Combat of Giants: Dinosaurs 3D

Combat of Giants: Dinosaurs 3D is a video game developed by Ubisoft in the Combat of Giants series, released for the Nintendo 3DS on February 26, 2011 in Japan, March 27, 2011 in North America, and March 31, 2011 in Europe. In the game, players control various dinosaurs and fight hostile dinosaurs to progress through levels and ultimately battle the game's final boss, the Arkosaurus.^[1]

Gameplay

The game features the ability to customize and battle as different species of dinosaurs against other dinosaurs. All the dinosaurs in the game are divided into four "groups"- predator, hunter, charger, or defender. The player must pick a dinosaur from one of these groups and level up to be able to challenge the final boss at the end of the game. In order to battle the Arkosaurus, the final boss of the game, the player must use a dinosaur from each of the four groups.^[1]

In order to progress through the game, players must use their dinosaurs to defeat enemy dinosaurs in an attack and dodge oriented combat system. The playable dinosaurs have slightly different stats. While in combat, players press the b button to attack and the a button to push or charge into the enemy. Players can also make their dinosaurs dodge. Some dinosaurs are equipped with certain "weapons." When equipped, these items lend the dinosaurs power-ups. On certain occasions, enemy dinosaurs will flash blue. If the player attacks an enemy dinosaur while it is flashing blue, the player's dinosaur will perform a powerful attack called a "dinostrike". Enemy dinosaurs will flash red shortly before they attack. This signals players to prepare to dodge or risk losing health. Dinosaurs can also perform "frenzy attacks" that deal more damage than normal attacks. The game contains earthquakes and volcanic eruptions that can knock dinosaurs around and damage them during combat. The player wins a fight by reducing the health of all enemy dinosaurs to zero.^[2]

Dinosaurs

Combat of Giants: Dinosaurs 3D features 24 different dinosaurs such as Allosaurus, Ceratosaurus, Oviraptor, Stegosaurus and T-Rex to name a few.^[2] Most of these dinosaurs can be controlled by the player, boss dinosaurs cannot be controlled by the player. The game has 6 "Boss" dinosaurs.^[3]

Plot

The game takes place in a fictional world 150 million years ago, where dinosaurs lived in a peaceful world overlooked by four guardians. One day, a series of cataclysmic events kills off the guardian dinosaurs, and an evil dinosaur known as Arkosaurus invades the land. Only four dinosaur champions can stop him.

Development

Ubisoft originally revealed Combat of Giants: Dinosaurs 3D under the title "Battle of Giants: Dinosaur Strike" at E3 2010 on June 15, 2010, the same day they unveiled five other games they were developing for the Nintendo 3DS- Hollywood 61(Released as James Noir's Hollywood Crimes), Driver Renegade, Assassin's Creed Lost Legacy(Later cancelled), Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Chaos Theory, and Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon.^[4][5]

On January 19, 2011, Ubisoft announced that Combat of Giants: Dinosaurs 3D(No longer being referred to as "Battle of Giants: Dinosaur Strike") would be one of eight 3DS games they would publish in the first half of the 2011 calendar year, with the other seven being Asphalt 3D, Driver Renegade, James Noir's Hollywood Crimes, Rabbids Travel in Time, Rayman 3D, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Chaos Theory, and Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon.^[6]

On February 22, 2011, Nintendo announced that Dinosaurs 3D would be one of the 18 3DS games that would be available for purchase in North America on March 27, 2011-the day of the North American 3DS release. Nintendo did not provide any information on the game's price.^[7]

Chance Thomas served as music composer while Christian Pacaud worked on audio design ^[8][9]

Reception

Combat of Giants: Dinosaurs 3D was released to poor reviews. As of August 24, 2012 the game holds a 44 out of 100 or "generally unfavorable" rating on review aggregate site metacritic, based on 18 reviews, of which 11 have been negative, 7 have been mixed, and 0 have been positive.^[10] As of August 25, 2012, the game holds 44.83% rating on video game aggregate site GameRankings, based on 12 reviews. Furthermore, as of August 25, 2012, they list Dinosaurs 3D as #11686 on their list of best video games, #97 on their list of best 3DS games,#789 on their list of best games released during 2011, and #69 on their list of best 3DS games released during 2011.^[11] As a general rule, critics praised Combat of Giants: Dinosaurs 3D for good graphics and a large set of playable dinosaurs while they disliked the redundant campaign and simplistic combat, which they felt was uninteresting.

GameFocus writer Jay Acevedo gave Combat of Giants: Dinosaurs 3D a 6.3 out of 10, and praised the game because "kids will have a blast fighting different dinosaurs" while criticizing it for lack of replay value. He stated that the basic concept was good and that he wished Ubisoft would "push the franchise beyond the simplistic nature."^[12]

ImpulseGamer reviewer James Wright gave the game a 6.0 rating in gameplay, a 7.5 rating in graphics, a 7.0 rating in sound, a 6.0 rating in value, and a 6.0 overall rating(all out of 10). He praised the game for "good use of the 3D technology of the 3DS", "decent" animation, "realistic textures", "great use of depth", and "kind of cool" sound effects. He also criticized the game for its limited multiplayer aspects and "very little replay value."^[2]

Da Gameboyz writer Daniel gave Combat of Giants: Dinosaurs 3D an 8 in graphics, a 3 in gameplay, a 7 in sound, a 4 in tilt, and an overall rating of 5.5(all out of 10). He praised it for excellent 3D graphics but criticized it for "lack of gameplay variety" and "simplistic controls. He stated that he does not recommend it for "more mature gamers."^[13]

IGN reviewer Jack DeVries scored the game with a 7 in presentation, a 6 in graphics, a 6 in sound, a 5 in gameplay, a 5 in lasting appeal, and a 5.5 or "mediocre" overall rating(all out of 10). He called the game's concept "brilliant" but felt that the game did not live up to this concept. He felt that the game needed "More varied gameplay, a longer career that got challenging and multiplayer."^[14]

Josh Max, a writer for Nintendo World Report, wrote an article in which he gave Combat of Giants: Dinosaurs 3D a rating of 5 out of 10. He praised the game for fun dinosaur customization, an excellent concept, and being "easy to pick up and play." That said, he disliked the low difficulty and lack of replay value, and he felt that the game could have made better use of the 3DS's 3D capabilities. Max ultimately concluded that the game "has an amazing concept but, unfortunately, fell short of its potential." ^[3]

GameSpot writer Jane Douglas gave Dinosaurs 3D a 4.5 out of 10 or "poor" rating. She criticized the game for a redundant campaign, lack of use of the touch screen, ineffective use of the 3DS's StreetPass capabilities, and the lack of a head-to-head multiplayer combat mode. She also found the combat system to be overly simplistic, saying that "Only very young or inexperienced players will be challenged by the carefully telegraphed dodge-hit-dodge battles." However, she praised the game for "Amusing dino customization" and "neat visuals", saying that "the visuals are decent and amiably colourful."^[1]

See also

• Combat of Giants: Dinosaurs
• Combat of Giants: Dinosaurs Fight for Survival
• Combat of Giants: Dinosaur Strike

References

External links

• http://www.nintendo3ds.ubi.com/portal/en-US/browse/combat-of-giants-dinosaurs/index.aspx - This is Ubisoft's official website for Combat of Giants: Dinosaurs 3D. It contains some game information and screenshots. It also allows visitors to add the product to an online "cart" and ultimately buy the game.