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For those wanting a gaming introductory lesson for their young children, this might just be for you.

Reviewing titles published by EA has been a recurring theme for me this past year. It’s gotten to the point where I expect to get my paycheck at work and it will have “Endorsed by Electronic Arts” stamped on it.

Having stability and a healthy cash flow allows EA to dominate the market, and lets them take chances on games that most other publishers cannot.

Case in point is the unique Bionicle. Now before you get all excited thinking that EA has somehow revived the Six Million Dollar Man television show, let me give you some background on what this all about.

Bionicle is tied to the popular kiddy toy line of LEGO. If you have ever actually sat down and tried to play with a LEGO toy, you may feel my frustration. I always ended up taking those little pieces and using them in my slingshot. Ah well...I digress.

The PC game Bionicle has a simple premise. You are given control of six unique elemental warriors who must stop the evil spirit Makuta. In the process you have the opportunity to rescue captured villagers who are scattered throughout Mata Nui.

Mata Nui is a land that is conveniently made up of six elementally themed areas. Therefore, because each warrior has a specific element, you will have to control each one in an attempt to find the Toa of Light. The Toa of Light is the only warrior with enough power to combat Makuta’s evil.

Game play is not the worst, but it’s a little on the erratic side. Just as I was becoming accustomed to one setting, the game abruptly places me in another. It wasn’t an isolated incidence either. This happens for most of the game and will make some players uncomfortable.

As you play each character, you basically explore a 3D world overcoming basic platforming obstacles. Each warrior has an elemental staff to dispatch enemies, but some must be used with discretion. Most of the weapons lose a small amount of energy when used, which can set you up for some bad mojo down the road if you’re surrounded by a hoard of enemies.

If you’re a hack n’ slash type of gamer, you better learn to be more conservative, or risk running out of energy at the wrong time. Fortunately there are a few ways to replenish lost energy, such as drawing from the elemental power in your warrior’s region.

The elemental regions include lava, ice, water, earth, etc. These levels or regions are surprisingly a little short on game play, but hey, it’s a LEGO based game so we didn’t go into this with high expectations.

Each location has cute little game play mechanics specific to that area. Some examples are mine carts that you get to ride, or snowboarding on the ice level. Nice ideas, but the poor 3D camera pretty much hampers any enjoyment that a hardcore gamer could have.

Overall, game play is a little uninspiring. Again, this is a game that is targeted at youngsters, so it may have more appeal to them than it does to seasoned veterans.

Graphically, this title is below average, but not nearly as poor as you would think. The backgrounds are somewhat sparse and don’t help the overall experience. There also seems to be a strange blurring to the graphics. Either that or my eyes are failing me. It seems that the developers spent more time on the actual character models than the overall setting.

On the positive side though, fans of Bionicle will be pleased as punch to see that their heroes are actually composed of little LEGO pieces. They are not the best looking in the world, but it’s done well enough that you can recognize what Argonaut wanted to convey to its fans.

Sound effects and music did not irritate me, which is definitely a positive. There is nothing new here, but the music does change to fit the mood of the moment or the setting. For a title that seems a bit rough around the edges, I was surprised that the sound effects were as good as they were.

Bionicle is a difficult experience to classify. The overall length of the game is about 4 hours, even for those who don’t fancy themselves as expert gamers.

The game play elements seem to be all over the place and never really convey any sense of continuity. Just when you think you might start enjoying one level, you’re whisked away to another and can never get comfortable.

So now you’re expecting me to land a Mortal Combat type finisher and execute this ill conceived game, but...surprise! I am not.

Although I advise all of our experienced and mature gamers to steer clear of this game for themselves, I heartily recommend this for youngsters. Why, you ask?

This is the PERFECT introductory game to children who want to play on mom or dad’s PC. The ease and short length of game play are exactly the kind of mechanics needed when teaching a youngster about PC or video games.

In addition, it’s LEGO, which means the game is rated E (everyone) and contains mild fantasy violence. Do you really want your kid’s first experience in gaming to be a “Friday night special” in Vice City? I didn’t think so.

What’s better is that you can probably get this game used at your local game store in a couple of weeks. Whether it’s PC, PS2, Xbox or Cube, this is your chance to ease your offspring into the wonderful world of computer gaming.


Review by Michael Harris.