The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor

Sometimes, it doesn't matter how many quality ingredients you chuck into a recipe; if something happens to go wrong during the cooking, it can all turn out like mush. The same is true of any video game � reading the back-of-the-box-blurb will often promise you all sorts of magical features, but they rarely give any clue as to how they're implemented. And implementation is always the key.

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor has guns, bombs, magic and myth, pitfalls filled with spikes, death drops and a whole host of burly men who clearly spend too much time down the gym. It's also been handled by a developer that knows a thing or two about your average action adventure title, but ultimately, all these classic elements are never strung together convincingly enough to create anything beyond a mediocre and slightly disjointed experience. If I were to write the box blurb, I'd label it "slightly disappointing."

To the naked eye, all seems in order at the beginning of the journey. Taking charge of 18-year-old Alex O' Connell, son of Brendan Fraser's character Rick, you start off being separated from your retinue of Chinese diggers while searching for an entrance to the tomb of an ancient Chinese Emperor - Qin Shi Huang. The action sparks into life almost immediately, with the first few skirmishes revolving around gunplay.

Shooting is fairly simple, with a simple tap of the '5' key being the only input needed. That, of course, is only if the enemies you're facing happen to be the same height as you. You can also shoot while crouching down (hitting the '8' key), but often your targets come at you from different angles, meaning you have to adjust your aim to accommodate them. This is all handled by the '0' key which, once activated, allows the gun to be tipped up and down by holding '2' or '8'. Simple to describe, infuriating to execute.

That's because firing itself is still handled by the '5' key, so to actually use this system in combat feels incredibly overcomplicated and arcane. It's not long before you're charged to do so, either, with scorpions approaching along the floor that can only be tackled by changing the angle of your gun. But in the heat of the moment, having to focus on hitting two other buttons before you even shoot means that all too often you'll find yourself accidentally crouching down to shoot instead.

It's a frustrating control system that never truly becomes intuitive and leads to many a death � as does the game's somewhat cruel approach to level design, which constantly springs unfair surprises on you. Hidden pitfalls and drops of death make more than one appearance on the first play-through. That's not due to any incompetence on your part, but rather because it's impossible to see these things coming.

That means that, fairly often, you'll track the path ahead and leap from ledge to ledge appropriately, only to encounter a drop that seemingly appears out of nowhere. Of course, on your second or third respawn � which, thankfully, usually places you just in front of what ever caused your death � you're able to foresee the trap that lays ahead, but to spring death-traps on players without any warning because of the size of the screen is plain old bad design.

There are other problems. Too often it's possible to be left hanging, wondering where you're meant to go next. For instance, some objects that block the path (that initially look like nothing more than scenery) have to be shot at to enable progress, though at no stage is this made clear. The Mummy also restricts some of its controls, meaning at certain points when it looks like climbing is the only option available, the game doesn't actually allow you to jump to kick off the climb.

Of course, there is always a path ahead, but the question of whether you'll have the patience to stay on board to find it is another matter. Those who give up will miss out on some periods of entertaining play, with swinging from branches and riding through water torrents living up to the kind of action the game originally promises. Levels are also broken up by mini puzzles, the first of which almost plays out like a piece of plumbing, with pipes having to be twisted around to create one solid path.

That's something that can't be said of The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor as a whole, which never feels joined up or particularly solid. Anyone looking for a solid action title should probably skip this and check out Gameloft's Soul of Darkness instead � a game that comes with an altogether sweeter recipe. As The Mummy stands, it could probably do with a quick trip back to the ironing board to iron out some considerable lapses in design that infect what is an otherwise promising title.

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor shows much promise, but is ultimately dragged into second-rate-city but a succession of poor design decisions
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Keith Andrew
Keith Andrew
With a fine eye for detail, Keith Andrew is fuelled by strong coffee, Kylie Minogue and the shapely curve of a san serif font. He's also Pocket Gamer's resident football gaming expert and, thanks to his work on PG.biz, monitors the market share of all mobile OSes on a daily basis.