King Kong is a movie game so skip it right? Well maybe not the case with this one.
King Kong is what I consider a first person adventure. It's got the first person view but there isn't as much action as in a normal FPS. The controls are standard FPS fare and won't take long getting used too. When you play as Kong though it goes out to a third person view. They did a great job with the HUD. There isn't one! No but seriously they were creative in how they did this, whenever you want to know how much ammo you have you just press X and Jack will say how much, there is no life meter just when the screen begins flashing you better not get hurt and recharge, and there isn't a cursor so if you need to aim you actually have to use the scope or gun, really brings you into the experience. The Kong parts however aren't very polished, it just consists of pressing buttons to do your aerobatics, which looks very cool and mashing them in fights.
The AI all around is terrible, your allies will just stand around some times and won't fend for themselves or get stuck behind something and turn out completely useless, as will some enemies which for some reason you then can't kill and have to restart. However you can interact with your allies by talking to them or trading weapons with them. the one part where the AI is really clever is in the food chain aspect of the island. Let's say you're in an area with birds and a raptor, if you kill a bird then the raptor instead of going after you will get the easy food and make it easier to kill him. Also if kill something, its scent will draw other creatures.
The game has a ton of missions but they are very short, some only about a minute while at least one all you do is move. This makes it to where it's not a total slog and you feel rewarded quickly and keep on going. The missions however are very repititve, in most you'll have to find a stick to put in a lever which then in turn opens up a door and allows you to pass. The biggest complaint about the game though is that it's just too short. You'll be able to beat the game in one sitting easily.
The graphics of the game aren't that good. This was a launch title after all. In most places the graphics look last-gen, such as the water and most textures, but in others it looks good, like the textures when wet. The character models are okay they're just in between good and great.
The musical score is easily the best part. The music is a completely orchestrated and adds so much to the atmosphere. when there's a V-rex in the room the music just comes in and adds so much to the experience. The voice overs are very well done and have the cast of the movie, even Jack Black.
There are a few unlockables such as some art galleries and an alternate ending. To get most of them you'll have to replay the levels and this time get a score of them so this adds a little to the replayability but it's not a big deal or really worth all the time. The achievements in this game are the easiest of any game on the 360. For some this will be aggravating but for most it'll be a good way to boost your Gamerscore. Overall the game has a few great ideas with a last-gen application and the game is just too short.