Ben 10 Review and Gameplay

Based on the rebooted Cartoon Network Series and developed by Outright Games, Ben 10 is an action brawler game squarely aimed at younger crowds. In a world where Super Mario Odyssey has captured everyone’s imagination, Ben 10 comes off as a bare-bones cash-in on an intellectual property that is a shell of its former self… unless you’re a young kid experiencing the adventures of Ben, Gwen, and Grandpa Max for the first time. If that’s the case, this is passable fare until new episodes of the cartoon are aired or released online.

Using the power of the Omnitrix device, the titular Ben Tennyson can transform into one of 10 different aliens, each with special abilities to defeat enemies and traverse through levels. Until you reach a point in a level where a particular alien’s powers are absolutely necessary, maxing out the abilities of any one of the aliens and spamming standard attacks until your special meter fills up will do fine. My particular favorite was classic Ben 10 alien Grey Matter, who has a special ability similar to Zarya’s Graviton Surge in Overwatch. After drawing all your enemies together to a central point, blasting them away is a piece of cake. Combined with simplistic “break the boxes” gameplay throughout each level, and that’s the crux of what the game is all about.

Ben 10 Review Final Thoughts:

Unless you’re under the age of 7 (or purchasing the game for a fan in that age range), Ben 10 is going to be a hard pass for me. Repetitive gameplay, near game-breaking glitches that don’t allow special moves to be used, and less than two hours of entertainment won’t be able to keep a kid’s attention when endless hours of YouTube videos are likely within arms’ reach.