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Beowulf

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5.2 User Score:

Mixed or average reviews

Based on 18 critic reviews
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Based on 10 votes
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Game Info

Publisher: Ubisoft

Developer: Ubisoft Tiwak

Genre(s): Action, Adventure

Players: 1

ESRB Rating: M (Mature)

Release Date: November 13, 2007

Summary

Gamers live the life of Beowulf, the legendary Norse warrior with the strength of 30 men who is torn between the nobility and brutality within him. Arrogant, self-serving and lustful for gold and glory, Beowulf journeys to Denmark to destroy a bloodthirsty beast wreaking havoc on a frigid land. But evil persists, and Beowulf succumbs to its lure of even greater fame, quietly maneuvering to claim the Danish throne. As King, Beowulf must face the consequences of ambition, even as war descends on the realm. As Beowulf, players lead their men, called thanes, into battle, slay the Titans of a dying age and crush the enemies that threaten to annihilate both their kingdom and people. Only then, when Beowulf looks Destiny in the eye, will he know what kind of hero he has truly become. Army of up to 12 thanes to unlock as players increase their heroic experience (by saving thanes, killing giant monsters, etc.). Players use the thane army to their advantage by giving orders, assigning positions, tailoring weapons to the situation or enemy and by triggering in-game mechanisms. The thane army evolves with upgradeable weapons (swords, mace and spears), skills and abilities. Use legacy experience points to gain thanes, replace weapons and upgrade Carnal abilities. Carnal Power allows the use of stronger attacks and special weapons. Carnal upgrades include less daze after use and prolonged use of Carnal Fury. But if used too much, there will be grave consequences. Dynamic combat system including combos, parries and increasing skills as the player progresses. Grab ability allows Beowulf to hold on to walls or climb, as well as fight up close with visceral hand-to-hand combat against enemies and giant monsters. [Ubisoft]

Also On Metacritic

FILM: Beowulf

Also On The Web: Official Website

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

GameTap

Beowulf: The Game had an opportunity to be a standout movie licensed game. Unfortunately the glitching just made it looks sloppy and in need of work. I enjoyed a lot of the fighting elements they introduced here, and the development team deserves a pat on the back for that.

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Play Magazine

What it lacks in polish it makes up for in diversity and brutality. This is one bloody game. [Jan 2008, p.58]

Games Master UK

Bloody and ballsy, but lacks the wit and charm of "God of War" or even "Conan." [Christmas 2007, p.62]

Play UK

Dumb, violent and pretty dull, this is an old-fashioned back 'n'-slash, with a few odd additions, but not one worth shoulding about. [Issue#161, p.84]

GamePro

If you liked what you saw at the theater and need a way to blow off a few hours then it's a perfect weekend rental. But it doesn't live up to the epic nature the classic poem and it certainly isn't going to make you forget about God of War III either.

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Game Informer

In this day and age, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that a game based on a movie fares poorly, but for a character who has survived since 700AD, he deserves better treatment than this.

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Cheat Code Central

You can blast through the game on the lower difficulty in less than day. You will notice the title says: Beowulf: The Game. That's to distinguish it from the ancient manuscript. I tend to think of it as a disclaimer, or quite possibly a warning.

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Playstation Official Magazine UK

Only marginally more enjoyable than trying to read the original poem. [Jan 2008, p.104]

Playstation: The Official Magazine (US)

While Beowulf doesn't completely shed the stigma that licensed games are by definition mediocre, it does an admirable job of trying to leap beyond your typical hack-and-slash fare. [Jan 2008, p.80]

VideoGamer

It's just run-of-the-mill game design. Bar the occasionally impressive combat, Beowulf doesn't have enough to make it stand out.

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GameSpot

Even a merry band of adventurous thanes can't save this quest from ruin.

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GameSpy

Our sights weren't set especially high for Beowulf, so at least it didn't disappoint. Even with the support of the upcoming feature film (which supposedly donated art assets), it still manages to oscillate between looking positively stunning to heinously ugly.

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PSX Extreme

Beowulf does very little right and fails to capture the stylish action and mysticism of the film. The cut-scenes and sound are often way off, there's a great deal of choppiness when the game tries to shift between non-interactive and interactive play, and the inconsistency of the sound is unsettling.

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Worth Playing

Thanks to its ability to maul the movie that it supposedly follows, Beowulf is a poor substitute for the film and an even more frustrating experience on the console, given its clumsy fight mechanics, uninspired enemies and the repetitive button-mashing.

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PSM3 Magazine UK

An unavoidably bad game with shoddy design and a lame, thankless combat system. [Christmas 2007, p.68]

IGN

Ubisoft Shanghai and Tiwak did a magnificent job of butchering the reimagining of a classic tale and providing plenty of disposable, derivative gameplay to go along with it.

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Games Radar (in-house)

Destined to line bargain bin bottoms. It has its hacking and slashing moments, but like so many movie-licensed titles, it reeks of a truncated production schedule and a too-heavy reliance on a story intended for another medium.

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Game Revolution

The real problem with the game is that it’s too light on everything. Too light on action. Too light on excitement. Too light on story. And too light on gameplay. There’s no need to be subtle in a great hack-n-slash game since you need something to make the game worth playing. But you won’t even find mindless action here, only a brain-dead game.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this game is 5.2 (out of 10) based on 10 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

HOTorNOT! gave it a2:
Not hot, any title where the button mashing mini-games are so tiresome you want to give up, can't be that good. The graphics are great, but one has to wonder did the testers even play this game for more then 10 Mins? I Found no enjoyment in this game. The missions or "Quests" are broken up into such small segments that you don't feel like you are playing anything epic. I was really disappointed that I bought this game, and I only paied 19.95 for it.

Henry L. gave it a10:
Satisfying run and gun with out the gun game! You run around and use your sword and bare hands on all kinds of enemies ranging from alien-looking cave-dweller beasts to wolfs with wolverine claws. Very exciting fight scenes, and a good story to back it! 10/10.

Negan M. gave it a9:
One of the greatest things about this game is the intrigue. i never read the epic poem so when you start off having to defend your kingdom, the story plows you right through this 'beat 'em up' game where you're just non-stop slaughtering enemies everywhere you go. two thumbs up!

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Beowulf

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