Based on the children's fantasy film and book of the same name, slash and bash sword-wielding Eragon tells the story of a young farm boy, unknowingly destined to save Alagesia's oppressed from tyrannical King Galbatorix and his swarms of minions; and his freshly hatched fire-breathing dragon. Film-based games are typically either cringe-inducing horrors or fantastically surprising experiences. Somehow, Eragon is that rare breed that falls somewhere in the average-at-best middle.
The game begins showing how Eragon comes across the dragon egg, in the form of a grainy comic-book style cut scene. Inconsistent cut scenes tell most of the story, refusing to pick a lane between looking crackling and grainy like an old film or stylized comic art. The further the game progresses, the choppier the storyline gets. It does just enough to explain why Eragon is at a certain location but leaves those who have not read the book or seen the film in the dust, wondering whom all these characters are and why you are supposed to care; and choosing to push forward with the action rather than expand on the story.
Graphically, the game is a mixed bag. The character models move well, and look quite a bit like their film counterparts. The voice acting is also solid, with the in-game and cut scene dialogue apparently pulled directly from the film. When in battle, the action holds up well and never suffers from a frame rate drop regardless of how many enemies are on the screen at once. While the characters look 360 worthy, the bland backgrounds simply are not. The story of an oppressed people under the control of an evil king does not scream vibrant colors, but the consistently drab grey and brown color scheme grates on the eyes early on, and never lets up. More disparaging is the lame cardboard cutout look of much of the backgrounds; leaving gamers feeling like they are playing the game on a film set rather than actually in Alagesia.
The game tries to earn gamers' money by pouring on the action, but falls just short with overly repetitive button-mashing gameplay. Eragon begins the game with bow and arrows and a sword, slowly learning some magic as the game progresses along. With many of the enemies within an arms length of you, and your magic powers needing time to recharge after each use, gamers will spend so much of the game whipping around a sword that Eragon should really be wearing an eye patch and saying things like, "Shiver me timbers" as he dispatches bad guys.
The actual fighting is handled with a combo system involving the 'A' and 'B' buttons, including grizzly finishing moves as enemies are on their last legs or stunned laying on the ground. When in close, gamers have the option of grabbing a hold of stunned enemies with 'B', and bashing them repeatedly for massive damage. The idea of the combo fighting system is better than the result, as many times the different 'combos' look nearly identical with little to no difference in effectiveness. The only combo that does a considerably more damage is the jump and 'B' combo, which sends even the largest enemies staggering backwards with a sword bash. The effectiveness of this combo makes even the most perilous situations on levels with cliffs or drops an unsatisfying breeze, as swarms of giant ogres stagger off the edges to their doom.
Gamers can also use either their magic or bow and arrows to take out enemies. With a never-ending supply, either Eragon can make arrows faster than humanly possible or has the largest backpack ever made. Gamers never have to worry about conserving the long-range weapon. Like the game's sword fighting action, the bow and arrow also offers no need for skill. Pulling the right trigger aims for the gamer automatically, with the option to change targets by flipping the right stick. For an even more powerful attack, gamers can 'take careful aim' by holding 'A' until the target shrinks and the controller shakes.
