This was one of the hardest reviews to write and I ended up re-writing it more than a few times. I wanted so much to be able to report that this was one of Disney’s finest but unfortunately it did not turn out that way. With all the hype of the movie, I expected this to be one of the best games when it came to strategy and graphics, on the market today. It is an okay game but even that is disappointing.

Milo Thatch is on a search and that search is for the lost city of Atlantis, a search that he inherited from his father. This is the premise of the game and your mission is to help him ward off anyone who gets in his way, which is where the true game begins and unfortunately seems to end.  Your submarine the Ulysses is sinking fast and your only hope to save yourself and your chance at the discover of Atlantis, is to reach your life pod. To do this you must reach a power switch to open the pods and bail ship, so to speak. I have to admit that since the sub was being attacked by what I call a giant sea creature, I expected a sense of urgency. Unfortunately, it did not seem that vital that I escape, as there were really no challenges I had to meet to finish the job. I gave this to my youngest daughter to see if I was perhaps missing something, but she completed the job in a matter of minutes and wondered why it seemed so simple. Out of the mouths of babes!

Now all challenge games must have enemies and this one gives them to us in the form of Leviathans, who seem to be a little tired of fending you off. Any game which calls for you to challenge your skills, as a shooter, needs to have the opponents true opponents and not ones which seem to be cut out of the “the gang who couldn’t shoot gang”. I never incurred any shots to myself, and my daughter only once. While I applaud the attempt at low violence, unfortunately the result became disinterest.  A medium point would have been nice here. The game seems to underestimate the attention span of this age group as well as their ability to accept a real challenge and play it out.

The rest of the game is pretty much the same. Fighting off the bad guys as you work your way up level by level. The only problem is that none of the levels last long enough to give you a sense of neither achievement nor interest to go on to the other. One of those games which seems to last far too long, yet when played not long enough!  

Install: Easy
Installation of one CD. Note here: Make sure that your computer has the right requirements and is fast enough to carry the game.

Gameplay: 6.7
Ages 8-10 may find this game challenging enough, yet if they go to the movie first they may be disappointed in the way it was developed. Slow and very little challenge.

Graphics: 6.2
As one who owns over a few dozen Disney games, the use of graphics really confused me. I expected a lot of glitz and glamour, which the company is well but both were sadly missing. Very dark and little to none when it came to precise detail of villains or hero. The tone seemed much too somber for the genre.

Sound: 7.8
I enjoyed the characters voice-overs but unfortunately that was about all I can say about the sound. I expected a lot more in-depth sound when it came to creatures and other known water sounds, which are readily found in other games of this genre. So much more could have been done in this area but was not.

Difficulty: 6.1
The difficulty is just not there at any of the levels. As I always say, what I may not enjoy may be another gamer’s joy, so I try to find the pros and cons for each game I review. The difficulty though is just not intense enough to keep a gamer of any age going

Concept: 6.0
First shooter games have been around for years now, but this game does not take advantage of the newest in technology to make it stand apart from any others of its genre.

Multiplayer: 6.0
Usually when a game has a Multiplayer option it adds to the total game itself. Multiplayer in this case however, does not lend any more challenge but seems instead to drag the game.

Overall: 6.2
With all the commercials of the movie itself, I was more than a little looking forward to this game. I expected it to be one of the best new games on the market as a lot of games, which are based on movies, are. Instead though, I found a game, which seems to be half hearted in nature and although cute in parts, not near challenging enough for the younger set of gamers. Perhaps the next Disney game out will be faster paced for the young and young at heart!