Green Lantern: Rise of the Manhunters

Originally written 9-26-11

The Guardians of the Universe once created a group of robotic intergalactic policemen called the Manhunters. They proved to be too violent and weren't easy to control. As a result, they were exiled, and the Guardians decided to form another force called the Green Lantern Corp. Now, the Manhunters have returned and are seeking revenge by beginning a full scale war with the Guardians and the Green Lanterns. Newest Green Lantern from Earth, Hal Jordan, joins the fight and assists his new comrades in battle against the Manhunters. -summary

Movies to video games are forever looked down upon for a reason; they usually suck, and they sometimes suck very bad to the point of not even really being playable. This is usually due to the lack of effort since they're made only to cash in on the movie while it's in theaters. However, these games have actually been quite surprising lately. I recently played Captain America: Super Soldier, and although it wasn't special, it was far away from a very bad game. It was actually pretty decent to be honest. This brings me to another very solid movie to game translation Green Lantern: Rise of the Manhunters, which is based on the movie Green Lantern. Could we be witnessing a change in the guard? Now, I'm not saying this is an awesome game, or even a must play, but I found it to be an entertaining, and at times, a challenging experience. This is not a bad game to check out in between release dates of those hyped up blockbusters.

Game Play:

Green Lantern: Rise of the Manhunters is a third person action game that heavily uses the God of War playing style, it almost feels like a clone, and personally, it doesn't really bother me because I don't mind more God of War. In fact, Green Lantern focuses a little more on the action by forsaking the truly over the top puzzles found in the aforementioned game, in which many folks actually faulted God of War for that. There aren't any cheap one shot deaths in this game and it follows a rather linear path. There are occasions where the little puzzle will come into play, but these are easily disposed of and it's right back to the action on most occasions.

The action is the selling point and Hal Jordan begins with a combo and abilities that needs to be upgraded. I really enjoyed how his powers are fully used. Hal battles using his ring by forming "constructs" just like in the comic to defeat opponents in different ways, and this helps rack up points which can be used to purchase other constructs. His abilities enhance the gaming experience and seriously adds to the fun. His base attack is a melee combo, but his ring can also fire burst of energy, and it can be charged up for a stronger shot. The constructs consist of things such as mini guns, over-sized baseball bats, pistons, and other things. Besides the health gauge and the power gauge for the constructs, there's also another gauge called the "Ring Surge" which acts as a rage meter. When this is full, Hal can use the constructs non stop until the meter is completely depleted. There are some fun moments with some of the weapons such as the bat, which obviously allows the player to swat back certain attacks to the sender.

The enemies are many and the AI puts to work the numbers game quickly. Unlike other games, the enemies aren't the usual dumb grunts. There's Manhunters with different tactics and powers; some of them focus on creating distance and only attacking with projectiles which can be very annoying, especially when they appear during boss battles. Some characters attack on hover bikes with great speed and amazing dodging ability, plus there are larger robots that deal out serious damage. The enemies change in the later stages when Hal lands on a planet which deals with a female race of beings lead by a woman named Queen A'ga Po, and her race is pretty aggressive as well.

The highlight concerning the enemies for me happens to be the boss battles. At first, they're fairly easy, but by the time the player reaches A'ga Po's world, the boss battles become more intense, and button mashing along with the war of attrition method will get you killed over and over. These battles require patience and learning specific attacks. Expect to die quite a bit during these battles.

The game also uses Quick Time Events to finish off the enemy, and this is the only way to end certain boss battles. However, against some regular enemies they can be defeated without this; but it is recommended to beat them during this segment since this will reward you with more points. Plus these segments look really cool.

The game has an automatic save feature which works pretty good. The player doesn't have to do an entire stage after dying, and the best part is that during boss battles, in which a boss may have multiple forms, you don't have to begin the fight at the very beginning. If you're killed in the final form, then that's where you start at with full power.

A majority of the game is on foot, however, there's three stages I believe that take place during flight. These stages are very unimaginative and it's actually among the games issues. It's very difficult to aim during these battles, and you'll just find yourself blasting, dodging, and just hoping for the end already. Thankfully, these stages are cut short but could have been shorter.

The linear format is an issue in a way as well, because the game really isn't that free-roaming and everything is spelled out for you. There's the occasional breaking a wall for that hidden object, other than that the game is cut and dry.

The plot follows Hal through ten stages as he completes missions against the Manhunters. There are plot twist present when the Manhunters gain access to the Yellow Element, which happens to be a power source that is the Green Lantern's weakness, and this is actually used against Hal on certain stages. Fans of the comic will piece things together rather quickly, and the story may not be very gripping for them.

The game is two player co-op with the second player being able to play only as Sinestro. There's no difference between the two and the game doesn't feature on-line play. I beat the game solo but not on two player, so I don't know if there's any real difference.

Controls:

Although the controls are very responsive there is a learning curve though. Every button does something, and the L2 and R2 buttons must be held when accessing specific constructs. The constructs are activated during the pause menu, and the player must choose which construct they want for a specific button press. Therefore, there's a total of eight constructs that can be used on the fly. Accessing them is not hard at all, it's trying to remember where you put what in the heat of battle. This is more the fault of the player and not the game, and it just requires getting your own technique down. The flying missions are kind of annoying here, because it features that reverse set up where you have to press down to go up and vice versa. I always found that annoying, and to make it worse, it's pretty aggravating when trying to get quicker targets between the crosshairs.

Graphics/Music/Sound:

The visuals are decent enough and the 3D is well used. I enjoyed the backgrounds made up of futuristic looking towers, and some stages show off laser fire in the backgrounds with dead Green Lantern's rings ascending into the sky. Some of the battles take place on the outside under the moonlight, and some underground in dark caverns and even in metallic fortresses. The animation is very well on point, and the QTE's were never boring.

The flying stages are indeed dull, but at least they're very pretty to look at and they run at a really smooth frame rate. The 3D is used better here, and at least one of these stages take place in space and it just looks really good. The character designs don't contain much variety in the robots or the female race. However, what is present does look good.

I barely noticed the soundtrack at times. On some occasions there was no music, but when there was, it really didn't move me. Now the BGM during some of the boss battles caught the epic feel and I enjoyed some of those. The sound effects deserve a good mention. There was some attention to detail here, with the cracking sound of the bat when swatting opponents out of your way. As well as machine gun fire of the gatling gun, and clanging metal sound when the pistons are smashing against the robots metallic bodies. There are several character interactions and I found the voice acting to be pretty good. Ryan Reynolds plays Green Lantern here as well, but for some reason I think he's overshadowed by the rest of the cast. I liked Olivia d' Abo as Queen A'ga Po and Martan Csokas as Sinestro a lot more.

Overall:

Personally, I don't feel the game has much or even any replay value. I haven't had the feel to bother with it since I finished it. I didn't think it was too easy or too difficult. I found every thing and unlocked all the constructs in my first go through. I'm not sure if you can go back to earlier stages because I never had the feel to do so. I only recommend this to very serious gamers who must play them all, fans of the character, and fans of superhero games.

Rating: 5/10

Pros: Visuals, Cool boss battles

Cons: No replay value, a little too simple