Even if - and it is now a fact - more adults play video games than children, it is right that there are titles specifically dedicated to them. Ben 10, developed by Outright Games and distributed by Bandai Namco, is just one of these titles.
Meanwhile, let's spend a couple of lines to explain the subject to those who, like the writer, had only a pale idea previously. Ben 10 is an American animated series broadcast mainly on children's networks since 2005. The protagonist of the series (and of the game of the same name) is the classic cute boy of about 10 years who, as per the classic script, fortuitously acquires extraordinary powers. In our case, thanks to the discovery of an alien bracelet, the young Ben acquires the ability to transform into ten different extraterrestrial life forms, each with its own peculiarities and abilities that, of course, he will use to fight the evil ones.
All this preamble we have independently searched on the net because the game, it must be said, does not mention it. There is no actual introduction explaining what happened: we start with a cutscene that shows us Ben, his grandfather and his cousin camping, with him setting fire to a tent transforming himself into an alien in the style of the Torch of the Fantastic 4. From there the adventure begins, in which we will have to try to thwart the plans of the terrifying evil clown Zombozo (which Joker shunned himself!) by slapping him and his minions for a handful of levels. That's all? Yes, unfortunately that's all.
The game, ultimately, looks like a simple scrolling fighting game, with some short platform sequences just to like. All the time we will have to advance through the levels (very linear and with very few things to discover) transforming ourselves from time to time into one of the alien forms at our disposal. Each alien form has its own special attacks and talents, which are essential to overcome certain points of each level. Each alien is also levelable (do not think about the depth of an RPG, though) by spending points that we can acquire by beating enemies, completing some simple challenges (none of which, for the most part it involves using the alien's special ability X to beat the enemy Y) or by destroying the inevitable crates that we will find in the middle of the feet.
The in-game graphics look straight out of the Playstation 2 era, with an anemic cell shading that would disfigure in comparison with that of Okami in its first incarnation. Definitely unacceptable for a 2017 game, in short. As if the graphics of Ben 10 were not enough, at least in the Playstation 4 version we tested, it also suffers from dramatic drops in frame rate even in the less excited screens. Things are a little better in the cutscenes, which reflect the pre-adolescent cartoon attitude quite well, but nothing striking there too. The sound is a little better, with catchy music and enough atmosphere.
The playability, at least that, is decent: Ben 10 lets you play from start to finish without any kind of hitch, which is excellent in a title that, let's not forget, was designed for very young players. But really very young.
Ben 10 is available for Playstation 4, Xbox One e Nintendo Switch starting from November 9.
