Cartoon Network has had more misses than hits when it comes to video game publishers adapting their cartoons. Samurai Jack had a fair debut on the PS2 and Ben 10 Alien Force: Vilgax Attacks served its purpose with entertainment value in 2009. On the other hand, almost every other cartoon was a bump in the road with poor results, including Ed, Edd n Eddy, Codename: Kids Next Door, Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi, and many others. With Ben 10 Alien Force: Rise of Hex, the channel has manufactured yet another disappointing video game adaptation.
As a 2D platformer, Rise of Hex asks players to constantly backtrack to solve tedious puzzles while changing forms to reach new areas. It’s a monotonous affair that doesn’t serve enough love and entertainment to its loyal fans. Lacking action, a true storyline, and visual flairs, Ben 10: Rise of Hex is a real head-scratcher. What purpose does it serve?
Allowing players to transform into a variety of aliens such as Echo Echo, Swampfire, Jetray, Humungousaur, Brainstorm, Spidermonkey, Big Chill, Chromastone and a couple others, Rise of Hex definitely had potential. Each alien offers a unique play style that is required to advance through each level. From Humungousar’s ability to pick up heavy objects to Spidermonkey’s grappling web, each alien is necessary to overcome the odds and solve the puzzles. What’s disturbing is that the developer decided to remove the ability to transform into them all at the start of the game with the simple reason being that Ben’s Omnitrix (wrist device that allows transformations) malfunctioning. Throughout the game, the aliens magically appear back with no rhyme or reason as to why they have returned, besides reaching the next platform.
The action in Rise of Hex is nil to none with only extremely few enemy types, drastically underwhelming melee combat, and unimpressive projectile attacks. Also, if players and fans are expecting exciting boss fights (three in total), they best look elsewhere. The final boss fight with Hex is as second-rate as they come, but then again, after looking through the rogues’ gallery of Ben 10, Hex never stood out as one of the premiere villains – especially since his story throughout Rise of Hex is as minimal as the action.
For individuals who require beautiful looking graphics for their platformers, they’ll once again find Rise of Hex substandard. The 2D characters, level environments and design, and animations are terrible beyond belief. In addition to all of these issues, Rise of Hex doesn’t offer a simple difficulty, but one that spikes all over the place with insane leaps and atrocious level design. Falling to their death, players may end up becoming frustrated and quitting before the end of the three to five hours of torture.
Ben 10 Alien Force: Rise of Hex is as unsettling as a platformer can come. The generic levels and music don’t aid in improving the experience. The alien transformations all have something odd and almost game-breaking to them (Humungousaur’s special attack takes way too much damage throughout the animation). If the horrible gameplay doesn’t scare away players, the strange spikes in difficulty midway through will. There are better platformers and Ben 10 games currently on the market, and I suggest opting to purchase one of those before ever considering Ben 10 Alien Force: Rise of Hex.
