It's live-action footage that initially sets the scene, though. You play as scriptwriter Jack Driscoll, persuaded by film-maker Carl Denham to embark on a quest to the mysterious Skull Island for his latest, not-altogether-honest, venture. Once there the game begins proper and you are thrown into the action after crash-landing on the island in a fierce storm. This feeling of dampness is accurately portrayed with a wet and miserable humidity all around. The mist and dew for once has its place and is not seemingly a shortcut to simply curtail the draw distance. The first battle is literally around the corner with your comrades Hayes, Ann and Carl all pitching in and doing their part against a swarm of giant crabs. As per traditional movie roles, Ann is the heroine more prone to shrieking and cowering away from danger whilst Carl is the self-centred egotist, more interested in shooting film than shooting foes and they play these parts perfectly. Ann particularly grows in stature and confidence as she bonds with Kong, unsure whether to fight or flee.

The biggest part of all though goes to the 25-foot gorilla, a hulking monster with an unnerving human touch. When he first appears from the gloom – a towering shadow emerging from the undergrowth, obscured by smoke and light – it is still gripping even though you know what to expect. Ostensibly a first-person shooter, for those not in the know a refreshing and surprising transformation occurs about a third of the way into the game when you take control of Kong, protecting Ann whilst fighting off giant insects, smaller dinosaurs and the larger, more terrifying V-rex. Playing this character is an altogether different beast, with the view switching to a third-person perspective - the nimbleness of Jack being replaced by the brute force of Kong. As expected, Kong has a different skill set too as he is able to climb rock faces, swing from precipice to precipice as well as invoking a blind fury. The latter move is the jungle equivalent of bullet time. It takes a few seconds of chest pounding to enter but once there Kong is more powerful and enemy kills are satisfyingly portrayed in slow-motion.

King Kong was innovative in a number of ways which were perhaps overlooked back in the day amongst all the next-gen hullabaloo. It is much easier to pick them out now in the calm after the storm and with the additional benefit of hindsight. Whilst today it is fairly common for games to have little in the way of a HUD, as a next-gen launch title it was a brave decision. Sure, there were, no doubt, minimalist-HUD games before but King Kong was truly HUD-less. Even paused, the game provides no ancillary information. The weapon you see in Jack's hands is the weapon you have equipped. If you want to know how many bullets you have left, then pressing B causes Jack to take a look and provide a commentary to let you know. There is no on-screen aiming reticule - instead, when throwing spears and such you can zoom in the view a little, with Jack's other hand providing a rough guide. Even your health is abstracted – if you are attacked the screen turns red. The redder it is, the more danger you are in. Typically you could only sustain two or three direct attacks from most of the creatures on the island with the gigantic V-rex being capable of killing in one swift bite. Finding cover is thus essential as you need to rest temporarily until your health returns to normal. Killing off your enemy quickly is also another strategy, however this is made all the more difficult by the red hue obscuring all moving objects, causing them to appear as little more than shadows. The end result is often wild and frantic shooting. If some of this sounds a little bit like another extremely popular Xbox 360 action-adventure-cum-shooter then bear in mind that just like Marcus Fenix, King Kong has no jump button either.

It can be considered next-gen in other ways too. It may seem almost inconsequential but swapping spears with Ann only to throw it away and watch as Carl then bends down to pick it up himself, lends the game an air of sophistication and realism to complement its fantastical atmosphere. The characters are believable and prepared to fend for themselves - and who can blame them on an island fraught with such dangers? Annoyingly, they can sometimes be a little too eager though. With Peter Jackson supposedly lending more than just his name to the game, doubtless it is the Hollywood influence that sculpted this title into one that is driven by its story and characters. You cannot sit back and be passive. Instead you must keep up with the plot as Carl, Ann and Hayes all steam ahead, moving on and waiting for you at the next set-piece as if desperate to get out of the jungle hell-hole. To risk letting them go on their merry way is to risk failure as should any of them die then you pay the price by restarting from the last checkpoint. Thankfully though these are many and fairly regular.

The dialogue between your companions as they talk amongst themselves and to you is refreshing and unique with barely any repetition. It can be difficult to hear what they are saying at times though, primarily due to the directional sound which means that should you turn away then their speech becomes muted. This can be alleviated by enabling sub-titles however the timing is scripted so well to the game's environment that they talk regardless of whether you are present or not. Unless you are there it can make little sense as it is difficult to know what they are referring to. Many games tell their stories through the use of the in-game engine but how many solely tell their stories in-game?

These are not hugely serious flaws though, as there is not much need to dawdle. There are no hidden passages to discover; no secret coins to collect; no inaccessible platforms that can only be reached once you have powered up; no branching paths to take. No, the game is as linear an experience as the movie. Being driven forward and compelled to follow only heightens the sense of urgency. You cannot hang back, exploring all around knowing that not until you pass the next invisible barrier will the game truly continue – but then, there is no need to anyway.

As if to emphasise this rail-roading, the majority of the game takes place – despite the jungle setting - amongst narrow passages and paths, blocked in by ruins and bracken. Your field of view is similarly restricted too. This is not a problem when viewing open spaces or when providing covering fire for your comrades from a high vantage point but should you find yourself running for your life and becoming momentarily disoriented, then it becomes difficult to correct your path as you cannot distinguish your position due to your narrow vision and the close proximity to whatever obstruction you are pressed against.

Set-piece to set-piece, action to action, King Kong is like an extended movie trailer - all the best bits with little of the in-between dreariness. One of the game's more open and memorable set-pieces involves a herd of peaceful brontosaurus whom you must run amongst in order to light a spear, returning back to burn bracken and clearing your path. The sense of scale is impressive, brontosauri towering above you, unaware of your insignificant presence underfoot. A sense of tension is maintained by the orchestral music increasing in tempo prior to the occasional and dangerous venatosaurus emerging from the gloom. If that wasn't enough then upon your return the herd turns into a stampede and for good reason – a huge V-rex is on their tail and soon on yours.

The game is not without its faults, however. Most are arguably minor, such as the notoriously easy achievements awarded. One has to bear in mind though, that this was at the launch of the 360 and developers were only beginning to find their feet. Other bugs are less forgiving, such as Ann continually hitting smouldering embers as she tries to light her torch - but even then these are not critical. Being story-driven, the game was also broken up into short chapters, sometimes exceedingly short. With a load required between each one it could mean playing for possibly a few minutes before needing to load the next level. What undoubtedly cast a shadow over the whole game though, and left a sour taste in gamers' mouths, was the darkness debacle. This left those players with standard-def TVs unable to make out the action and enjoy the proceedings. This was soon patched by Ubisoft as they released an update via Xbox Live which added a gamma option to the main menu along with some other minor improvements. By then though the damage was most probably done.

Still, in 2007 there is no need to worry about such issues. With the patch released long ago, if you haven't played King Kong it is well worth searching around for – with luck you'll be able to find it at what will be a bargain price. And just like Skull Island, if you do find it then you'll probably discover that it's not quite what you expected.