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Constantine Review - PS2

Seen the movie? Read the comics? Now play the game.

John Constantine is a comic character that few people may remember from the DC-Vertigo Comics named Hellblazer. He's not exactly the best role model for kids, cursed with lung cancer and a black heart, but Keanu plays the role in the movie well enough to justify a blockbuster hit. Does the game support the movie enough to actually be called a game? We take a look at Constantine on the Playstation 2, and try to decipher why exactly he's trying to be the prodigy child.

Gameplay

Constantine tries to follow the path of the one, err, we mean, the path of John Constantine and attempts to follow the movie closely throughout the game, however it's a hard task and Bits Studios have not succeeded in recreating the movie in all its glory. John may be armed with all the weapons you need, all the spells, and all the holy water, but the gameplay lacks in too many places to be released as a 2005 AAA title.

Throughout Constantine, you'll find yourself going to and from hell several times. The term "Go to Hell!" comes to life whenever you step in some water and perform a spell. You may only go to Hell to change something small which will help you on your path back in the real world, or you may have to go and retrieve something from Hell. In the normal world, you'll have to keep your eye out for nasties as they can be around the most unexpected corners waiting to pounce. Hell on the other hand will keep you entertained momentarily as you gaze at the surroundings in awe. Cars flying past, gusting red dust storms, huge explosions, and demons coming at you from all angles is truly where Constantine reaches its peak.

It's a shame though that the game only lasts for about 4-5 hours though, as Constantine could have been a good 3rd person shooter adventure if done properly. Constantine is essentially an action title, not a shooter as you also have spells which include releasing a swarm of flies, creating a lightning storm, and of course expelling demons back to Hell where they belong. There's a lot of reference throughout the game about turning the demons back in to dust, and this is basically what you do for the full five hours of gameplay. The cut-scenes try to make the story more compelling but it really is hard to see past the fact that the game seemed to be made rather quickly with hardly any effort, much like most "movie to game" games on the market today.

There's no jump button, instead it works similar to the late Zelda games where you just run off the edge and it jumps automatically. Controls are fairly simple, you have your gun fire with R1 and holy water grenade ... (continued next page)