Jumanji: Wild Adventures, developed by Cradle Games and published by Outright Games, invites players to embark on a new adventure in the dangerous world of Jumanji. The premise revolves around recovering the stolen jewel, dubbed The Jaguar’s Eye, and finding a way back home safely. Based on the recent films, players can choose from heroes like Smolder Bravestone, Ruby Roundhouse, Mouse Finbar, and Shelly Oberon, each equipped with unique abilities. The game takes players through uncharted territories, from forgotten villages to icy mountains, presenting a variety of challenges including puzzles and enemies. We tested the PlayStation 5 version.
In order to make Jumanji: Wild Adventures a family-friendly game, players can tailor the experience to their preference with built-in difficulty setting. Whether opting for a more relaxed exploration or a challenging adventure, Jumanji: Wild Adventures accommodates different playstyles for when you’re looking to tackle this one solo and want the right level of challenge for yourself. The AI, sometimes rushing ahead of you, isn’t perfect though. In that sense, the cooperative multiplayer feature enhances the experience, letting you cooperate with younger players for a family adventure.
The inclusion of a Jeep for exploration adds a fun dimension to the game, providing players with a fast option to navigate the world. However, a sometimes awkward camera perspective can lead to blind jumps here and there, which can be a bit frustrating despite the presence of frequent checkpoints helps mitigate unexpected falls.
In terms of gameplay mechanics, the combat system offers a mix of attacks and weapon usage, with each character bringing their unique style to the table. The game successfully creates a sense of engagement, particularly when facing off against insect enemies or human foes from warring factions. The addition of collectibles and upgrades adds depth to the experience, allowing players to customize and enhance their heroes, and it’s good that combat can scale from simple button mashing (for less experienced players) to mixing and matching abilities and movies for those looking to have some fun with the various options.
Visually, Jumanji: Wild Adventures presents a vibrant world with well-designed character models that closely resemble their movie counterparts. The levels are visually appealing as well, with adventure-ready settings like a temple filled with spiders. The audio elements, including the music and sound effects, contribute effectively to the immersive experience, although the voice work isn’t done by the original actors and some character phrases repeat too much during combat.
And while Jumanji: Wild Adventures may not revolutionize the action-adventure genre, it manages to deliver an entertaining experience faithful to the movies that’s suitable to fans of all ages. The game’s strengths lie in its engaging gameplay, cooperative multiplayer, and faithful adaptation of the Jumanji universe. With its accessible gameplay, various difficulty settings, and child-friendly design, it provides an engaging entry point into the world of Jumanji. As is often the case with games by Outright, older players may find the game to be somewhat simplistic, but this one is great to play together with kids after having seen the films together.
Score: 7.0/10
Press Play Media 