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GKick Review: London 2012
July 10th, 2012 by Steve Perry
FACT SHEET
London 2012 | Available Now
PC, PS3, Xbox 360 | Publisher: SEGA | Developer: Sega Studios Australia
Every two years, like clockwork, the latest in Olympic multi-sport titles is pushed onto the market ahead of the year’s Games. Most of the time, these titles are often lackluster at best, obviously forced out as a quick cash grab before the Olympics start. But every now and then, a really well done game slips through the cracks. Is London 2012 one of those games? Well, you’ll just have to find out.
The first thing worth noting is that the game is presented extremely well. It retains all of the styles and visual elements – for better or worse – of the London 2012 Olympics and does a great job at rendering not only the athletes but also the venues. But visual elements aside, the one major thing that London 2012 gets right is the design and playability of the minigames.
London 2012 packs in 31 events spanning the most game-worthy options at the Olympics. The design of these events breaks a typical misstep that many Olympic games fall into where the controls are either bad or frustrating and make the whole experience dismal. Sega Australia did a fine job at making the game controls extremely easy to learn while also requiring time to perfect in order to get the best results.
As I mentioned before, the presentation is also excellent. Beyond the graphics, the in-game announcers, the medal ceremonies, and even in-game replays all come together to create a very charming entry into the pantheon of Olympic video games. While some of the events are a little too easy and some are a bit unforgiving in their controls, it seems that overall it does a fine job.