Again, it's a hint system that just hinders more than aids at times. The other is the constantly appearing "Point of Interest". They've recorded things like "the B Button" or "right trigger" outside of the line being spoken, obviously to make it easier to port to different consoles, but it just sounds so broken and cheap. They have this hint system that pops up and tells you what to do now and then, but the sound of the guy talking it just brutal. I hate to rile on complaints, but there are a few more that are really game changers. They missed the mark on the boss fights by trying to make them too simple, they make them boring, drawn out and often frustrating. Clearly my special powers should be damaging bosses or enemies, but because it's not the right way, it doesn't work. I'm familiar with the old "you have to shoot him in the eye" type of boss puzzle, and that's not what this was, and this wasn't the only instance of it. Suddenly my laser beams do no damage, my fireballs do no damage, but if I ignite the gas coming from the around the bosses, I score big time. There were lots of instances of combat where it just didn't make sense, and I can easily see players getting frustrated. Once I moved to another spot, and timed the fireballs perfectly, I damaged the snake. I kept noticing these green clouds from the snakes, the same ones on the doors I was blasting but it wasn't doing anything, until I moved. I stood in one spot for literally 5 minutes and nothing was hitting me, they kept swiping at me, and snapping at me and nothing. I'm blasting away with fireballs and there's nothing happening. For example one of the early fights was against two snakes. there are puzzles built into them, however they're really poorly designed. Where the game really broke down for me was on boss fights. While they do get a little repetitive, and I found myself walking for long periods of time with an occasional "hit the door with the fire" puzzles, there was some variety that kept it fresh enough. They do a good job of showing the ropes, and then leaving it up to the player to figure out what to do next time a similar puzzle comes up. "Ship" you're faced with puzzles and obstacles that require you to use the different abilities from each of your aliens to get past. Moving on! As you go about traveling to different planets on your faithful alien ship called. Second, some of the cooler things, like killing off one of the first bosses, is actually done in a cutscene, I worked hard to get his health down, and then the game finishes him for me! so again, if you're not familiar with the story lines, you're lost and getting frustrated. They're long, which is ok for this type of game, but they don't do a great job of filling in the non-fan of what's going on. They spend a lot of time advancing the story using cartoon cut-scenes but I had two issues with them. Vilgax, the evil alien nemesis of Ben 10 is invading the earth, and the only way to stop him is to travel back in time and stop Vilgax before h gets started. well, you and your cousin, sarcastic friend, grandfather, the time traveling professor who keeps appearing on queue and The Plumbers, whomever they are. The world is ending, and you're their last hope.
The game puts the player in control of Ben Tennyson, the series star, and his morphing inducing wrist watch, The Omnitrix. Players already entrenched in the story of Ben 10 will have little trouble keeping up.
From what I can tell the game sticks pretty well to the show, which has to be the point. Those on the other side of the fence will find a game with a spotty story, and a lot of time spent watching a cartoon rather than playing the game. This game is definitely geared towards fans of the series, and if that's you, I think you're in for a treat as the game puts you in control of the action. I spent the better part of this adventure scratching my head trying to find out who was who, and where I was going. It's important to know this going in, and it's also important to get some background on show as the game doesn't do a great job of filling in those blanks. Ben 10, for those not familiar, is an action cartoon that runs on The Cartoon Network where a boy finds a wrist device that is attached permanently to his wrist allowing him to transform into 10 different alien forms, and like all cartoons, he ends up saving the world doing it.