Here's a warning: beware of any game that the manufacturer claims to "present a Triple A-calibre gaming experience for intense action-adventure gaming enthusiasts", especially when it's based on a movie franchise and looks suspiciously as though it's been rushed out to coincide with the film's release date.

Now does this sound familiar? Young innocent lad from rural community is given an unexpected gift which leads him away from his home to a titanic war between the powers of good and evil, involving magic, flying creatures and misshapen non-human enemies. If you also learn that the developers of Eragon (echoes of Aragorn?) were responsible for some of the Lord of the Rings action games, you might be excused for thinking we could be on to something exciting here.

Alas, you couldn't be more disappointed. The gift that the boy Eragon receives is a dragon egg that hatches and produces Saphira, the dragon that Eragon is destined to ride. He thus becomes the only dragon rider not murdered by the evil Galbatorix (no, not a druid from the Asterix books) and, through the tutelage of his mentor Brom, he learns how to hone his sword, bow and arrow and magic skills for the coming conflict. In the course of the game you are going to practise these abilities endlessly as fighting hordes of foes is all you'll ever do.

For a start it's difficult to know why this was considered for the PC at all, as it's designed for a gamepad and your mouse is redundant. It plays easily on the Xbox 360 version but if you only have a keyboard on the PC then the assigning of keys seems random and you'll end up with mashed fingers.

Although there are a few fight combos, most moves are essentially the same for swordplay, arrows are always ready targeted and even magic used on objects is pre-highlighted so there's little room for error. The only new weapons you accumulate in the game are power orbs and when they reach a certain number this unleashes your 'Fury' ability which lets you fight faster and more forcefully.

Each set looks appropriately grand and faithful to the film but navigating can be a nightmare. Characters get stuck behind objects or clip through the middle of them and the camera is in a fixed position so often you can't see where arrows, etc., are coming from or where useful ledges are.

But, you say, surely the dragon riding must be thrilling? Well, only if you enjoy the feeling of being on a fixed Disney ride where you have basic control over direction or movement while sending fireballs and arrows at villains and trying to block returning missiles. Plus the fact that only three out of seventeen missions are devoted to flying.

Believe it or not, there's a co-op mode which will let another player fight beside you with another gamepad as your usual companion, yet in each combat scene you have to move to the next stage of the set at the same time as you're not allowed to separate on screen. We hates it, my preciousssss.

Overly simplistic with repetitive fighting scenes, limited skills and disappointing dragon riding action, this is one of those rushed-out movie tie-ins that give the genre a bad name.