The book was great, the film was mediocre and the subsequent game (can you see where this is going yet?) is simply terrible. Even when looked upon as a game created for younger, less demanding gamers, the PS3 release of The Golden Compass falls way below even the most modest expectations of a film to game tie-in. On the surface, the variety of gameplay elements suggests that there's a varied and perhaps even exciting adventure to be had. Sadly, nearly every aspect of the game is hugely repetitive, often bordering on being completely broken.

The game, much like the movie and novel, isn't hugely dissimilar to Buena Vista's Chronicles of Narnia, released in 2005. Although a hugely disappointing title in its own right, Shiny nevertheless have chosen to follow in almost exactly the same footsteps, creating a disjointed game with far too many half-baked, poorly executed ideas, all clumsily brought together in a way that completely fails to create a coherent gaming experience. Even more shocking is that The Golden Compass is even more awful than Narnia, with the developers somehow managing to take all the worst aspects of that release while ignoring its few features that actually worked.

If you are unfamiliar with the Philip Pullman novel or the movie that the game is based upon then, well, you are probably going to be in trouble (and for that matter shouldn't even think about picking this up). The story, which has been turned into a confusingly stilted mess by Shiny, plays on the assumption that you have already watched the movie and are fully aware of all characters and story arcs beforehand. Saying that, even if you have watched the movie, or read the book, it is amazing just how poorly the story has been translated from into this game. If you can decipher the story from the mess that has been made here, you will find that it follows the heroine of Lyra on her supposedly epic journey, along with her daemon Pan, the physical embodiment of her soul, who can transform into four different animals to help her along the way as they search for a group of missing children that includes Lyra's closest friend Roger. This is of course the story at its most basic, with the rest being filled in by poor cut scenes and clumsily introduced clips from the movie that do little to improve the quality of storytelling throughout the game.

As I am sure you have already guessed, the gameplay is a bit of a mess in The Golden Compass; although there are many variations of it, most of which are boring and poorly thought out, the general gameplay can be split into four or five sections. Firstly there is exploration, where you wander around as Lyra, encountering different events, most of which are handled as mini-games unto themselves that include mopping (yes, mopping!), hiding and collecting orbs and so on. Few are linked to the narrative and few are fun. Most of them are based around quick time button presses, something that is relied upon far too often throughout the game.

Then there are the platforming sections. In fairness, there are some nice ideas here, most of which involve Pan transforming and helping Lyra achieve her objectives. These include Pan transforming into a Hawk to help Lyra glide from one platform to the next or be used as a grappling hook for some basic swinging actions. Sadly though, you always have to come back to slow, cumbersome Lyra. It seems to take her ages to get anywhere, and when she does, actually achieving your goal becomes pointlessly infuriating thanks to loose controls and a very poorly implemented fixed camera that often decides to go walkabout while you are in the middle of a jump. It also doesn't help that the landscapes are so painfully linear either, leaving absolutely no chance for experimentation when using Pan's abilities.

One element of the gameplay that really should have shone is the opportunity to play as the awesome warrior polar bear, Iorek Byrnison. Sadly, even these levels add up to little more than repetitive button bashing of the most basic kind. Okay, so smashing through hordes of enemies as a giant armoured polar bear is unquestionably cool, but overall it just feels like another missed opportunity. Of the three types of enemies you face as Iorek - witches, wolves and Tartars - each and every one can be defeated with ease by continually smashing one button over and over again. This really is a shame, as there is an opportunity to string a few nice looking moves together. Melee attacks carry some decent weight and picking up and throwing your opponent around is fun for a little while. Your rage can also be built up by attacking enemies, allowing for some special attacks, such as a ground pound to do some extra damage. Again, this all sounds pretty cool, but thanks to the brainless enemies and simplistic nature of the gameplay, it becomes utterly worthless beyond its slight initial aesthetic pleasure.

Mini-games are rife throughout The Golden Compass too, almost to the point of being ridiculous. Although they are used throughout your brief exploration of the environments, they come into play none more so than when Lyra attempts to deceive certain characters. These are made up of a set of short mini-games that vary from mildly entertaining to plain dire and they are once again made up of quick time button presses This type of gameplay continues as you ask The Golden Compass questions, with answers being revealed after yet another quick mini-game consisting of even more timed button presses as you aim a reticule centred on the compass. This again emphasises the hugely repetitive nature of the gameplay, while the continuous reliance on quick time events to try and bring some urgency to an otherwise painfully pedestrian offering becomes more and more obvious as the game goes on.

Beyond the gameplay, the visuals once again hand out another huge disappointment. It is quite clear that the PS3 version is nothing more than a slightly touched up, high-definition port of the PS2 version. Although this doesn't suffer from the same slowdown issues as the Wii and PS2 versions and is clearly more detailed, it still suffers from very muddy textures, uninspiring locations and art design, as well as poor animations and numerous graphical bugs to boot. The whole graphical package reeks of rushed development and generally comes across as being somewhat cheap. Simply put, The Golden Compass is nowhere near the levels expected of even a first generation next-gen title and proves as just another example of how developers will happily hand out second-rate products as long as there's a name that will sell on the front of the box.

The audio effects don't fare much better either; although the voice work is passable, the sound effects often don't match up to what is happening onscreen and when they do they're continuously out of sync. Worryingly, they often don't turn up at all, leaving silent visual effects that once again mark this game out as cheaply made and very rushed. There is one shining light however and that is the orchestral score, created specifically for the game, which is continuously magnificent. It truly is amazing to hear a score quite so good in a game that is quite so bad. Needless to say, you will probably have more fun playing this game with your eyes closed.

If I am being lenient, The Golden Compass may hold a passing interest for the least demanding of gamers. Children under ten might find a modicum of fun amongst the varying game modes and will probably enjoy any time spent controlling Iorek - he is a giant armoured polar bear after all. Remove leniency however and the game is simply shocking; it is a poorly put together mishmash of ideas that never gels. Ugly, repetitive and painfully boring, its mercifully short length and rousing orchestral score are its only redeeming qualitites. Needless to say, regardless of whether you are a fan of the series, young or old, this game simply isn't worth your time or your money.

Reviewed by Liam Pritchard for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).