It's been a while since we've seen a game devoted to everybody's favourite Gallic comic duo, Asterix and Obelix. It's also been quite a while since we've seen a good old fashioned beat-em-up, the new Turtles game disappointed and the Lord of the Rings games don't exactly fit in the no nonsense category. Asterix and Obelix have never turned down a good fight, so French developer Etranges Libellules thought it would be a good idea to bring back Asterix and Obelix in a beat-em-up game. There are bits of platforming and pieces of puzzling in Asterix & Obelix XXL, but it's mainly about beating up lots of Romans.

 

The first thing you'll notice about Asterix & Obelix XXL is the vast amount of enemies you get to fight with, the press report even talks about battling up to 70 Romans at a time. Even in the first level there are places where the swarm of enemies seems endless, resulting in massive battles with Romans flying everywhere, just like in the comics. The press report also goes to great lengths about controlling Asterix and Obelix; it claimed you control them both at the same time, creating unique gameplay possibilities. Unfortunately this is not entirely how it works in the game. You just control Asterix in most of the game; Obelix runs along and smacks enemies around automatically. There are a few places where you get to control Obelix, mostly in puzzle situations, but unless you count the fact that Obelix follows you as you walk around you never really control both of the heroes at the same time.

So the game may not be as unique and inventive as publisher Atari makes it out to be, it's still a lot of fun to play though. Controlling Asterix or Obelix is very simple, the jump button and the attack button are the ones you'll be pressing most of the time. Simple fight mechanics can make a game boring quite easily, but beating up Roman soldiers doesn't seem to get tedious. This is probably because the action is really fast, Asterix runs around like he has to keep up with Sonic and Captain Falcon at the same time, especially when you've found a flask of the famous strength-giving magic potion. The high speed makes the fights look as chaotic as they did in the comics, but it doesn't make them to chaotic to play comfortably.

 

Asterix & Obelix XXL is your first chance to see Asterix and his friends in 3D. It's not the prettiest game around, but what it lacks in high resolution models and Cube-torturing special effects it makes up in character. The models and surroundings really look like their comic counterparts, even though Etranges Libellules chose not to use cel-shading. There are only six levels to battle your way through, but they are quite large and varied. You'll visit classic Asterix locations like Greece, Hispania and Britain, all very detailed and complete with matching enemies to fight.

In the version we played there was no two player mode, something that the license just screams for. Given the nature of the puzzles though, it's unlikely there will be one in the final version of the game. Apart from this missed opportunity it looks like Asterix & Obelix XXL will be a simple but entertaining title. Stay tuned here to see just how simple and how entertaining it'll be in our full review.