Video game history is full of cheap, dodgy movie license cash-ins. Generic games churned out as fast as possible after a movie is released to try and cash-in on the hype surrounding the movie and sucker as many unknowing gamers in as possible. Due to many years cultivating a healthy cynicism of movie based games, I didn't expect very much at all from The Mummy returns. And while I'd like to say I was happily surprised and that it was a top quality adventure title, I can't. While it is by no means as bad as it could have been (and in fact, in some areas, is quite impressive), lots of small, annoying 'features' conspire against the game to bring it down into the realm of mediocrity.
The game itself sticks very closely to the plot of the movie (as you would expect). For anyone who hasn't seen the movie, it involves the evil mummy Imhotep, once again risen from the grave, trying to reach the final resting place of the Scorpion King so that he can defeat him in battle and seize control of his dark army and conquer the world. Indiana Jones style hero Rick O'Connell is, of course, the only man that can stop him. The game plays like your generic 3rd person Tomb Raider style action/adventure, no real suprises there. You play through the game as Rick O'Connell, battling the evil followers of Imhotep in an attempt to stop him from destroying the world. But this is not all; you can also play through the game as Imhotep himself, laying waste to everything around you in an attempt to become a dark god. This feature could easily have elevated The Mummy Returns from the realm of generic action/adventure game to something really special, but as I mentioned in my opening paragraph, its just not enough.
The controls are rather simple and what you would expect. Attack buttons, jump buttons, use buttons, etc. Both characters have an inventory they can access which allows them to arm different weapons, use health kits, use keys, and so on. The Rick O'Connell game plays almost exactly like Tomb Raider (I hate to keep making that comparison, but really, its unavoidable). Using a combination of guns and various hand to hand weapons you fight your way through an almost unending barrage of undead zombies, Arabian zealots and malicious bandits in an attempt to stop Imhotep from completing his plan. As Imhotep though the game takes a definite turn for the better. Possessing immense physical strength, just the mere act of punching and kicking people is more fun as Imhotep. I still never get tired of kicking someone and flinging them through the air and into a wall. Imhotep can also arm himself with various swords and weapons he finds around the place, and unlike Rick, can wield two swords at once. He also has a range of spells that he can use against his foes. You learn new spells by finding Canopic Jars hidden around the different levels. Instead of using health packs, Imhotep sucks the souls of his victims to regain health, much like in the game Soul Reaver. The effects on this spell are just awesome, with Imhotep levitating the victim in the air and stretching his mouth open to grotesque proportions then sucking the life out of the person. Once again, something you never get sick of doing. He also possesses a number of other spells, which range from just plain damage dealing spells to resurrect spells used to raise armies of undead to fight alongside him.
In most levels, both as Rick and Imhotep, you will usually have an AI controlled companion who tags along for the ride and helps out in fights. At least, I'm sure that's what they are supposed to do. This was one of the things that annoyed me about the game and started to bring it down for me. The AI on these companions is just pathetic. They get stuck on nearly every wall or doorway they can find, and in a fight it seems to be a random decision whether they will go crazy and spray bullets everywhere or just stand there and get pounded on by some undead zombies. They're really quite useless and I don't know why they're even there.
Another annoying thing is the automap. The automap is almost really good. It is in full 3d and gives a very clear view of the entire level and is very easy to follow. You can zoom in and zoom out, and also rotate the map around. Your position is marked as a glowing dot on the map, and herein lies the biggest problem with the automap; there is absolutely no indication of which way you are facing. Seeing as how a lot of the levels involve labyrinth style sections with passage branching all over the place, the automap is pretty much a necessity for navigating these areas. Without any indication of the direction you're facing though, it becomes a guessing game as to which way to go next. The glowing dot that represents you on the map is also very, VERY bright, to the point where sometimes it completely washes out the section of the map that you are in, so that you can't see where you're going. This was one of the biggest annoyances for me as it made some levels a lot more difficult than they should have been.
The graphics and sound are generally good. Nothing special, but they are good. The best graphics of the game are definitely in the Imhotep storyline. Some of the effects on his spells are really well done, and effects on Imhotep himself are also very effective. When Imhotep is at full health he looks like a normal, fully fleshed out human being. But as he loses life his flesh starts to rot and he starts to take on the appearance of a decayed mummy. The more life he loses, the more decayed and rotten he becomes. It's a very cool effect. Apart from that though, the graphics are just good. 2 or 3 years ago they might have been considered impressive, but these days they're just average.
Sound is the same, it is not particularly great, but it is not particularly bad either. Once again, some of the best sounds are in the Imhotep storyline (the game definitely seems biased towards the Imhotep half). All the cutscenes are done using the in game engine, and they're really quite bad. The mouths on the characters don't move at all; their voices just seem to magically come out of the air above their heads while they're fake drawn on smiles never waver. The license for the film obviously didn't stretch far enough to get the real actors doing voice-overs either, as the voices are nothing but cheap imitations of the real characters' voices. The accents are overdone to the point of being campy and silly, with Rick O'Connell speaking in a very heroic American accent, his wife Evy speaking in a clipped and cultured British accent, and their son Alex speaking in a thick cockney accent. How their 12-year-old son developed a thick cockney accent, I do not know.
All in all, the game could have been a whole lot worse. In the end, what comes out of it is a fun game, and with the ability to play through the game as Imhotep, some genuinely innovative concepts. Sadly it is brought down by a number of a small annoyances such as the automap problems, the incredibly bad cutscenes, and the rather lacklustre graphics. After about the 3rd or 4th level of the Rick O'Connell game you've seen almost everything that section has to offer. The real fun though lies in the Imhotep section, dealing death and destruction at a manic pace, while it manages to stay fresh by giving the player new spells every level to learn and play with. There are many better games out there at the moment, but if you're looking for a few days of simple action/adventure fun, and you're a fan of the movie, its worth checking out The Mummy Returns. A good game, which falls just short of being a great game.
Screenshots (courtesy of Gamespot)
Kicking ass as Rick O'Connell
The Scorpion King
Your soul is mine!
Imhotep getting read to inflict a world of hurt
Rick engaging in fisticuffs with zombies
