Ice Age: Dawn of Dinosaurs review

By Heath Hooker
for GameZone.com

The Ice Age movie hit the theaters many years ago and became one of the first 3D animated movies to become a really big hit. Since then, there have been two other Ice Age movies released including the newest movie Ice Age: Dawn of Dinosaurs. And along with the movie, a game was released with the same name.

Ice Age: Dawn of Dinosaurs for the PlayStation 2 follows extremely close to the storyline of the movie. You will play as all your favorite original characters in the movies along with some new ones. The storyline progresses just like the movie as you take control of different characters to get past each mission or part of the story.

Ice Age: Dawn of Dinosaurs is a mixture of genres. On its basic level, it is a 3D platformer much like many movie-based games that are released. However, this title has some other genres thrown in that give it a different feel and it definitely was successful in providing the player with a unique blending of genres. Most of the game is played as a 3D platformer, but you will also play side-scrolling levels and there are some mini-game type levels incorporated as well giving the player less monotony and a more unique gameplaying experience.

The newest Ice Age game definitely had some things going for it. The graphics were right on par with what people have become to expect from the PS2 and the audio and voice acting are great. Many tracks in the game felt really natural and went well with the levels, and voice acting by the original actors makes for an enjoyable experience when watching and progressing through the story.

But as with many games, there were also some things that don’t work very well in Ice Age: Dawn of Dinosaurs. The main concern you will encounter is the controls on various levels. When trying to fight enemies, you will find that sometimes it is hard to focus on one enemy and fight them. This is especially prevalent when you are using weapons. The weapon aim system is flawed. Sometimes it will work perfectly, while other times you will have to fiddle with it a little bit to get your weapon to shoot where you want or to throw where you want.

Ice Age: Dawn of Dinosaurs is definitely a mixed bag of tricks. Sometimes you will have a ton of fun on the levels, while other levels will bore and frustrate you with control problems. At the very least, this game is a good value for the money and the kids are sure to like it even with the problems. But if you are looking with a little more substance and storyline, this game may not be for you.