Asterix & Obelix XXL3: The Crystal Menhir Review

If you’ve never played an Asterix & Obelix game in the past, you’ve no doubt heard about them. When you think about long running video game franchises you might think of The Legend of Zelda, Super Mario, and the like. Dozens of games spread across multiple generations of hardware. Some wildly successful, others completely mediocre. What if I told you Asterix and Obelix deserves to be in that conversation, as one of video games longest running franchises. It does, and the latest release, The Crystal Menhir takes everything the series has been working on for decades, and crafts and enjoyable, albeit frustrating, adventure title.

Romans are bad. All of them, and while the lands around your quaint village are under Roman command, your small village of Armorica quietly goes about daily business, fending off the odd Roman or two. That’s until news of a mysterious treasure comes to the druid Getafix, who sends Asterix and Obelix off on a wild adventure, searching for it.

The Crystal Menhir is not an overly difficult game. It’s a button mashing, linear experience that will have you making you way through waves of enemies in designated ‘arenas’ with the ultimate goal of making it to the end. Small levers hold back obstacles to keep you in one area long enough to ‘trigger’ the lever and allowing you to move onto the next. When the game works with you, it’s a pretty easy walk. When the game doesn’t, and you get stuck in part of the map, you’ll likely quickly die as Romans continuously pile on top of you. Logic would say you would restart at the last ‘checkpoint’ lever you pulled, but in fact, you’ll be pushed all the way to the beginning of the wave combat, where you will need to start all over. That is the frustrating bit.

But when Asterix & Obelix work, it’s a pretty fun romp through the colourful world, and even more fun with cooperative play, the first time in the franchises long and tenured history. Playing through the game with my 11 year old was oddly satisfying – usually, playing with my kids induces frustration, not enjoyment. But when it’s a button mashing hack and slasher, there isn’t much you can do wrong…unless you cease mashing the buttons.

Unfortunately, I’m not sure the story really does a whole lot to keep you playing, so unless you are driven to see what’s around the next corner (pst, it’s more Romans!), it can be tempting to do away with the game altogether. If it wasn’t for my 11 year old, I likely wouldn’t have finished. That may, however, point to the intended audience of this title more-so than the game itself. My sons enjoyment never faltered, and he always wanted to play more. I had a good time. He REALLY had a good time.

If you’ve enjoyed Asterix and Obelix games in the past, you’re likely to enjoy this one too. If you have younger video game players in the house, they will inevitably appreciate the simplistic combat, gorgeous visuals, and colourful world to explore. As a solo experience for adults, however, it falls flat very quickly. It’s a game I recommend, but one that comes with plenty of warnings.