First, just to put your anxiety to rest - the game isn’t as crappy as the movie. You know it’s a bad sign when their aren’t any previews, or screeners, set up before opening day… Aeon Flux, based off of the hit MTV anime series from a few years back, is brought to us by Terminal Reality and Majesco. This slick sci-fi action romp stars a femme fatale, not seen since the days of Tomb Raider.

Graphically, the exploding colors and sleek designs are quite impressive. This is the same engine as the Blood Rayne series, and while a little dated, it still holds up well. It is also faithful to the anime-feel, with lithe character models and sharp angles. They animate quite well too, from a flourishing range of acrobatic moves, to the way enemies go down after a vicious pounding - all with sexy rag-doll physics. The CG work is also quite good, showing the lovely Charlize Theron in all her deadly glory. Even her character running around looks pretty dang accurate too boot. Level designs are decently sized and varied with lots of platform elements, containing lots of special effects from particle elements, smoke effects and all types of awesome explosions.

Sound wise, the weapon effects are quite robust, and seem to pack a punch. The music is a blend of futuristic techno beats, accompanied by some decent bass effects. It is a very fitting theme, if nothing less. Charlize Theron actually voices the main character, and helps add some substance, while fleshing out the role of Aeon. The other voice actors do a serviceable job, although no more big name actors lend their talent. Overall, nothing extremely memorable, but nothing that detracts from the gameplay.

First off, you take Aeon Flux across a tutorial, learning the ropes and basic movement controls. From here, you move into a mess of thickening plot lines about crime, totalitarianism and even more dastardly plots in this quasi-Utopian society. Aeon lives in the walled, fortress-like city of Bregna, caught up in the fight for freedom against the powers that be. Her main enemy, Trevor Goodchild, is a constant thorn in her aims to live in a free society. The world apparently died due to a virus of unseen destruction, thus encapsulating all the remaining inhabitants in this last bastion of humanity.

The missions will string you along disjointedly, often taking the perspective of another persona, throughout this web of intrigue. This will take you from fighting against the Monican resistance, to supporting the militaristic Breen soldiers in vicious firefights, across seven segments. It’s a bit of an interesting idea, not seen in many games these days, but with such a strong character, it’s an odd choice, frankly. It would have been a better role-playing adventure if it had a tighter focus on Aeon, but this isn’t to be. This whole process is again hampered by weak linkage between the segments, such as the haphazard cinematics that show a lot of flash, but not much substance.

Thankfully, you have a wide array of moves to deploy. You can use grappling hooks to scale rooftops, tiptoe along ledges, hack into turrets, as well as a host of slick martial arts moves; from grapples, kicks, punches, blocks, and more. The cliché “bullet-time” Flux move is pretty cheesy, to say the least, but at least it will bail you out in a pinch or two. I just wish these developers would let this trend die already. I can easily count over ten games in the last couple years that have this feature, and two that just came out - F.E.A.R and GUN.

And yes, there is a lot of platforming, something I’m personally not the most fond of, although it’s decent here. It’s more akin to Prince of Persia, than say a classic Mario-“twitch jumper.” You will leap around ships, scramble up buildings and more closely resemble some kind of 25th century rock climber than deadly assassin. The targeting is a bit wonky as well, which isn’t a good thing in the heat of battle. You automatically lock onto your enemies, forcing you to turn your body to attack your foes, quite awkward as you can imagine. There are several different types of ammo such as shockwave and magma rounds that come in handy in different circumstances, depending on your enemy. Be sure to use it wisely, or you could be in a dire situation on occasion.

You will also have to take on some puzzles, involving strange “transport balls” and many of these sequences will keep you on your toes. I had to restart a number of times actually. These may look simple, but they are far from it. There are a few glitches as well, most notably with some funky A.I. patterns. It seems like the Breen soldiers are a bit daft, perhaps they had it too easy in their futuristic world. They sure don’t seem very good shots. The resistance fighters have their moments of idiocy as well, but they seem sharper overall. Perhaps they are just integrated into the missions better. Lastly, there is no multiplayer to speak of, making this a one and done affair that should give you 10-12 hours of modest fun.

Aeon Flux really won’t give you headaches, aside from the mini-ball puzzles and the occasional tricky platform situation. The enemy A.I. is also simplistic enough so you can wade through most levels with ease. I was surprisingly enthused about the intro tutorial, how it nicely worked into the game, while also helping you with the basics. Not much to it though folks - just flash some moves, shoot a few baddies, and scale a few obstacles and you are gravy.

The controls respond quite well, always a good thing in an action/platformer like this. It’s just too bad the horrible auto-targeting causes such pains, or we might have a quality title here. Seriously, this is some of the clumsiest targeting I have seen in years.

Ultimately, Aeon Flux is a solid action game that blends sharp graphics, a unique environment, with a mix of gameplay elements, coupled with the crucial plotlines from the movie. And remember too, it’s a good measure better than said movie, so go and give this decent title a shot. Heck, even a rental would be good times. Fans of the series should be in for a treat, while others will still get a few kicks in. They even included a theater ticket for admission…. good luck getting anyone else to go with you though.