While some of my friends are going to pay steep ticket prices to catch a paid preview of the latest SRK starrer today, I have been enjoying Chennai Express for more than a week now!
In what is probably a first for a bollywood film, the producers, Red Chillies Entertainment, hired Indiagames Ltd. to create a game in order to promote the film. The game is available on Google Play and probably on the Apple AppStore too! It is officially titled – Chennai Express : Escape from Rameshwaram
The game is a really enjoyable and Indianised version of the popular game “Subway Surfer”. Similar to the Subway Surfer or Temple Run theme, Chennai Express begins with you i.e. SRK running through the streets of Rameshwaram while a huge enemy chases with a longsword.
While the basics of the game remain the same old skills of jumping, sliding and changing lanes in time, Chennai Express manages to distinguish itself by giving a uniquely Indian feel to the players since unlike other games, the obstacles include autorickshaws, overloaded busses and coconut water vendors’ carts. The obstacles of Incredible India coupled with the background imagery of temples and authentic looking houses makes the player feel truly in India and sets the game apart from other titles on which it is based.
The objective of the game remains to earn maximum points but there are more ways to do that apart from collecting the gold coins that the streets of Rameshwaram are littered with. The gameplay includes special elements such as collecting diamonds whose worth is several times than the gold coins. One extra feature which distinctively sets apart Chennai Express from Subway Surfer is the added element of fighting enemies. In Chennai Express, a helicopter periodically drops lathi wielding local enemies in your path and you cannot jump over or slide under them. The way to beat them is to use the punch button before they have an opportunity to use their lathis. Apart from the punch button, the last distinguishing feature of Chennai Express is the timer. Unlike other similar games, Chennai Express is time bound and you have to attempt your highscore within those 90 sec only.
With many popular features such as - coin attracting magnet, ability to temporarily fly and collect bonus coins – being directly taken from Subway Surfer, I am sure many people shall deride this game for being a poor copy. However, I think that though it maybe based on the concept of other games, the developers have managed to add enough exciting and distinctive elements to make it wonderfully unique. The game is not meant to be an all time classic anyway and is designed simply to attract interest to the movie in short run. Looking at the background of the game I think the developers have done a great job and it shall keep me entertained for a couple of weeks at the least.
I am hoping this game shall set a trend and am looking forward to more such movie linked games from India.
Do try out this game and tell me what you think. Here is the Google Play link.
Just be sure not to hit any obstacle or this shall be your fate …
