So, the kids begged you to go see Rango. You went, you paid, and you enjoyed.  Now the kids want to play Rango, but you don’t want to spend more money on the cowboy lizard from the town of Dirt. Well I am here to tell you that you should. Not only was the movie fun for children and adults, but the game is as well. So go grab a sarsaparilla, kick your boots up and I will tell ya a bit about it.

First off let me get the normal action-adventure gripes that everyone has, but they need to be said out of the way. The camera is sometimes the hardest enemy in the game. There I said it, not earth shattering news, but it’s out there. Paramount Digital Entertainment, Behaviour Interactive, and Electronic Arts have done an amazing job keeping you in the story, as well as bringing good character presents into the game without it taking away from the fun and excitement of the game.

Normally movie games come off as rushed and a severe lack in detail, I was skeptical at first, but the game is very well polished. The environments that Rango travels through are very well done and do not come across as just a flat backdrop that scrolls. Instead the environment really immerses you by portraying the height as you peer over a cliff, or reminds you that you are a tiny lizard. This is cleverly done and I didn’t catch it at first, for example huge gates are made of sharpened pencils.  You also blaze through the desert on your trusty steed; a road runner. As well as fly though the painted sky on a bat. 

The Characters you meet in the game only add to the enjoyment, they aren’t drone like filler that just sit there and do nothing. They add to the story as well as make you laugh. You meet many different dirtonians on your adventures, but none will give you a chuckle more than the mariachi birds. These birds show up throughout the game and serenade you with a tune or chirp you some advice. I also really enjoyed the one special level that really drove home the outreach to the adult audience.  Besides the sarcasm of the game as well as some veiled jokes for adults, there was one level that won me over. I don’t want to give it away of spoil anything but let’s just say it’s tough for a chameleon to make it through bat country.

With the audio in the game, I found myself turning up the surround sound system to catch all the subtle things that have been added to add that final extra bit of polish to really stand out above other movie games. I heard everything… the dust blowing around, bullets whizzing by my head, the electricity flowing though the staples in the walls. The sounds were also deep and rich, not some thin flat background noise. The best example of great sound engineering is smashing a box. I really felt like I was splintering those things and earning my stars. 

Gameplay is simple and easy to get the hang of. For the older gamers this is your basic action-adventure control lay out and will probably feel extremely natural as well as feeling crisp. There is no lag or sluggishness between controller and action. For the up and coming gamers of the house there are great on screen tutorials that not only show you what button to press and what it does but also shows an image of  the button that needs to be pressed.  Rango doesn’t re-invent the wheel by any stretch of the imagination. It’s an action-adventure game that uses the same tried and true formula. What Rango does do is raise the bar for movie based games, as well as put a nice polish on all the aspects of the game as well as sucking the player in the town of Dirt.

Inside the game you will find yourself battling to find all the pieces of the stone as your primary objective, but you have side missions as well. You can scour the levels to find mines and goldfish, as well as stars. Stars are the currency of Dirt and are used to level up Rango’s different abilities.  I really enjoyed solving the puzzles to find the hidden mines, goldfish, and stars. You also get to guide bullets…GOLDEN BULLETS around obstacles, and the environment. You have to hit a series of targets with the golden bullet to trigger an action to move forward in the story. 

Overall this game is well put together and is a good addition to your consoles library. Replay value for the older gamer is probably low, but the gamers in training will be tied up for a long time. Rango is available for Playstation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, and Nintendo DS. Rango is rated E for the DS, and E10+ for the other consoles. The game is available in all retail outlets now.

4 out of 5 widows