Story:
The story in this game is that you’re summoned by the chief of Hibernia’s daughter Keratine to locate the missing Golden Ram. The story goes that the Romans took it and you have to travel over the land and through the Romans to get it back.
Gameplay:
The game is set up as an isometric adventure game with light platforming and puzzle elements. You take control of both Asterix & Obelix with the ability to swap between the two at any time. The areas you explore have at least one or more puzzles to solve that are required to get to the next area. Despite having up to four players supported, that doesn’t do much to help add to the not-so-fun experience.
Each area is sprinkled with enemies to take on which can range from a few in a group to a rather large number that can seem overwhelming at times. Combat consists of hand-to-hand combat, various weapons like logs, spears, etc, or the enemies themselves can be used as a weapon.
Each level can seem rather long and uneventful due to the fact that there isn’t much more than environmental set pieces with the occasional group of enemies to either fight or run away from. After you complete an area or enter a new area, there will be a section of dialogue between the two characters, supporting NPC, and sometimes enemies.
The in-game voice acting is quite good and a welcome addition to a rather underwhelming game. It is a shame however that despite the dialogue being voiced, the character avatars are static and there is no body or facial animation to the dialogue.
Graphics and Performance:
Graphically the game feels half-baked, especially compared to previous entries in the Asterix & Obelix XXL series. In Asterix and Obelix XXL on PS2, the game had a cartoony look, and great environments that felt large and open. The camera angle in that game was that of the camera being behind the character you’re playing as. The environments in this game have a cartoony look, but the camera angle makes the game look worse than it should. The top-down perspective causes the graphical quality of the game to diminish and just seem rather bland and muddied. It also makes the game feel empty and doesn’t help to immerse the player.
While the game performs very well on the Xbox Series X, with a little slowdown, when played on the Xbox One S; it seems to struggle a bit. Slowdown generally occurs when the level first loads or when transitioning from one section of the level to the next, which is pretty frequent.
Sound:
Music and sound effects in the game make the environments come to life and make you feel like the game is an interactive cartoon. The lines of dialogue between the characters as you traverse the levels are a nice touch and work to give them personality.
Conclusion:
I absolutely loved the first entry in the Asterix & Obelix XXL series, and if you’re looking for a great game in the series, play that one. Unless you’re a die-hard fan of these two knuckleheads, then you might have a hard time finding enjoyment with this game.
That’s not to say that this is a bad game, just don’t expect this to be as good of a game as the rest of the games in this series.
Disclaimer: A review key was provided