Asterx at The Olympic Games

Platform:Nintendo Wii

Publisher:Atari

Classification:7+ (PEGI)

Genre: Platform

As a kid, I loved reading Asterix comics. I would happily spend Sunday afternoons reading them. Over the years we have also seen a few animated Asterix movies and some live action movies.

Asterix games have been somewhat ropey in the past and have always left me feeling somewhat disappointed. I thought that this game would be the same. I was wrong.

It would be easy for a game developer to put together a collection of events from the Olympic Games, slap a menu in between the events and be done with it. Developers Etranges Libellules have gone one step further and have padded out the events by putting a story mode between them.

The Story mode is in the form of a 3D platformer, much like Mario and has actually turned out better than many of the Olympic events themselves. The story is based around the fact that Lovestorix needs to win the Olympic Games in order to capture the heart of Princess Irina.

The humour throughout is actually quite funny down to just silly little things like the characters being called fibreoptix and neofrommatrix.

No Asterix comic, movie or game would be complete without a liberal helping of Roman bashing. Believe me when I say that Roman bashing has never been as fun as this. The combat is beautifully executed by using the Wii-mote minimally and by not over complicating the control system. Asterix or Obelix can grab hold of an enemy and can throw him around by shaking the wii-mote.

There is something for everyone available in Asterix at the Olympic Games as the puzzles are not too challenging for the younger audience but are still quite fun for adults.

Generally the graphics are pleasing and everything is bright and colourful, unfortunately though the sound doesn't seem particularly clear and even seems to cut out at times.

Just when I was getting into the game, just when I was rubbing my hands at all the collectibles and rewards I was unlocking, the game ended. I played this game for 4-5 hours one evening and played everything that it had on offer. Such a pity considering that its actually a pretty good game.

SCORE: 7 / 10