When going into a game based on a movie license, one generally knows what to expect. Despite the often-hurried developer’s best intentions, the end product is typically a sloppy, repetitive, and second rate (or lower) experience. Only when a licensed game is true to its source material, looks good, and plays well is anyone actually surprised. Unfortunately, there is nothing surprising about Clash of the Titans.

The game puts you into the role of Perseus, the human son of Zeus. Tensions are high between the gods and humanity, with many folks trying to break away from the gods-worshiping days of the past. Despite their devotion to the old ways, Perseus’ adopted family and village are destroyed by Hades. With a newfound hatred of the gods, Perseus is tasked with helping humanity survive their attempt at breaking away from the gods who seemingly care so little about them.

In many ways, Clash of the Titans is essentially a poor man’s God of War. The two clearly share a similar backdrop full of gods and mythology and are both hack-and-slash action games. They also both involve playing as a man seeking vengeance for the wrongdoing of the selfish gods. However, while describing Clash of the Titans as a poor man’s God of War may be somewhat accurate, I believe it to be insulting to both God of War and poor men everywhere. In fact, a far more accurate way to describe almost every inch of this game is awkward and poorly done.

Top 10 War Games Of This Generation

Everything We Know About The Xbox One

Xbox One The Reveal - Trailers

Avoiding the Video Game Feminism Trap

10 Lies Gamers Tell

Is Nintendo Abandoning The Console Business?

Hype Is Killing Game Expectations

Why Do We Care About "Fake Girl Gamers?"

Microsoft’s Next Console Is Called Infinity?

10 Characters That Need To Die

Wolfenstein: The New Order Is Already Ruined?

The PS4 Does PC Gaming A Big Favor

More Special Features...

When a game has as many problems as this one, it can be difficult to know where to start. I suppose the overly complicated and unsatisfying combat is as good a place as any. Perseus has the ability to perform light, heavy, and sub weapon attacks. Light and heavy attack buttons can be mashed and alternated to create combos, although you will only find a few variations. Sub weapon attacks, on the other hand, require souls to use, which limits their effectiveness. In order to gain the souls you need to perform sub weapon attacks, you will need to drain the soul power from enemies.

You’ll typically find yourself in fights against multiple enemies; however, you are able to lock onto a single enemy to make things easier. When this works correctly, which isn’t always the case, you are able to see an aura around the foe you are focused on. This aura will let you know what state your enemy is in and whether you can perform a soul seize or sub weapon seize on it.

When an enemy turns light or dark blue, you will be able to drain its soul energy and add it to your meter. However, if a foe is flashing orange, you can perform a sub weapon seize. This attack will thrust the player into a quick-time event (QTE) where they’ll simply have to time a few button presses (which buttons you choose to press doesn’t matter). If completed successfully, you’ll often gain your enemy’s weapon as well as a random gift. As a result of these attacks, most battles involve focusing on one enemy, slashing them until they glow, using a seize attack, and then moving on to the next foe. Considering each type of enemy also only has one type of QTE for these seizes, this gets tedious and boring almost instantly.

There are actually a good number of weapons to be had in this game but most are rather similar. These weapons can be upgraded using the gifts you receive from seizes and defeating enemies. Unfortunately, rooting through the menus of this game is a painful experience in itself. Just trying to find out what you are upgrading and what is needed to do so takes much longer than it should.