Parent's Guide: The Legend of Korra - Age rating, mature content and difficulty

What is The Legend of Korra?

The Legend of Korra is a beat 'em up based on the hit animated show of the same name. Following a run in with a nefarious 'Chi Blocker', Korra, a kind of ninja with super powers known as an Avatar, loses her trademark fire, water, air and earth bending powers, and sets off on an adventure to get them back, one element at a time. Brawling your way through hordes of enemies, you'll visit famous locales and chat to popular characters from the TV show, which is sure to be a hit with young fans.

How do you play The Legend of Korra?

As players explore cliff-top ruins, towns and shrines, they battle enemies in button-mashy combat, dodging and countering their attacks whenever you find an opening. As you recover Korra's lost elemental powers, you'll be able to make use of them in battle too, hitting enemies with fire, water, earth and air-infused attacks for extra damage. Your average level tends to just be a trip from A to B, taking out all the enemies along the way, with little in the way of puzzles and the like, making for quite an action-packed adventure. However, occasional free-running levels, where Korra leaps on the back of her polar bear/wolf pet, Naga, do mix things up a little. Here you need to shift from side to side to avoid obstacles, leap over gorges and duck under gaps at breakneck speed, putting your reactions to the test.

How easy is The Legend of Korra to pick up and play?

While the combat itself is pretty basic button mashing, the difficulty can vary wildly from enemy to enemy, with some being defeated in an instant, while others, almost randomly, are a lot, lot harder. Boss fights are especially challenging, given their propensity to use heavy-hitting, non-blockable attacks - and while the game does offer an easy setting, it doesn't seem to make too much difference. Likewise, the free-running obstacle course sections go by at such a speed, and relies on such split-second reflexes, younger players may struggle, as Naga can't take too many hits before she runs out of health and you have to start over.

On the plus side though, the game is fully voiced, so those who struggle to read should be OK - providing they have the skill and patience to cope with the rest of the game, anyway.

In terms of content, the Legend of Korra isn't too different to the Nickelodeon TV show it's based on in terms of questionable content - there's no bad language, sex scenes or guts and gore to speak of. The violence is similarly tame, with players punching, kicking and using elemental attacks on ninjas and animal-like creatures, who simply fade away when defeated.

Age Ratings

Format Reviewed: Playstation 3