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3DS

North America

Combat of Giants: Dinosaurs 3D

by Josh Max - April 21, 2011, 5:19 pm EDT
Total comments: 4

5

It's dinosaurs fighting. What more do you want?!

Let me start this review by saying this: Combat of Giants: Dinosaurs 3D has an amazing concept. Let’s follow the thought process that probably led to this game’s creation: “You know what’s awesome? Dinosaurs. What’s more awesome than that? A bunch of dinosaurs fighting each other to decide the fate of the world!” This is the basic premise of Combat of Giants: Dinosaurs 3D. Unfortunately, just having an awesome concept doesn’t make Combat of Giants: Dinosaurs 3D an awesome game.

This 3DS launch title from Ubisoft is fun, but nothing groundbreaking or worthwhile. In this game, you must fight an evil overlord dinosaur by utilizing four different classes of Mesozoic saurians: Chargers, Predators, Defenders and Hunters (aren’t Hunters and Predators…synonymous?). Each of these classes has at least five different dinosaurs to choose from and you can further customize your choice from there: I made a pink and black Velociraptor with stripes (I’ll get to him later). The customization is fun, though a lot of it has to be unlocked through the game. This limits how much fun you can have with it—an unfortunate oversight, since customization is one of the most fun parts of the game.



The game is too easy. Each battle is determined by how well you can predict an oncoming attack, and each dinosaur only has two attacks. The ability to predict the opposing moves becomes easier and easier over time as you replay each level with a different dinosaur. Eventually it all becomes second nature and you breeze through entire levels in minutes. 

Remember that pink and black Velociraptor? His name is Steve, and he is the best dinosaur ever. Using Steve was the most fun I had with the game, though I only used him for about 20 minutes. I know the game is aimed more towards kids, especially when you fight broccoli (yes, you fight a giant piece of broccoli named Brocco Lee), but even a kid could beat the game within a few hours. Not to say this dino-game isn’t fun; watching Steve rip through a Stegosaurus like piranhas through a cow was insanely entertaining, but even that becomes mundane after seeing it five times in a row. After going through the game with each of the four classes, you eventually reach the final boss, which is challenging, but too little too late—just when the game becomes challenging, it ends, which was kind of a bummer.



Once you completely beat the game, there’s absolutely no reason to replay it, because you’ve already won with each of the four classes of characters for at least 20 battles each. Because there’s not much difference between the dinosaurs in each class, there’s not much reason to continue playing the game. Even the animations, which are really fun to see, get repetitive. If there were different animations or secret victory cries, I might have given the game another go. But alas, there was nothing to be gained.

Now, one thing I’m split on is the 3D (this is a 3DS game, after all). The 3D really shines when you’re walking around the different environments. The waterfalls and mountains add so much depth to the game, but these shots are far and few between. Sadly, the 3D effect doesn’t really add much to the actual fighting. Basically, the only time you get to enjoy it is when you’re staring at the back of your dinosaur while walking around from fight to fight.



All in all, the game’s okay, but feels thrown together. It’s a lot of fun to see that ancient rivalry between Triceratops and Tyrannosaurus play out, but after seeing the same fight over and over again, the game quickly loses its appeal. Combat of the Giants: Dinosaurs 3D has an amazing concept but, unfortunately, fell short of its potential.

Summary

Pros
  • Customizing dinosaurs is a lot of fun
  • Easy to pick up and play
  • Giant fighting dinosaurs! Need I say more?
Cons
  • Could have done more with 3D
  • No replay value to speak of
  • Too easy to beat

Talkback

Flames_of_chaosLukasz Balicki, Staff AlumnusApril 21, 2011

I have a feeling that this game made Zach cry.

JasonMaiviaApril 21, 2011

With Zach at the helm, the review *may* come out too positive, with his LOVE for dinosaurs.
I'm kidding.  Zach is a reliable reviewer.


Josh has done a fine job here.  When any game becomes too easy (or hard), I'd start thinking, "why wasn't there some way to make adjustments for a more challenging, and more enjoyable, game?


But as he said, it was fun.  It'll be nice to have an improved sequel in the future even if it's not 100% tied to the franchise, like the AKI wrestling games on N64 (WCW, WWF, New Japan, All Japan, etc.).

Actually, one look at that "Albertosaurus" makes me want to crush a skull.

Josh is actually sending me this game so I can second-opinion it. Expect lots of tears.

ShyGuyApril 22, 2011

Can you even watch an episode of the Flintstones without turning into this guy?

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k302/shyguy70/dorameme.jpg



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Combat of Giants: Dinosaurs 3D Box Art

Genre Adventure
Developer Ubisoft

Worldwide Releases

na: Combat of Giants: Dinosaurs 3D
Release Mar 27, 2011
PublisherUbisoft
jpn: Combat of Giants: Dinosaurs 3D
Release Feb 26, 2011
PublisherUbisoft
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