The golden compass is one of two games on the console that features a mission asking you to sweep up shit. Just like Risen (the other of the two games), I actually quite enjoyed this one, and consider it quite underrated. Based on a movie, which I haven't seen, which is in turn based on a kids book that I haven't read, this game really stands out for both good and bad reasons. Starting with bad, the story makes absolutely no sense. The levels are cut with various clips from the movie which seem to have tenuous links at best to whats happening in the mission. It's a shame because it does seem like quite a nice idea for a story, particularly for younger players. The game also isn't great at explaining at what you have to do and I had to use a guide a some points, which isn't great for a kids game. To be honest I'm probably just an idiot. On the positive side, its really quite different from a lot of other movie tie in games. For a start the levels look really nice, the graphics aren't anything special, but many of the levels are very colourful and the variety of levels really stands out. You go from a frozen tundra to a stately home in oxford to a pirate ship. It's a nice change from the dull gray levels we see in a lot of similar budget games. The gameplay also is quite unique. There's a mix of some platforming, fetch quests, puzzles and simple combat and dialogue challenges in the form of mini games. None of them are anything special, but all fairly enjoyable. My favourite aspect is the alethiometer. There are hidden symbols that you can find throughout levels. These are used to solve riddles using the aethalometer. If you find them great, but if you don't you can still make educated guesses. Its a nice incentive to explore levels without forcing you to replay them, and a unique gameplay feature I haven't really seen in other games. If you are looking for something a little different, I would recommend giving this one a try. A worthy addition to any collection.