His Review with Ian

It’s July 1940 and in the previous two years all manner of superheroes with incredible powers have landed on planet earth, from Superman and Batman, to Sandman, Human Torch and The Spectre. I know who’s missing from that famed rostra; a little green man with a magic light and fancy ring called The Green Lantern.

Playing as gifted pilot Harold (Hal) Jordan, you’re the first human Green Lantern and can create a big ole armoury of magical ring constructs (no smirking at the back) whilst flying in outer space trying to restore intergalactic order and laying waste to those Manhunters – a not so wicked robot race who’re hell bent on destroying the Green Lantern Corps.

The opening levels are an authentic replica of the films visual style and environment, the detailed textured rendering of the rocks with their shadows shows some talented lighting design. It throws you right in at the beginning with high quality and immersive future cityscapes that are straight out of camp DC and will please fans of the comic book style. But then you meet the Manhunters... who’re meant to be the guardians of the world and the most feared warriors in the galaxy, but who actually spend a lot of their time hovering about on fancy boards and shooting you from afar rather than clashing up close for some mighty, melee action.

The Manhunters are the central enemies throughout the game and are the main reason why I completed the game in a little less than six hours. They posed so little threat; they were mere inconveniences on my guided tour of the galaxy to flex and exercise my weapons.
One or two swipes of your sword and they fall faster than a shuttle on re-entry and once you start unlocking your weapon constructs (my personal favourites being the Mace Storm and Missile Pack taking care of close contact and ranged attacks) and enhancements they might as well be holograms. Even some of the larger end of section baddies take only two or three minutes to wipe clean, though some of the finishing moves – a mixture of ripsaws, anvils and high end artillery – are particularly satisfying.

I know some games can be completed quickly whilst others take days - I had just completed Bioshock 2 earlier on in the day after 22 hours but this opens up the whole debate again of value for money, cost per hour, is it worth the outlay etc. Does it have enough different content for multiple playthroughs? For me, Green Lantern doesn’t.

The ten levels have good variety; alongside the action platforming, there are flying/dodging levels which provide a decent alternative and a chance to play on a different plane. But it’s those pesky camera angles...I call on all video game developers to justify their use of what I call “the bum nudging camera view”, where you can’t see behind you or control the camera to see a full 360 view. It really spoils the experience of the game and when you play co-op it’s even worse. There’s no split screen, so if you want to go in different directions, you get stuck at the edge of the screen. Hrrmph. There were some lazy cut scenes in co-op as well where although there are two of you playing, the cut scenes show just Hal in action.

If there had been more levels and had been harder, then this could have been a cracking game from Double Helix (creators of GI Joe: Rise of the Cobra in 2009) and raised it above the other bad multi-platform film/game tie-ins out this summer. I’m looking at you Thor; I’m really looking at you. It’s extremely well voiced with superior acting as you’d expect from Mr Ryan Reynolds as Hal and Kevin Michael Richardson as Kilowog. The score is lush, evocative and fits perfectly within the sci-fi cityscapes and intergalactic territories. All in all, I was quite happily immersed for the small hours I was involved with the Green Lantern, I just wanted more.

Her Review with Tracey

Firstly, this isn’t another poor movie tie-in (sighs of relief from gamers everywhere, especially those who had the misfortune of playing Thor – although if you did play Thor, we’ve no pity for you, did you not read out review/warning?). In a smart move to keep Green Lantern comic, movie and game fans happy, as the title suggests the video game story is different to that of the movie, due for release later this week that will see Ryan Reynolds as cocky pilot Hal Jordan squeezing himself into his perky green jumpsuit, adorning himself with a chunky green ring and taking up the fight against the supervillan Parallax. Good luck to him!

For the game, we still have the likeness and voice of Mr. Reynolds and his suit looks just as tight. Armed with the amazing power ring charged by will, the main threat is from the android race of corrupted interstellar police, The Manhunters. Exiled when they took their own mantra of “No one escapes the Manhunters” a little bit too far, acting as judge, juror and executioner whilst wiping out all life in Space Sector 666, they’re now solely bent on destroying the Green Lantern Corps, believing them to be totally evil. As evil guys go, they are relentless and repetitive but as Ian says, don’t ever pose that much of a challenge. Sure, they’re big, they have authoritatively menacing monotone computer voices, they’re made of metal and stuff and can throw black holes but Hal has a super cool missile launcher, jet plane, mecha suit, spinning razor blades and a grabber thingy. Okay so the last one doesn’t sounds do fancy but it’s great in co-op where you can latch on to something and have your buddy hit it out of the park with a giant baseball bat! The weapons on offer are crazy good (think big green fun) and there are some impressive actions to match. Though here I found cause to grumble; swing your massive blade around and be prepared that you’ll have to fully carry out a dazzling but completely unnecessary action before you can carry on the battle. Even as you crack open pots, you carry on smashing long after the pot has disintegrated and there’s a new wave of Manhunters on your back. Stop showing off and get fighting when I want you to Hal! Maybe it’s a nod to Hal’s cocksure personality that he thinks he can muck about, elaborating and sleekly jumping around whilst all hell breaks loose around him but it makes me so mad! There’s a flying level but he twists about with the slightest touch and it can all get a bit hairy with asteroids and craggy rocks to avoid as shots fired at you.I guess I should admit now, I’m not a huge Green Lantern fan. I always felt that compared to other super heroes he was one of the least interesting – he needs a lantern AND a ring to be super whereas Superman was born super and as much as I love accessories, a talking ring that feeds off emotion just doesn't thrill me. This isn’t so much a hate rant as a bit of a grumble as there are plenty of things to enjoy here.

It looks amazing with great light, dark and shade. The landscapes are a beautiful blend of towering galactic skyscrapers against pastel starry skies (with the option of enjoying in 3D if you have a fancy telly) whilst Hal as the first human Green Lantern is authentic and strangely, rather charming. Overall it’s easy to progress through the undemanding yet varied levels and perhaps I would have been more forgiving if it had been longer, or more responsive or if I’d been competent in the ways of the violet emotional spectrum but don’t let my niggles put you off. Underneath is a happy homage to all things green.

Green Lantern Rise of the Manhunters is available now on Xbox 360, PS3, PSP, Wii, Nintendo DS and Nintendo 3DS.