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Disney and Ubi Soft Entertainment have teamed up to bring you Tarzan Untamed, a 3D third-person action game, based on the animated feature-length movie and cartoon television series. Once you start the game you’re offered to choose between the story mode and Terk’s challenge. In the story mode, we find Tarzan living a peaceful life joined by his wife Jane, her father Professor Porter and his gorilla family. However, everything changes, when a mad scientist named Oswald Gardner starts tracking and trapping apes for his studies. To save them, Tarzan will have to use all of his animal instincts and amazing skills like swinging from vines, skidding along twisted branches, surfing through whitewater rapids and water skiing across dangerous swamps, among others. It’s up to you to help him get through 15 levels of continuous thrills and excitement. In Terk’s mode, you’ll find that the first 2 challenges are accessible as soon as the level is available in story mode. Beating Terk’s high scores will reward you with new trick moves and new playable characters. Also, they will allow you to learn and test your new skills and master them.

Gameplay

The gameplay is fast-paced, and the controls are easy to manage. As you progress in the game the jumps and swings become harder and harder, and you’ll probably lose many lives if you’re not careful enough. That’s why the game offers you with many extra life bonuses lying around. Just remember that whenever you see a ledge or a branch within jumping distance, chances are you’ll make the leap.

The game is split in 4 stages. The first one is jungle exploration. In this one Tarzan has to free caged baby gorillas jumping over obstacles, swinging from vines, and climbing walls and trees. The second stage is river surfing where he has to go through water rapids that twist and turn. Using his surfboard as a skateboard, Tarzan can do amazing tricks if you manage to jump on top of fallen mossy branches and slide along until the end, which will give you many reward points. The third one, the water-skiing, is very tricky and might take some time to master it. Tarzan has to jump, glide and ride through a dank and muggy swamp filled with ramps and crocodiles that will attack you whenever you least expect it. And the fourth stage, the bungee jumping is very exciting. You’ll have to jump from a cliff, drop hundreds of feet, plunge into water and then fly back up into the air, of course you have to remember that you only have three attempts, so evading all obstacles is extremely important, otherwise it’s game over. To separate each stage from another you’ll encounter several boss monster fights like the tremendously large crocodile, which you have to wrestle avoiding its powerful jaws. Also, Tarzan has to collect film reels left by the very clumsy henchmen. Eight in each level and one in the bungee stage. These are not easy to obtain. You’ll be required to perform grinds and trick combinations to get to them. Or you could use the help of gorillas to reach these areas, but first you have to earn their respect by completing three gorilla bungee-jumping challenges. Once you complete a challenge, you should return to the previous level and look for any of the film cans that you might have left behind in the beginning. You’ll need to collect a total of 47 out of a possible 50 in order to continue to the third world and final levels. If you find all 75 films you’ll be rewarded by an uncut end sequence.

Graphics

The jungle representation is amazing, almost photo-realistic. There’s great detailed in everything from the vines on the trees to the ivy on rocks, the whirlpools in the water rapids and the many jungle animals. Even though most of the characters in the game have been well animated with fluid natural movements, I found them looking a little bit too blocky. I wish they had spent a little bit more time on smoothing out the sharp edges which makes them stand out compared to the beautiful cartoon environments.

Sound

The voice acting was nicely performed by the actors playing the main characters, who sound almost like the ones in the movie, it’s really hard to tell the difference. The sound and music were very well done too, with lots of jungle noises like drums, birds chirping, cats growling and the unforgettable Tarzan yell that can be heard by pressing the “Circle” button. This is very useful whenever you need the assistance from animals around you. For example you could call out a monkey and he will hung upside down and grab Tarzan hands to help him swing across.

Overall

All in all, Tarzan Untamed is a fun game for kids, but perhaps not suited for adults, who will find it a little bit boring. The controls are very simple and the levels are not that challenging, so you’ll presumably be able to finish it in a couple of days. Overall, if you’re an adult, it’s better if you rent and play it on the weekend rather than buying it. On the other hand, if you have children this would probably make a great Christmas present.

Overall Score: 68%

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