By now it should be no surprise that for every major motion picture, an accompanying video game also must be available. I always try to approach these games with an open mind, but I have been less than impressed with a majority of these types of games. The Golden Compass, published by Sega, would fall into that category.

Since I hadn't seen the movie or read the book, I was completely lost as to what was going on. The game made no attempt at trying to fill you in, probably because they're assuming the only reason you'd want this game is because you've already read the book or seen the movie. You begin on the back of a polar bear in the snowy mountains, and you're on your way to rescue a boy. Playing as the polar bear is fun, because you get to bash enemies and leap off ice cliffs. When you're playing Lyra, the heroine of the story, her daemon friend Pan can change shapes to help Lyra get across gaps by gliding or swinging.

The idea of it all might seem fun and interesting, but it really isn't — at least not for more than a few minutes. The controls are sluggish, and you'll find yourself unable to make jumps because the camera is fixed, yet still likes to move at the most inconvenient times. The gameplay is repetitive, and you spend a lot of time trying to balance yourself with the analog sticks or punching in button sequences. Button mashing with Iorek the armored polar bear is one of the highlights, especially when you get to build your rage meter and take out a group of enemies with one giant ground pound.

The story flows in a confusing manner because then you jump back two months, and you're wandering the rooftops of Jordan College. After a game of tag and then lying to as many people as you can come across, you're whisked away with Mrs. Coulter in a series of brief film clips. The constant change of environment keeps things fresh, I suppose, and I'm sure those who have read the book will appreciate it.

The game is clearly aimed at kids with all the minigames and redundant chores. Although I would think that even children have some standards when it comes to these types of games — catching and dodging orbs isn't exactly riveting stuff.

Visually, The Golden Compass does not look very good on the Xbox 360. The quality is at the PlayStation 2 level, and even then, there have been some sweet looking PS2 games, and this couldn't even compare. The characters are awkward-looking, and even the clips from the movie itself don't look very appealing.

At this point, if you hadn't seen the movie or read the book, there really is no reason as to why you'd want to pick up this game. If the book is as good as everyone says it is, I would imagine your time is better spent reading the book again.