Disney Pixar UP

Up is the latest movie production from Disney Pixar. THQ has grabbed the game license and as they so often do, they have turned to Heavy Iron studios, who did such sterling work with the Incredibles game, to bring the world and characters to our consoles and computers.

Up is a platform action adventure style game, with levels in water and in the air to complement the typical land based action. It all takes place during an exotic adventure, in which Carl Fredericksen and his young assistant Russell set off on a journey through the undiscovered wild jungles of the Amazon.

Players can choose to play as one of four main characters from the movie: Carl, Russell, Dug the dog or Kevin, the prehistoric bird. Then, in either single-player mode, or co-operatively with friends, they can explore exciting new environments such as the Jungle, caves and rock formations of the Amazonian Tepuis: huge mesas that isolate their plateaus from the ground forest with towering cliffs. See the impressive Paradise Falls, and navigate through treacherous jungle terrains, avoiding dangerous plants and animals along the trail.

The action steps up a notch as players take part in dramatic boss-fights, against terrifying creatures such as anacondas and crocodiles. As you progress through the game, collect rare insects, merit badges and lost items to unlock new content, cheat modes and bonus movies.

Buying Pixar may have been the smartest move Disney ever made. Not only do they get some of the best animated movies in their stable, but they also get access to some of the most effective 3D modelling technology ever invented - and those models can be used directly to create video games supporting the movies. But the Pixar team are also video game savvy, and work closely with the developers to bring the film world to live in interactive and dynamic ways that are simply not possible in a movie.