Diehard GameFAN: Rise of the Guardians Review

DHGF: Rise of the Guardians, as a game made for small kids, isn’t bad, offering them exposure to a genre they’d not see too much in a way they can mostly enjoy, though it’s messy in some respects, and not likely to challenge more experienced gamers. The visuals and audio are generally fine, the game is simple enough to learn how to play but offers some more complex mechanics that kids will be able to understand and enjoy, as well as local multiplayer and a decent enough amount of depth to make it worthwhile if they’re fans of the license. However, the plot is basically barren of content or detail, you can plow through the entire thing inside of ten hours, and the final boss is dramatically more challenging than anything you’ll see before or after him to a point where kids may become easily frustrated at that point. Further, the game is paced awkwardly, as the final boss can be fought without seeing a sizable portion of the game and without any real warning, the characters are unbalanced and some are far better to play as than others, the game ultimately just comes down to beating on tons of dudes for hours on end, and there are some mild technical hiccups here and there.