Game
Tak and the Power of Juju

Format: PS2
THQ
£34.99

4 005209 053488
Age Restrictions: 3+
Available
now


Set in an ancient, tribal world, you play the part of Tak, a shaman's apprentice. You are on a quest to save your village from a mysterious stranger who practices evil magic (Juju). You must stretch beyond your training and use your wits, environment and the power of the Juju Gods to complete your quest to reinstate peace to the world...

Tak and the Power of Juju is a platform game with extremely impressive production values. The voice characteristics are fantastic and it is no surprise to learn that this was originally designed to be a platform game that could be spun off into a Nickelodeon cartoon series - and it soon will be.

I really loved the way that Tak interacts with the creatures in this game. Want to get to a higher level? Then find an orang-utan and he will bend a banana tree over for you. Climb on the leaves, and as the anthropoid lets go, off you soar into the sky. Or, jump on the back of a rhino and charge into wooden fences to get to other areas. And there are a large collection of weapons to collect, including club, pole vault, blowpipe, spirit rattle and explosive eggs.

This game also has a great sense of humour. The cut scenes are very funny - although too few and far between. And it's great fun to run around doing pointless things like beating the living daylights out of sheep and chickens.

But once you've played it for an hour or two, the cracks start to show. This game is really aimed at the younger generation. Running around the all too repetitive environments becomes a little dull after a while. And, when you are knocked out, you often rematerialise in a completely unfamiliar area. It may only be just around the corner from where you were, but this can be very disorienting.

It looks good, plays well and I know I should give it a higher mark than I'm going to. It's just that it feels a little too repetitive, which is not a good thing when the platform game market is already bursting at the seams with games that are much better than this (Ratchet & Clank and Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy for example).

Platform addicts will lap this up, but more diverse players will want a little more variety.

Nick Smithson


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