CNET Networks Entertainment GameSpot | GameFAQs | Metacritic | MP3.com | TV.com
Home | About Metacritic | About Metascores | What's New | Wireless Versions | Discussion Forums | Advertising Inquiries | Contact Us | RSS
Metacritic.com: We Deal With Criticism
     Help
> Switch to Advanced Search  
Film Video/DVD Music Games Books TV
Printer-Friendly Version Email This Page Discuss In Our Forums

Games

Playstation Reviews
PS3 | PS2 | PS One | PSP

Xbox Reviews
Xbox 360 | Xbox

Nintendo Reviews
Wii | DS | GBA | Cube | N64


PC | N-Gage | Dreamcast

How Metascores Are Calculated
Discuss Games In Our Forums

 

Upcoming & Recent Releases

sort by name sort by score

80 Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation
43 America's Army: True Soldiers
60 Arkadian Warriors
xx Army of Two
81 Assassin's Creed
54 Asteroids / Asteroids Deluxe
54 Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Burning Earth
54 Battlestar Galactica
71 Bee Movie Game
51 Beowulf
62 BlackSite: Area 51
63 Bladestorm: The Hundred Years' War
55 Boogie Bunnies
xx Bully: Scholarship Edition
88 Burnout Paradise
xx Cabela's Big Game Hunter 2008
94 Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
57 Cars Mater-National
75 Chessmaster Live
63 Clive Barker's Jericho
78 Club, The
81 College Hoops 2K8
xx Commanders: Attack of the Genos
69 Conan
xx Condemned 2: Bloodshot
xx Conflict: Denied Ops
74 Culdcept Saga
67 Dance Dance Revolution Universe 2
67 Dark Messiah of Might and Magic: Elements
xx Destroy All Humans! Path of the Furon
85 Devil May Cry 4
xx Discs of Tron
xx Dynasty Warriors 6
77 Every Extend Extra Extreme
74 Exit
66 F.E.A.R. Files
61 FIFA Street 3
63 Final Fantasy XI: Wings of the Goddess
xx Frontlines: Fuel of War
42 Golden Compass, The
72 GripShift
85 Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock
38 History Channel: Battle for the Pacific, The
xx Jumper
66 Kane & Lynch: Dead Men
xx Karaoke Revolution Presents: American Idol Encore
54 Kingdom Under Fire: Circle of Doom
77 Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Anniversary
80 LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga
73 Lost Odyssey
xx Lost: Via Domus
xx Major League Baseball 2K8
91 Mass Effect
79 Metal Slug 3
xx Monster Jam
76 Mutant Storm Empire
71 MX vs. ATV Untamed
78 Naruto: Rise of a Ninja
xx NBA Ballers: Chosen One
69 NCAA March Madness 08
72 Need for Speed ProStreet
48 NFL Tour
72 Omega Five
xx Phantasy Star Universe: Ambition of the Illuminus
82 Poker Smash
xx PopCap Arcade Vol. 1
80 Pro Evolution Soccer 2008
87 Rez HD
93 Rock Band
73 Scene It? Lights, Camera, Action
40 Screwjumper!
xx Sega Superstars Tennis
81 Sensible World of Soccer
48 Shrek-N-Roll
70 Simpsons Game, The
51 Soldier of Fortune: Payback
64 Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe
53 Spiderwick Chronicles, The
55 SpongeBob SquarePants Underpants Slam!
78 Switchball
47 Tempest
70 TimeShift
xx Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas 2
48 Tron
xx Turning Point: Fall of Liberty
71 Turok
76 Undertow
xx Universe at War: Earth Assault
xx Viking: Battle for Asgard
88 Virtua Fighter 5
55 Viva Pinata: Party Animals
xx Warhammer: Battle March
44 Word Puzzle
71 WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW 2008

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed games.



Beowulf xbox360 Game Reviews
Beowulf
Critic Score
Metascore: 51 Metascore out of 100
User Score  
5.3 out of 10
based on 23 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
based on 15 votes
Read user comments
Rate this game

Gamers live the life of Beowulf, the legendary Norse warrior with the strength of 30 men who is torn between the nobility and brutality within him. Arrogant, self-serving and lustful for gold and glory, Beowulf journeys to Denmark to destroy a bloodthirsty beast wreaking havoc on a frigid land. But evil persists, and Beowulf succumbs to its lure of even greater fame, quietly maneuvering to claim the Danish throne. As King, Beowulf must face the consequences of ambition, even as war descends on the realm. As Beowulf, players lead their men, called thanes, into battle, slay the Titans of a dying age and crush the enemies that threaten to annihilate both their kingdom and people. Only then, when Beowulf looks Destiny in the eye, will he know what kind of hero he has truly become. Army of up to 12 thanes to unlock as players increase their heroic experience (by saving thanes, killing giant monsters, etc.). Players use the thane army to their advantage by giving orders, assigning positions, tailoring weapons to the situation or enemy and by triggering in-game mechanisms. The thane army evolves with upgradeable weapons (swords, mace and spears), skills and abilities. Use legacy experience points to gain thanes, replace weapons and upgrade Carnal abilities. Carnal Power allows the use of stronger attacks and special weapons. Carnal upgrades include less daze after use and prolonged use of Carnal Fury. But if used too much, there will be grave consequences. Dynamic combat system including combos, parries and increasing skills as the player progresses. Grab ability allows Beowulf to hold on to walls or climb, as well as fight up close with visceral hand-to-hand combat against enemies and giant monsters. [Ubisoft]

PUBLISHER: Ubisoft
DEVELOPER: Ubisoft Tiwak
GENRE(S): Action, Adventure
PLAYERS: 1
ESRB RATING: M (Mature)
RELEASE DATE: November 13, 2007

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

70
GameTap
Beowulf: The Game had an opportunity to be a standout movie licensed game. Unfortunately the glitching just made it looks sloppy and in need of work. I enjoyed a lot of the fighting elements they introduced here, and the development team deserves a pat on the back for that.
Read Full Review
70
DailyGame
Beowulf lives up to its "M" rating, and there's plenty of hacking and slashing to be done here. But if you're looking for more than just bloody waterfalls and severed arms, you'll have to look elsewhere.
Read Full Review
70
Play Magazine
What it lacks in polish it makes up for in diversity and brutality. This is one bloody game. [Jan 2008, p.58]
65
Xbox World 360 Magazine UK
There's nothing broken here, but combat lacks flair and strategy is insignificant. [Jan 2008, p.68]
60
GamePro
If you liked what you saw at the theater and need a way to blow off a few hours then it's a perfect weekend rental. But it doesn't live up to the epic nature the classic poem and it certainly isn't going to make you forget about God of War III either.
Read Full Review
60
X360 Magazine UK
There's much to enjoy and Ubisoft does incorporate one or two nifty ideas. Sadly, though, we've seen it all before. [Issue 27, p.97]
60
Official Xbox Magazine
The button-pounding boss showdowns are challenging, and cutting a gory swathe through goons with the help of a half-dozen dim Thanes is crude fun, but you're likely to regret the expense than sing Beowulf's praises at the end of its eight hours. [Jan 2008, p.65]
58
Game Informer
In this day and age, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that a game based on a movie fares poorly, but for a character who has survived since 700AD, he deserves better treatment than this.
Read Full Review
58
Team Xbox
There’s some gruesome battling here, but nothing that’ll push you all that hard.
Read Full Review
56
Cheat Code Central
You can blast through the game on the lower difficulty in less than day. You will notice the title says: Beowulf: The Game. That's to distinguish it from the ancient manuscript. I tend to think of it as a disclaimer, or quite possibly a warning.
Read Full Review
50
GameSpy
Even with the support of the upcoming feature film (which supposedly donated art assets), it still manages to oscillate between looking positively stunning to heinously ugly.
Read Full Review
50
VideoGamer
It's just run-of-the-mill game design. Bar the occasionally impressive combat, Beowulf doesn't have enough to make it stand out.
Read Full Review
50
GameSpot
Even a merry band of adventurous thanes can't save this quest from ruin.
Read Full Review
50
Edge Magazine
A fairly standard game in a genre overflowing with quality. [Christmas 2007, p.99]
50
GameZone
A rehash of other games that did the job of melding great storytelling with original combat elements much better. This was a game which was greeted with high expectations, only to have those dashed.
Read Full Review
50
EuroGamer
Indeed, you could go so far as to say that it's old news, a little tedious, and there are countless other, better things around right now that improve on it in so many ways.
Read Full Review
48
Worth Playing
Thanks to its ability to maul the movie that it supposedly follows, Beowulf is a poor substitute for the film and an even more frustrating experience on the console, given its clumsy fight mechanics, uninspired enemies and the repetitive button-mashing.
Read Full Review
40
GameDaily
The presentation isn't bad and the rhythm mini-games are neat, but overall, Beowulf crumbles under his own dead weight.
Read Full Review
40
IGN
Ubisoft Shanghai and Tiwak did a magnificent job of butchering the reimagining of a classic tale and providing plenty of disposable, derivative gameplay to go along with it.
Read Full Review
40
Games Radar
Destined to line bargain bin bottoms. It has its hacking and slashing moments, but like so many movie-licensed titles, it reeks of a truncated production schedule and a too-heavy reliance on a story intended for another medium.
Read Full Review
40
Official Xbox Magazine UK
If you really must satisfy your bloodlust, then "Conan" is the slightly better option. [Jan 2008, p.91]
30
1UP
But the worst part? Beowulf features a minigame that rewards players for not having sex with Grendel's mother, played by a near-nude Angelina Jolie in the movie, for as long as humanly possible. That's just wrong.
Read Full Review
25
Game Revolution
The real problem with the game is that it’s too light on everything. Too light on action. Too light on excitement. Too light on story. And too light on gameplay. There’s no need to be subtle in a great hack-n-slash game since you need something to make the game worth playing. But you won’t even find mindless action here, only a brain-dead game.
Read Full Review

What Our Users Said

Vote Now! The average user rating for this game is 5.3 (out of 10) based on 15 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Jesus S. gave it a0:
Not worth $60. From start to finish, sitting on the toilet after eating 60 bucks of taco bell would have been a better use of my money.

T. W. gave it a0:
Possibly the worst game ever created. There is no new material here, just another remake of a hack and slash game. Boring weapons, boring plot, boring characters.

Christopher X. gave it a10:
Beowulf is by far the biggest savage on the 360 right now. when you see him make his BEAST face after taking down enemies like SEA SERPENTS! you'll understand. in the meantime save that lunch money, kid!

Ricky W. gave it an8:
You really gotta see when Beowulf goes into Carnal Fury. It's crazy, like a limit break but in a sort of 3rd person shooter/adventure game. Everything turns totally red and you're in a rage, your strength is tenfold and everybody gets messed up! The story is ok, while the graphics aren't all that, but overall the battles are well worth the money.

Henry A. gave it a9:
I can't put my finger on it exactly but these graphics are something else. not exactly smooth, but not very rough. the colors and camera angles might be it, they're very impressive. the voice acting is fairly impressive as well, much better than most games i've played.

Ben S. gave it a9:
Beowulf doesn't seem to be anymore than a game where you run around slaughtering enemies. Which is great! I love that about this game. It cuts to the point: fighting! The plot is pretty good but I'm not big on video game stories. Also, the controls are very good, very minimal. Only a light attack and heavy attack buttons for fighting, which make up great combos for fighting. Basically a great fighting game.

Discuss this game in our forums

Return to top of page
Home | FILM | DVD/VIDEO | MUSIC | GAMES | BOOKS | TV | Forums | About Metacritic metacritic.com

About CNET Networks | Jobs | Advertise | Partnerships                                Visit other CNET Networks sites:

Copyright ©2007 CNET Networks, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms of Use