the game for player one so this game is ideal for play between children of different skill levels, perhaps older and younger siblings.

Another plus point for younger players is the fact that when Ben 10 "runs out of life" he starts again from where he left off so you do not have to go back to the beginning to start again as you do with so many games. Do some bonding with your child - this game is easy enough for adults to pick up quickly but hard enough to keep your interest!

On the downside you only get 5 out of the 10 aliens to play as. You start with Four Arms and Heatblast and have to unlock the other three. This does follow the story line of having to defeat the villains who have stolen the parts of the Omnitrix to seize them back and re-enable the transformations into XLR8, Cannonbolt and Wildvine. The controls can be tricky to master initially and some of the villains do take some effort to defeat but it would not be very interesting otherwise. Perseverance, as with most of these games, reaps rewards. Handy on screen hints appear at various times so the game will be less suitable for the younger fans who perhaps cannot yet read. Younger players may also get frustrated that they cannot unlock all of the aliens (well at least the five the game includes) at the start. If anything else lets it down it would be the graphics which is basic.

Overall the feedback on this Ben 10 Protecter Of The Earth game is that it is a "must have" for any Ben 10 fan. It is not the hardest game available but by combining action and aliens it is fun, fun, fun.