Ben 10, for those who don't watch his Cartoon Network show, is about a young boy named Ben Tennyson, his Grandpa Max, his cousin Gwen and his Omnitrix, the futurist looking wristwatch bearer of alien characters and their great individual powers. The Omnitrix attached itself to Ben in the original story, when he investigated a space pod that fell from the sky. In Ben 10: Protector of Earth, a robotic mosquito extracts DNA from the Omnitrix on Ben's wrist; from there Ben and co travel across North America, battling against different leagues of foes and villains from two groups of enemies, Viglax with his drone droid army and Enoch with his medieval style Forever Knights.

The Omnitrix is the source of ten characters, hence the name Ben 10. However, in Protector of Earth Ben's choice of characters is limited to only five, which makes you wonder whether the game should actually be called Ben 5. Nevertheless, without the Omnitrix you would just be playing as a ten-year old kid with a few nifty moves in a cel-shaded outfit. The graphical style is worth noting, especially if you're a fan of the show, as virtually every animation and cel-shaded element is rendered pretty well for the PS2. Each playable character has their own mannerisms, as do the non-playable characters, all with good character art illustrations, making for an authentic Ben 10 experience. The backgrounds are well drawn too, giving more of a 3D feel to the proceedings, not just your typical side scrolling beat 'em up. The end level bosses also allow you to interact in different ways to defeat them, like literally jumping on the arm of a boss followed by a quick succession of prompted button presses, while the camera swings around the action for a dramatic and cinematic effect.

Ben 10 sounds the part too; the main menus feature the Ben 10 theme tune, with the actors from the show voicing their characters in the game, lending yet more authenticity to the experience. Every special move has its own audio byte too, which is easy to distinguish. When encountering an enemy for the first time, the narration mode jumps in, giving the low-down on the enemy's strengths and weaknesses before entering combat, which can be useful when you have little or no crystal energy left.

Controlling Ben and his alien characters is pretty straightforward; if you've played God of War then you'll be right at home. You move with the analogue stick, select Ben's alien alter egos with either the shoulder buttons or the right analogue stick and fight using the X, triangle and square buttons, which give you access to primary attacks, combos and special moves, backed up by jump and block. However, by the time you've worked out the combos, of which there are an impressive eighty, you'll be hitting the light and heavy strike buttons a lot quicker when hordes of enemies continually appear. Master these effectively though and both primary attack modes can get you out of trouble almost as quick as Ben takes the time to press his Omnitrix.

Playing as Ben has its downside though; apart from his special roll that can get him out of trouble momentarily, two hits is all it takes before he's out of action. Also, during combat, after pummelling an enemy you might find yourself dangling off the edge of one of the maps, then before you know it you've lost a life. It's best then to use your alien characters as much as possible, and you begin with Fourarms and Heatblast available. Swapping between Ben and his Omnitrix characters is a cinch, with use of the analogue or shoulder buttons. As you progress more characters are unlocked, each with their own unique special moves and abilities that enable you to get to certain points in a level. Assisted by onscreen pop-ups to give you guidance, you select the character needed for the task. When you first see a ramp in the game, you wonder how it can be used - then you gain Cannonbolt and realise. The Omnitrix initially has an egg-timer for each character and when it runs out you morph back into Ben. Only when you manage to progress through each level do the remaining characters become available. The same goes for infinite time with the alien characters - once you have enough Omnitrix crystals that are collected as you fight your way through the fourteen levels, the character egg timers are lifted.

When it comes to your alien forms, Fourarms uses brute force like lethal punching combinations and has the ability to pull rock boulders from the ground to throw at the enemy. Heatblast can absorb the fire that is sometimes scattered around levels that otherwise prevents your progress, while his jumping sonic boom air attacks can be valuable when in a tough spot, as is his tornado of fire special move. XLR 8, the lightning fast futuristic faun look-a-like, can wreak havoc with speed and quick combos on cumbersome enemies, performing a special move that resembles an electronic magnetic pulse effect - very useful on multiple adversaries. Cannonbolt meanwhile can roll up into an impenetrable ball, which when used effectively, can literally roll over enemies and generally be a complete nuisance to oncoming swarms. Lastly, Wildvine, a huge praying mantis type creature, can inflict damage with explosive seeds and wide ranging spin attacks, with the genetic knack to swing through puzzle sections when needed. This mixture of special abilities and combat attacks is just varied enough to keep the gameplay from falling victim to its formulaic nature.

The level designs are pretty minimal bar a few nicely drawn background objects, as each has a fixed route. Protector of Earth hasn't been designed with scope or exploration in mind, just a few straightforward puzzles along the way. An animated cut scene then follows between each successfully completed level, of which there are fourteen in total and four special challenge locations. You will find yourself revisiting levels after unlocking the different alien characters that allow you to reach previously inaccessible areas; however, this means having to fight through the same amount of enemies all over again, which can be frustrating and tiresome, unless there's a character you don't mind unleashing upon the lesser enemies every so often. Each wave of foes has to be defeated until the animated arrow pop-ups giving you directions and the difficulty of the opponents you face is broken down between Easy, Normal and Hero. Enemies like the Vilgax Defender and the Forever Knights will take a few rounds before defeating them, especially if only light or even heavy attacks are used. Using a super power is the best way to dispose of these foes, as their shield rating is high compared to a lot of the other nasties you meet.

On the multiplayer front, there's a great co-op mode that adds extra value to the single player game, while versus battles are available for you to play with friends and practise together or against each other. This adds an extra element to the gameplay and is fun in short bursts, but really the main single player game is where it's at, be it alone or with a buddy in tow.

The presentation and production values of Ben 10: Protector of Earth do the franchise justice, even if the gameplay is a little formulaic and jaded. The game's appeal is limited for gamers unfamiliar with the show, but if you're a fan of Ben 10 then you'll definitely enjoy what Protector of Earth has to offer, battling away with your newly discovered favourite character and laying waste to the hordes of enemies that stand in your way. It's a game that's aimed directly at kids who watch the show, and as such it succeeds in providing a fun and authentic experience for its target audience.

Reviewed by Alex Bickley for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).