There was a point in time when a movie-based game surely meant that whatever fun you might have was going to dry up within a few hours of gameplay. That's changed a bit recently, with the movie actors doing the voice acting and even getting involved in the game design (the biggest example of this is Vin Diesel with Chronicles of Riddick). It remains to be seen whether Bits Studios' (and THQ's) Constantine will wind up as one of those games, or whether it'll be another throwaway cash-cow game.
You'll play as John Constantine, a DC/Vertigo comic-based character who makes deals with the various demons in Hell to basically do good but in a bad-guy kind of way. The movie looks like it's a little more action oriented, while this game is pretty much 100% action. Some of the action was nice, while other parts were particularly frustrating. Constantine's guns were nice, but his hand-to-hand fighting is stiff and generic.
Now, I've not seen the movie Constantine yet, but I'm willing to bet that Keanu Reeves isn't going to run down endless corridors where the only color used is a brownish red for the entire time. Hey, if the movie really is like that, then I guess we still lose, but some of the levels in this demo were unimpressive. Others were better, where you would have to traverse areas of Los Angeles while using your "demon vision" ability to tell which humans are actually possessed by Hellspawn. From there, you can use your nailgun or a specific spell to exorcise the demons right out of them.
The special effects in this game are excellent, though, as some of the weapons have a nice punch and Hell itself looks really cool. This is classic Hell, with fire and brimstone, but it actually is in the same location that Earth is - just as another "dimension". This means that Constantine can cast a spell and will show up in Hell, which is basically Los Angelis (where the game takes place) in total ruin. The demons shown in the Hell levels had some really cool designs, many of which were on par with or better than recent horror games for the PC and consoles.
The game's got a little bit of bullet-time-style slowdown in certain areas, but I couldn't figure out how to trigger it myself. THQ supplied little help in showing off their games at their own event, so I was kind of lost as to how some of this game worked. Sure, Constantine's got a little while to go before release, but with the movie premiere set for next month, I doubt much is going to be changed from now until the game's launch - which will coincide with the movie premiere. It seems like this game's going to be a mixed bag of a few great levels, some pretty decent action, and a few very frustrating experiences. This is not unlike how many movie-based games are turning out nowadays.
