Ben 10: Alien Force Review (Nintendo Wii)

Five years after Ben Tennyson took off his Omnitrix and tossed off the shackles of adolescence, Ben 10 returned to Cartoon Network in Ben 10: Alien Force.

The series premiered April 18, 2009, featuring a teenage Ben Tennyson, who was once again joined by his cousin Gwen. This time Ben 10 must battle the invading force of the Highbreed, a group of aliens who are secretly plotting to take over the world. Unfortunately, Ben’s grandfather Max has mysteriously disappeared trying to fight the alien threat and has been supplanted on Team Tennyson by Ben 10’s cocky ex-rival Kevin.

The story sounds like more exciting Ben 10 action, and was hastily adapted into a video game for every console known to man. Unfortunately, the Ben 10 action was left out of this title along with the fun and story.

Instead of just using the existing story arc from Ben 10: Alien Force, the animated series, the video game tries to create a new story arc that seems like it was written by a child. There are several poorly delivered cut scenes that make you wonder if you’re stuck back in the 1990s.

Ben 10: Alien Force suffers from a lack of visual appeal. We played the Wii version. Already predisposed to expecting poor graphics on the Wii, we were startled at how reprehensible the graphics were on this title. It seems like the designers forgot to add any detail after making the original sketches. Not to mention, the color scheme tends to wash out since foreground characters blend into the background.

You start out playing as Ben 10 in human form. Of course you’ll probably wish you were actually playing with his cousin because Ben 10 is simply useless. You’ll have to use the Omnitrix right away to have a nano-bit of fun from the moment you power on this title.

The graphics aren’t the only think trapped in the annals of last century. The game design is an utter snooze. Ben 10: Alien Force forces you into a side-scrolling adventure. You’ll have to beat villains just to walk around an abysmal stage. There eight total stages, each more redundant than the next.

You may have a moment of fun deciding which of your five alien transformations to choose from. Each one has their own unique skill set to surmount obstacles that you just won’t feel motivated to overcome.

The sound and music score is hardly worth mentioning. It was probably a few loops stolen from a kid’s Fisher Price keyboard.

All in all Ben 10: Alien Force is one to be avoided. Sadly, I actually got into watching the cartoon a few times and liked it. Unfortunately, the fun and witty interactions between Ben and his comrades is missing from the video game translation.

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