Ben 10 Alien Force

Ben 10 Alien Force

The fabulously far-fetched kids’ TV Show is expertly transported onto Nintendo Wii with solid production values throughout.

Formulaic it may be, what else do you expect, but Ben 10 Alien Force is at least as bold and entertaining as the Cartoon Network show. The vibrant appeal of the TV series is captured brilliantly, albeit in a pretty straightforward beat-’em-up package that’ll bemuse parents while keeping wannabe Alien Force recruits glued to the box. Your kids can choose to step out as one of three heroes: Ben, Gwen or Kevin. Friends can double up for a co-op session and drop in / drop out at any time just like the Lego action games – one guy shooting while the other wades in with punch combinations; zap and kapow all the way!

Our central hero’s ability to transform into five unique beasts is the main attraction, and cleverly incorporated into the game. Ben '10' Tennyson has in his possession the amazing Omnitrix deviced that allows him to morph between flame-surfing ‘Heatblast’ or the zub-zero ‘Big Chill’ creatures from another world. Our favourite has got to be ‘Cannonbolt’ who’s trick is to tumble through areas like a giant bowling ball with comedic 'ooph!' 'ow!' effect. Any kid worth his or her gaming salt will soon figure out which alien is best suited for specific battles. But no matter who’s in play the special effects are top class.

There are puzzle elements to these abilities, such as energy fields that can aid our heroes as well as harm their foes. Skills improve with experience too, so there’s a real sense of growing in power as the adventure progresses. There are more than 80 combination moves to master, and you won’t see them all on the first sitting. Hey presto, a degree of longevity but only just enough to bring you back to search for small areas only accessible to characters you’ll encounter later in the quest.

The creative team behind the game hasn’t pushed the Wii remote capabilities much beyond waggling up or down to trigger light / heavy attacks. Disney’s Bolt certainly has much more going in the way of memorable set-pieces that involve throwing your arms around in front of the telly. But kids who are likely to watch Ben 10 episodes religiously and repeatedly on DVD will keep coming back to this game because it captures the action-packed exploits with skilfully choreographed drama.

3 out of 5