Review by: Justin Amirkhani

If a picture is worth a thousand words then basic math dictates that an interactive video game version of the classic H.G. Wells novel War of the Worlds would be a guaranteed successor to the original. Obviously the adage doesn’t hold up because despite relying heavily on the source material, The War of the Worlds for Xbox Live Arcade barely earns the right to carry its name.

As an interpretation of the novel – not the zany Tom Cruise flick – the centerpiece of the game is a running narrative taken straight from the pages of the book and narrated by the esteemed Sir Patrick Stewart. No stranger to games (see The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and Castlevania: Lords of Shadow), the good Captain Picard brings a commanding presence to the reading but it’s not enough to compensate for muddied, archaic platforming and a significant misunderstanding of the text’s impact.

In many ways The War of the Worlds mirrors vintage cinematic platformers like Another World and Flashback, giving the player control of a character who by design isn’t a gun toting superhero but rather a man on the run from obstacles beyond his ability to defeat. It’s slow and delicate to control, but it’s intended to provide a sense of powerlessness and give pause to soak in the detailed environments.

Layered with desaturated greys and browns the palette of the game does a good job of showcasing a world beyond siege and thematically matches the source’s tone. However these drab, depressing spaces decrease in significance with each passing visit and thanks to overly sensitive mechanics and a neglectful checkpoint system, each segment will linger longer than it should.

The sectional repetition could be forgiving and maybe even made into a fun challenge if the difficulty stemmed from tricky puzzles. More often than not though protagonist Arthur’s finicky motion combined with precision enforcing level design keep the experience firmly rooted in frustration. It’s a blight on players who like to feel in control of their experience because success and failure often feels out of hand and up to the fates; it’s all up to the will of the game and there’s nothing you can do about it.

Beyond the tedium of repeating the same few jumps over and over again the game takes a nosedive into annoying with most zones including some of Stewart’s narration. Like the impact of the environment design the otherwise poignant prose loses value when heard for the umpteenth time. Each articulated syllable becomes a painful reminder of past failings and while it’s a surefire study aid for anyone in a high school literature class, it doesn’t make for a pleasing game experience.