Kong Tips

Humongous crabs, Peter Jackson's King Kong™ The Official Game of the Movie is out for Xbox™ and Xbox 360™, and in many ways is unlike almost any first person game ever published. King Kong does away with any Heads Up Display to allow for a more personal experience, so every bit of gameplay and design is meant to be intuitive.

That said, there are a number of pointers to keep in mind to help ease you into the experience. Keep the following tips in mind to get you started out right.

Looking lush.

Listen Carefully
The name of the game in King Kong is immersion. Everything from a game design standpoint is done with that goal in mind, so onscreen UI flashing objectives isn't going to be a part of the experience. In order to avoid confusion, make absolutely sure you pay attention to what your comrades are saying. They will clue you into what the next objective is. This goes for sight, and not just sound to. If you get turned around and aren't sure where to go, just look for your buddies. They will guide the way.

Don't Aim too Fine
While King Kong is definitely a first person game, it is not a twitch shooter like Halo® 2 or Perfect Dark Zero™. Aiming is important, but pixel perfect aim is not required. Don't try to put too fine a point on it, just look at your target and let loose. The game won't punish you for imperfect aim.

The bone piles littered throughout the game offer up an endless supply of spears, so even when they're picked clean, keep pulling the right trigger, and you'll grab one instantly.

When in Doubt, Burn it
Though it would be giving up too much to mention specifics remember that fire is your friend. It's helpful for all manner of different puzzles, and can even neutralize several enemies throughout your travels. Even when you don't need to burn down brambles, it's a good idea to do it if you can. So if you appear to be stumped, or know that there's something lurking in the brush waiting for you, try to find a way to use fire as your ally.

Note also, that you'll often not have any direct way of lighting a spear on fire when trying to get beyond some impassable brambles. Look for a flaming-skull torch bracket perched somewhere above the brush when this happens. If you can tag the skull-torch with a spear, you'll cause it to drop and light the brush on fire.

Endless Spears
The bone piles littered throughout the game offer up an endless supply of spears, so even when they're picked clean, keep pulling the right trigger, and you'll grab one instantly. Also, you can grab used spears from the bodies of your fallen prey.

Setting the mood.

Lure Them In
You'll often find larvae or other little critters that seem to be hanging around. When you see them, you can bet that there are enemies somewhere close that can be lured away by tossing these "prey" creatures. You can tag one with a spear (pull right trigger to stab it), and then toss the spear away from yourself to tempt enemies in the other direction. Any time you can avoid combat, do so. Neither Jack nor his comrades can take much damage, so it's much better to just avoid the risk.

Remember the Goal
Much like using prey to lure enemies away from you and avoid combat, remember that it's not always necessary to kill every enemy. You're not going to fell a dinosaur with a pistol, so make sure you use spears when trying to distract—not kills—a large enemy. If you don't have any choice, only shoot the enemy when they're about to attack one of your friends. Don't be overzealous and waste ammo needlessly. Also, the goal is to distract them from your friends, not necessarily attract them to you (sometimes one bite is all it takes to kill you).

All screenshots are taken from Xbox 360 version of the game.

Article by Alex McLain