A Monster of a Story

Everyone, young and old alike, is familiar with the classic story of heartbreak that is King Kong. Kong, the massive ape from Skull Island, is captured by enthusiastic filmmaker Carl Denham, while Denham and crew are at the island shooting a movie. It's during the shoot that Kong falls in love with lead actress Ann Darrow. The creature is eventually brought to New York City, where Denham displays him like a caged animal in a cheap attempt at fame. Kong eventually escapes his shackles and the Navy is subsequently called him to kill him before he can hurt anyone. In an attempt to protect Ann Darrow, the ape grabs her and climbs to the top of the Empire State Building, where he is eventually shot down by Navy airplanes and falls to his death.

It is here that Carl Denham remarks "It was beauty killed the beast."

Of course, we all know that Kong wasn't that bad of a guy. While is why it's easy to root for him and what got me interested in this game in the first place. Lucky for me, it's as fun as Kong is hairy.

Sit Right Back and You'll Hear a Tale

Instead of trying to fit the gameplay in with the story, it simply tells the story along with the gameplay. In "Discover the Storyteller's Tale", one of the main game modes, you get pieces of the story in between rounds. The actual gameplay isn't significant to the story; you aren't assembling ancient artifacts or anything cheesy like that. It works really well this way. Too often games try to incorporate the actual play time into the story in some fashion, and it usually comes off as ridiculous or just plaing silly. Here, however, the story is just an incentive to keep playing and playing is just an incentive to hearing more of the wonderful story.

In the second game mode, Reveal Denham's Sketchbook, you complete levels to unlock more drawings from the filmmaker's sketchbook. The core game mechanics work the same here. It's a really nice little suplement to the main game.

If the Piece Fits...

The style of gameplay in King Kong is one that should be immediately recognizable to avid gamers. you're given a grid, sectioned off into squares. You're also given pieces of various shapes and sizes that you must fit into the grid. Once you fill it up, you win the round.

There are also various objects to help you along your way. The filler tool will automatically fill any square, while the smasher tool with smash any already set piece, making room for a different piece. Of course, you have limited numbers of both of these pieces.

The pieces (or gems, as they appear to be) scroll in from the top left corner on a conveyor. If they reach the bottom right corner, you lose. To help avoid this, there is a sacrifice pit that you can drop unusable pieces in. However, you can only drop a piece in once every so often, so beware.

An Unstoppable Force

King Kong is a monster of a game, just like the primate it takes its name after.